Sticking up for Vandervis and Sir Tim Shadbolt

THE Dunedin City Council and the Invercargill City Council have similar agendas when it comes to wanting to get rid of elected representatives.

In Dunedin, it is Lee Vandervis, and in Invercargill, Sir Tim Shadbolt.

Both men were elected with large majorities by ratepayers and over a number of local body elections.

With Cr Vandervis, it is reported that he loses his temper, is threatening and that a diary has been kept on this behaviour over a number of years. If this is not a witch hunt, what is?

It has been suggested that Sir Tim is struggling with his mayoral duties and should stand aside. Sir Tim stated that he was just a figurehead and that the chief executive and council staff run the city. He is quite right in saying this.

Backstabbing is common in politics and we are seeing this at the local body level right now.

For those wanting to take Cr Vandervis and Sir Tim down, remember that you are only there because of us, the ratepayers.

Ross Davidson

Wakari

Blueskin trust

THE Blueskin Resilient Community Trust’s response to Mark Brown (Letters, 29.10.20) failed to address, let alone answer, Mr Brown’s question.

BRCT’s reply was propaganda, typical of its public pronouncements.

It described the failed Climate Safe project as ‘‘audacious’’. What does that mean? Irresponsible?

Twenty BRCT trustees have resigned during its 12year history. I resigned as a trustee because of concerns about BRCT’s dysfunctional governance. Other former trustees told me they resigned for similar reasons.

BRCT does not represent a community. It represents a clique.

Most of BRCT’s critics have demonstrable records of community service. Many initially supported BRCT. They are frustrated by BRCT’s apparent exemption from accountability.

BRCT continues to obtain substantial amounts of public money, despite its continuing failure to provide any substantive public benefit. Why should BRCT be exempt from scrutiny or receive public money without contestable processes?

P. Clarke Warrington

River pollution

OVER Labour Weekend, you published a letter from a kayaker regarding his observations from the waters of the Clutha River of cattle where they should not be.

Midafternoon on October 22, from the car, I noticed several cattle wading in the shallow water on the southern side of the eastern end of the Beaumont bridge. A great place for the ORC to take a water sample for testing, I would think.

June Turnbull

Dunedin

Southern roads

HAVING watched the ebb and flow of reportage and letters in the ODT on changes to our roading system, I need to ask a question.

Will decisions be driven by locally collected data to meet our local needs?

The consultation process to date appears essentially data free, and there has been no modelling of the effects of altering the current paths of State Highway 1, either for Dunedin or the wider region.

Is it responsible to base decisions that will reshape our city, and which the AA has costed at anything up to $100 million, on doctrine and theory created in places that have very different circumstances, geography, city density, and social needs?

David Cohen

Dunedin

BIBLE READING: Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord. — Ephesians 5.19.