Inspired again by ‘lively and accessible’ edition

THANK you very much to the ODT for producing another excellent edition of Resilient (14.11.20).

I really look forward each time to this supplement as it has so much interesting information and inspiring stories of local people caring for the environment and living sustainable (or should I say, resilient!) lives.

In the latest issue, I particularly enjoyed the article about sand dunes, which is so relevant to many coastal areas. I also found the interview with Professor Hugh Campbell thoughtprovoking, and appreciated the historical lens on the shifts in farming and land use over a couple of centuries, and the recent shifts towards more organic and regenerative ways of farming.

The layout and graphics help to make Resilient lively and accessible. I do hope schools and other organisations and groups are using it as a resource.

Keep up the good work, all who are involved.

Philippa Jamieson

Opoho

Council debt

I AM not only stunned by the city’s ‘‘eyewatering’’ debt ceiling as disclosed (ODT, 11.11.20) but also totally stunned by the irrational practice of basing a calculation on totally mixed elements.

My best explanation is that there are two distinctly separate families of ratepayers.

There are those who pay the general rate and provide their own separate services such as water and sewerage, and there are others who also pay the general rate, but have the council provide (what was once known as the separate services) their reticulated water, reticulated stormwater, and reticulated sewerage.

Now, when the council decides on an arbitrary debt ceiling, what is it talking about in terms of the rural person who commonly has to provide his/her own sewerage and water?

If the council is including the debt carried by everybody in the bottom line of this exercise, how does it know the value of the debt that is not carried on the council’s books?

Maurice Prendergast

Mosgiel