No ‘ethnic cleansing’ please

Your letters column is made brilliant by the fact that the letters from Robin Duncan, Nick Empson and Jean Warburton are all right on target and germane to the most important issues facing local ratepayers and council.

Firstly, it would be a brave council . . . or mayor, if he sees it as his own personal baby, who would dare to modify the Memorial Park in ways that would go against the wishes of those who constitute the local RSA, and the many families connected to it through the loss of loved-ones during the last two centuries.

Yes, there is room and a need to erect memorial scrolls or similar to include the dead of all ethnic backgrounds of the earlier ‘New Zealand Wars’, but let us have no ‘ethnic cleansing’ and empire building by any other names.

Nick Empson’s letter is ‘spot on’ in regard to Auckland water, especially in regard to rainwater catchment and storage, especially as Auckland seems to have awakened to the need and is looking at ways to assist rates payers in that regard.

‘Woe is us’ however here in Waipa¯ , where council has already ditched the idea of raintanks storage being a requirement of all future building permits for new dwellings, relying on their own ‘expert’ opinions that, tanks will not be needed . . . that tanks are not cost effective and that tank water systems as a ‘back-up’ might contaminate council’s existing or soon to be existing water services’. Hogwash I say. Council needs to at least look at these options, and let the public have a say.

Climate change and common sense dictates that these alternative options will be required ASAP . . . not in 10 years time when councils find that, ‘Oops, sorry we missed that’, will not be good enough. Dennis Pennefather