Cricket fans caught out by rail fail

On the big screens at Eden Park during the cricket, free train travel home after the game was advertised. Thousands converged on Kingsland station platforms. After a long wait, no trains appeared. Elderly, families with young children and all of us were left abandoned.

We were told to walk to Morningside station. The backstreets were dark and dangerous. No trains there, either.

Fortunately one of us had an Uber app and a car was two minutes away. It took us safely home. I am writing on behalf of the thousands abandoned by Auckland Transport’s broken, less than third-world train service. Managers’ heads should roll or at least there should be an inquiry overseen by the mayor. My advice for tomorrow’s game — have an Uber app and do not attempt to take a train home.

John Case, Glenfield. I am a tree lover and believe interacting with the natural world contributes greatly to our wellbeing. Living in a big city, it is important to have areas of bush and wilderness for exercising and renewing the spirit. I feel torn by the rahui enacted on the Waitakere Centennial Park.

The reason given for this rahui is that keeping people out of the park will protect kauri from the spread of dieback disease. However, the rahui raises questions. Which tracks are to be closed? Do closures include tracks down to beaches such as Whites and Anawhata, accessible only on foot? How long is this rahui to last? Where else can Aucklanders go for exercise and solace? What are the rights of people living within the Waitakere area?

Does the council have the right to shut a park given to the people of Auckland? Is there enough science presently available to justify the rahui? How is dieback being spread? While heavy usage may be a factor, what role do warming temperatures play? There is some discussion that the fungus has been present in the soil for decades. What resources are being set aside for the study of better ways of control? What research is being done into finding individual trees genetically adaptive to the disease?

We should think carefully before excluding people from the forest. We run the danger of further alienating our young from feeling a part of nature and by so doing decreasing their motivation to protect our planet, including the kauri.

Meg McMillan, Waitakere Ranges. congestion in Auckland. As a retired person, I drive around our great enlarged city, checking out the new developments that have appeared to the north and south. It is obvious that all these new developments are highly dependent on residents’ ability to use private cars, which results in traffic congestion.

It has been suggested increasing public transport, which will have to include these new areas at some stage, will go a long way to solving the problem and I tend to agree. I have changed my home four times over about 30 years and now live in a central city apartment. I used to apply a simple measure of the suitability of where I would reside and that was “if I wish to buy milk, how would I do that without using a car?” If that was applied, I believe that in many of these new developments there would be a big increase in the number of dairy-free residents.

Dick Ayres, Auckland Central. Four of us attended the cricket match on Friday night between Australia and New Zealand. While the result was not what we had hoped for, the game, and the atmosphere, were great. But why the hideous loud music after every ball? Music at the end of each over would have been enough. Would it have been the decision of the music controller, the NZCC or the venue, Eden Park? It spoilt the night.

Janet Boyle, Stanmore Bay. As a recently retired midwife, I see enough damage done by governmental interference with the original abortion law in the 1970s. We have basically lost whole provincial towns. Maybe that’s why we have had to open the immigration doors willy nilly. The Abortion Law Supervisory Committee’s call for a review needs to be very carefully studied and correctly interpreted. Apparently, doctors from overseas may misunderstand some detail. That says to me that they have not been properly educated in our law and written and spoken English and need retraining.

Anne Doherty, Papakura.