Some clubs are flourishing
Re Death of the club? (Dec 22), regarding the declining number of sporting clubs and members, this is not true for all clubs. In particular, there is an increasing number of people moving from bowls and golf clubs to continue their sporting and social activities at croquet clubs
Paraparaumu Croquet Club has an increasing number of members, with ages ranging from 13 to 93 and all levels of playing standard. Players’ abilities range from beginners (any age) to New Zealand representatives. Golf croquet is proving to be very popular, with each game restricted to 45 minutes but as many games as you wish to play. All equipment is provided as required and lessons are free. Play is available every day of the year.
Other activities such as cards and mah jong are available if there is interest.
Many other clubs in the Wellington region and nationwide offer similar facilities.
Derek Bullen, Raumati Beach
Compact obligation
I read through the United Nations Global Compact on Migration seeking mention of the obligation of migrant-origin states to fix the problems at source.
Article 12 seems to cover that aspect and reads: ‘‘This global compact aims to mitigate the adverse drivers and structural factors that hinder people from building and maintaining sustainable livelihoods in their countries of origin, and so compel them to seek a future elsewhere.’’
Will this, I wonder, require a roll call of failed states like almost all those of Central America, ditto Africa and South Asia, and the awarding of pass or fail grades?
Also in that roll call could there be a critique of the Western countries’ ‘‘hoovering up’’ talent? As the mayor of a major city in Sierra Leone recently noted, ‘‘in 2000 a survey found that over half of university-educated Sierra Leoneans were migrating to more developed countries’’.
Sadly, I expect that a UN Special Rapporteur will be appointed who will travel exclusively to Western capitals and issue a report castigating the hosts and ignoring Article 12. Israel will likely be singled out for condemnation on anything that springs to mind.
In conclusion, I note that a group of senior French military officers have written an open letter to President Macron stating that signing the compact is ‘‘an act of treason’’.
Rob Harris, Dannevirke
Roads equal jams
An ideologue is a person who persists in a belief despite overwhelming evidence that the belief is false. Anti-1080 activists, anti-vaxxers, and climate science deniers come to mind. It seems we must add John Milford’s name to this sorry list.
Milford continues to insist that the bulk of the Let’s Get Wellington Moving budget be spent on new roads, while attacking as ideologically driven those who point out that the evidence is against him (Wellington needs deals for wheels, Dec 22).
The first research to show that building new roads increases congestion was published in 1955. If you widen a congested two-lane road to four lanes, the result will be a congested four-lane road.
As former New York City Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan wrote, ‘‘Evidence has mounted showing that spending billions of dollars on road projects is no more effective at stemming congestion than building nothing.’’
Only one strategy is proven to deliver the outcomes Milford seeks: repurpose existing city streets for more space-efficient forms of transport and put a price on mobility with a decongestion charge.
Milford’s magical thinking will not get Wellington moving John Rankin, Wellington
Reverse the crimes
Re Tracey Steel’s letter (Dec 24) about the Ma¯ ori man who got two years’ jail for thieving pa¯ ua, and the white woman who got 11 months’ home detention for driving while high on drugs and alcohol, and killed a young man.
Let’s hypothetically reverse the roles of the offenders:
What if the woman stole the pa¯ ua, and the man drove while high on drugs and alcohol, and killed the young man?
Would the white woman have got two years? Would the Ma¯ ori man have got 11 months’ home detention? Makes you think . . .
Peter Judge, Camborne