Letters

View from a riverbank

The Heathcote River was running at the highest I have seen it from my nearby site in Ashgrove Tce. Yet rainfall recorded was not significantly different from other storm events over my 36-year record.

At this site 98mm fell over the three-day day period, with Saturday the wettest at 44mm. Compare this against The Press of Thursday, May 1, 2014, reporting on the record-breaking event of that year – ‘‘Big wet is one for the ages’’. Certainly at this site the 236.5mm in April that year was an all-time any-month record. Was a state of emergency declared then?

The brief letter of John Zeldis in yesterday’s Press says it all: Who would risk investing in a low-lying subdivision at this time?

Then there has been the fires on the Port Hills and their clearance at the wettest time of the year. Also look at the extensive subdivisions around Halswell and one can perhaps see that climate change is not the only problem.

Meanwhile, the Cashmere Valley Stream spews pollution in vast amounts into the Heathcote, but that can be blamed on the fires, can’t it? Bob Crowder Somerfield

More commissioners loom

The Government seems intent on setting up another ECan-style intervention. Using the recent Treasury report – written without reference to the Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB) – the Government will replace the elected board members with their political hacks – sorry, commissioners; after the election, of course (assuming it wins).

It is time Cantabrians reminded this Government that it is neither immortal nor indispensable. Everyone can be replaced, even National politicians. If in doubt, vote them out. JJ Walker Redwood

Don’t build convention centre

John McCrone’s excellent piece on the evolution of the proposed convention centre (The Press, July 22) highlights the absurdity of the whole concept and makes me weep with frustration. Surely it can’t be too late to rethink this folly.

Why not relocate a somewhat smaller version of the convention centre to the site adjacent to the Isaac Theatre Royal. Integrate the Court Theatre into the convention centre space. In this way, the different theatre spaces could be complementary and used more efficiently. (A conference centre, after all, is essentially a theatre).

Then a large tract of land ideally suited to residential use would become immediately available. At last we could have a real urban village – an artists’ quarter with a range of apartments, tiny galleries and workshops, an inner-city school, and spaces to rent for the visiting actors, musicians and artists. It would simply require the Crown to lease rather than sell the land. Susan Wauchop Ilam

Time to let the Bain case go

I am at a complete loss to understand the journalistic merit of the ‘‘Black Hands’’ articles and podcast.

David Bain and the Bain case has been the subject of extensive legal proceedings. He served an extensive period in prison, was awarded a retrial and found not guilty, released from jail and subsequently made a ‘‘payment’’ by the Government. This all took place between 1995 and 2009 with the matter of the payment extending out until last year.

Good journalism is about news and delivery of new information to the public. This article contains absolutely nothing that has not been in the public domain in various shapes and forms for more than 20 years. It is not news and it is certainly not new information. It is nothing more than a rehash of this information presented in a new and different format that is not journalism.

Let it go. If this is the best you can come up with, then it really is quite bewildering.

I have no view on the Bain case, or one that counts for anything anyway. The only views that matter have been well explored by judges, lawyers and juries. Stephen Barry Somerfield

‘‘The Government seems intent on setting up another ECanstyle intervention [this time for the Canterbury District Health Board].’’ Bob Crowder