Finding the right tourism balance

World of wealth

Many countries have now realised that their traditional quality of life is being undermined by high levels of immigrants who are either fleeing terror or looking for a better life, leaving behind a country that offers little.

Those wealthy countries have nobody but themselves to blame for this global shift.

Since Adam was a boy, we have moved to find better lives. The areas under pressure are Central Americans going across the USMexican border, Africans fleeing across the Mediterranean into the European Union and Eastern Bloc countries’ poor moving into the EU.

That is why Trump wants his wall and Britain has got out of the EU. Both want to control their immigration.

So, while the world’s wealthiest countries may have used or abused globalisation by using cheap third world countries to produce for them, they have forgotten to invest some of their large profits back into the well being of those countries.

So, now 2 per cent of the world’s wealthiest individuals, own 50 per cent of the world’s wealth.

Those obscenely rich have little consideration for the poor in our world. The saddest thing for me was the view of New Zealand’s wealthiest man, Graeme Hart, with his $7.5billion wealth, launching his super yacht, worth countless millions.

Wouldn’t our world be nice if a man like this could commit to living on a meager $1billion for the rest of his life, releasing the rest to help the homeless and starving in Africa via a Hart Foundation?

The only good thing about aliens being found in outer space, who may invade earth, is that they will not have our external desire for money and personal wealth and poor sight for those desperate in our world.

Recent research shows that the most satisfying impact of ones’ life, ahead of wealth, health, safety, love, family etc, is one’s generosity to others. Nobby Clark Otatara

Environmental solution

I am writing to offer my solutions to the problem of environmental degradation.

As an environmentally conscious citizen of New Zealand, I need to see a real solution to some real problems.

The fact that most products are packaged in plastic is unacceptable given the devastating effects.

When I hear talk of a plastic bag levy, I am flabbergasted, it doesn’t come close. We are so encumbered by our fundamentally flawed system which prioritises monetary gain at the expense of the environment, our health and core values.

We cannot ignore the cause of this great catastrophe; monetary incentive. What I propose is that we adopt a resource-based economy as proposed by Money Free New Zealand.

Disencumbered by money, our values and priorities can be met with the appropriate energy and resources, most notably protecting and rehabilitating our environment. Liam Anderson Nelson

Rate rises

My Invercargill rates assessment has just arrived. I’ve crunched the data. Rates are touted by the council as having risen a modest 3.9 per cent.

However, what we are not told is that the fixed ‘‘unit charges’’ have risen 8.6 per cent and that this increase is offset by an overall 2.34 per cent decrease in rateable value (RV) multiplier numbers.

The effect of this strategy is that the lowest-value houses typically occupied by the poor, superannuants and beneficiaries, bear nearly the full brunt of an 8.6 per cent fixed-charge rise.

On the other hand, a rich person’s house with its high RV gains relief from a 2.34 per cent reduction in multipliers. Sure, the average increase may well be as the Council states but this has been achieved by overcharging the poor and subsidising the rich, to the tune of 4.54 per cent if last year’s inflation of 2.2 per cent is also added.

Bleating that this is only a few dollars per week is not the point. Indeed the latest OECD data indicates that New Zealand may have the fastest growing income gap between rich and poor of all OECD countries.

The council should be ashamed of itself for actively contributing to this trend. Dr Lawrence Livingstone Invercargill

Tourism is hugely important to the Central Otago region, creating jobs and boosting economic development. From Alexandra to Wanaka, our region is riding a wave of growth and communities are reaping the benefits.

Latest Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment figures show that year-on-year monthly visitor spending in Central Otago to May 2017 was up 7 per cent to $186 million and in Wanaka was up 18 per cent to $497 million.

The people of Central Otago tell me that are proud to share their place with visitors, but they desire a balance between the environment, the community and tourism.

Central Otago is a place where respect for the land is paramount and I support local people in this.

That’s why the Government’s Tourism Infrastructure Fund is so important because it will help communities respond to demand and address capacity constraints.

The Central Otago District Council was recently co-funded $294,000 for a toilet upgrade at Lake Dunstan, new rubbish compacting bins around Lake Dunstan, Cromwell, Alexandra, Clyde and Roxburgh, and new toilets at the Cromwell Mall, while the Queenstown Lakes District Council received $150,000 for new toilets at Makarora.

Communities have told me that they need help to cope with increasing tourism numbers and I’m delighted that we have been able to respond to that.

Road safety is another area which has been under the spotlight.

Work is now under way on dozens of individual road safety projects which the Government hopes will make Central Otago’s busy tourist routes safer.

The improvements are part of a $15 million Visiting Drivers Project road safety engineering programme and include more Keep Left arrows, rumble strips, and rest area improvements.

Innovative new $720,000 protective safety barriers on State Highway 6, between Frankton and Queenstown, are part of this spending, as are $40,000 electronic speed indicator signs at Cromwell.

Of course with the increase in tourism, towns around Central Otago are also experiencing population growth as more people move to the area for business and work.

This is turn has put pressure on local schools who are experiencing unprecedented roll growth.

Again the Government has responded, with the recent announcement of $5 million for new classrooms at Cromwell, Goldfields and Shotover Primary Schools.

I am pleased that I have been able to work with these schools to ensure these positive outcomes.

This comes on top of the $19 million in funding, announced last month, for a new primary school in Wanaka and a major redevelopment at Mt Aspiring College.

Tourism growth is positive for Central Otago.

I intend to continue to work closely with the community to make sure that they get the ongoing support to ensure that it remains that way.