Is pro-dam view science fact or science fiction?

So Debbie gets a pass from the Auditor-General’s office. One of the stated reasons for this was that the Central Hawke’s Bay (CHB) community was “overwhelmingly in favour of the [Ruataniwha Water Storage] scheme ”.

This is an assumption only, and when you look at submissions from CHB about this scheme, the bulk of them are against it. This is not to say lots and lots of people in CHB don’t think it’s the bee’s knees.

CHB has been the epicentre of pro-dam propaganda. It has gone from “the towns will die if it doesn’t happen” to “the streets will be paved with gold if it does” and best of all “it’s great for the environment” so sleep with a clear conscience.

If the pro-dam propaganda was an alien we in CHB each would have been abducted more than once and repeatedly probed.

It is not surprising that many can’t hear or see what so many in the scientific world are telling us when they present evidence that many agricultural practices which come with mass irrigation will poison and stuff our aquifers and rivers. As all rivers run to the sea, well, work out the rest for yourselves.

It can be hard to understand why some people will work so hard just to achieve short-term goals which will create such long-term damage to the planet and all that sail on her.

It is equally hard to understand why so many other people let them do these things.

Maybe that wasn’t just a bad dream they had that night.

Maybe they’ve been probed. Gren Christie Waipukurau Re Kerry Sutherland’s letter to the Editor on June 25 headed “Criticism of HOY show wide of mark”. I had considered that my “Talking Point” on June 23 was to be my final public contribution to the HOY debate.

However, I can’t allow Kerry Sutherland to be denied her 50 per cent accuracy rating — in most tests these days, that is all one needs to pass. And so, Kerry, borderline though your pass rate is, you are most certainly correct when you glean that I have a loyalty to the Hansens — and it is not a mere “some sense of loyalty” Kerry — it is absolute loyalty.

I have watched over 17 years as the Hansen family, together with their huge supportive team of volunteers and other interested parties, have brought to Hawke’s Bay the grandeur of what was Horse of the Year. I make no apology for my admiration and respect.

No one is perfect; no one gets everything right all the time; seldom does any leader end up with everyone on side at all times. There are always challenges and challengers but Kevin and his team got it right more often than not.

Your failed 50 per cent, Kerry, where you gain no marks — wide or otherwise — is your assumption that I did not attend the 2016 show. I was, in fact, domiciled on the grounds in my motorhome for the entire duration of the show in 2016 as I have also been for the past seven years. I saw it all. As for the suggestion that I seem to be “rather bitter” — not only are you employing what has become a standard response to anyone who expresses an opposing opinion — you clearly know not who I am. The word “bitter” is quite simply not in my vocabulary.

I’m glad, Kerry, that you intend to return to the beautiful Hawke’s Bay. Heather Pollard Napier