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● I think the National Party made a huge mistake inviting Howard and Key to their recent conference. All it did was push Bridges even further into the background. IC ● To Dick Ryan, who advocates replacing GST with a transactions tax: a quarter of 1 per cent is not a quarter of a cent in every hundred dollars. JAD ● I resent the tremendous amount of ratepayer money spent on McLean Park to benefit cricket, the organisation that refused to allow a local organisation to use Nelson Park for a national event. Their refusal to be at all considerate says a lot about their organisation's culture.

● Well said, Ian McIntosh ( Hawke’s Bay Today, August 1), re ‘‘democracy should apply to all, not the select few’’. Thoroughly agree with your sentiments. Let's give the ‘Now we are one' a try. Equal rights for all. JK ● The track is a work of digger art which looks more and more like a cool tattoo on the legs of our giant. HH ● I feel so good using my reusable bags— and buying new plastic bags for my bin, instead of recycling plastic supermarket bags.

● So now the new crematorium is open at Hastings cemetery, will the council now build a carpark for people attending funerals? Orchard Rd is now full of the cars of the hospital workers who have been forced out of the hospital carparks due to parking costs.

● I can't fathom the reason re reducing chimney smoke emission — linking it to cancer, Alzheimer's, etc — but DHBs and some MPs wanting to push fluoridation on us all, with it also being linked to the above conditions and a proven neurotoxin, endocrine disrupter, etc. Fluoride is like a silent killer to many.

● I don't mind the dirt-bike riders on the riverbank as I was one 35 years ago. But could they please stay off the limestone pathways as there are ruts forming?

● I have a compliant woodburner which I can burn 24/7. It’s about burning clean, dry wood and cleaning your chimney once a year. I’d be more concerned about pollen in the air, sore eyes, respiratory problems, etc. Stop the revenue collecting. JD ● Hawke’s Bay Today, p10, July 30: thank you for your illuminating writing about the tone and impact of these emissaries of unacceptable toxic matters. I look for balance, the end of the big swing. RMP Thank you for texting in your views. Please note that owing to the anonymous nature of texts we will not publish unfair personal attacks in this column. — Ed