City urged to concentrate on core services only

IN the latest FYI Dunedin it was interesting what the Mayor had to say about the top issues discussed at last month’s annual Local Government New Zealand conference.

It was about funding for climate change, housing, water issues and waste reduction. They will cost billions of dollars over the next decade, says the Mayor of Dunedin Dave Cull and clearly cannot be funded only from rates increases. No doubt our council has applied to have a regional fuel tax, like Auckland, to fund whatever infrastructure cost it has in mind, but public transport is obviously not one of them.

No doubt they are looking at charging separately for water and will introduce water metering, with no reduction in general rates.

There will be huge increases in the cost of rubbish going to landfills and only so much rubbish will be collected before a local tax applies for this purpose.

Our rates have been set for the next 10 years, a 50% increase over this period, so how much more are we up for in fuel taxes, water rates and additional taxes the mayor refers to? No GST will be returned to councils nor will there be any government grants. Mr Cull, one way to help fund the issues you have raised is get rid of the nicetohaves and concentrate on core services only. Ross Davidson

Wakari

Course option

AS a senior citizen and former University of Otago graduate, I agree with Andrew Paul Wood’s letter (ODT, 3.9.18).

It would be appalling if the art history programme was no longer available to the community. My understanding is this is due to declining student numbers in the art history subjects.

Recently a friend and I took some ‘‘interest only’’ art history papers at the university We had to pay about half the usual fee and attended lectures and tutorials with the regular students. We sat no exams or assignments but just soaked up all the fascinating information from amazing lecturers. What a treat.

However, these ‘‘interest only’’ subjects are never advertised so no one knows anything about them. If they were advertised and available surely this would bump up attendance numbers. Judy Smith

Dunedin

Contribution

THANK you Lisa Scott for your wonderful contribution to the ODT.

I eagerly anticipated ‘‘Tales From the Powder Room’’ and rarely did you fail to amuse and stimulate.

Latterly you wore your life on your sleeve with frightening honesty and wonderful wit. Enjoy your life in Oamaru and I hope that we hear from you some time in the future.

John Whitaker

Alexandra

Affordable homes

ARE affordable homes being sold for the cost of building and section, or is someone making a good profit in between, possibly the Government? For things to be affordable, homes should be sold without an inbetween profit, otherwise houses could become less affordable. M. A. Smits

St Kilda [This letter was referred to the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment for comment, but no response was received.]

The last word

FURTHER to the editorial on Invercargill (ODT, 5.9.18) and Mick Jagger’s unfavourable comment on the city, only half the story is told.

On being asked what he thought of the city, Jagger commented that he considered it the ‘‘a...hole of the world’’.

The quickwitted interviewer promptly asked: ‘‘And Mr Jagger, are you just passing through?’’

Peter Spiller

Christchurch