Dunedin ‘experience’ is not fun for everyone

IT is a matter of increasing concern that Dunedin's planners are, little by little, making access to town difficult for the elderly and the less mobile of its citizens.

Maxine Hall touched only the tip of the iceberg in her comments regarding parking near the museum, and the latest grand ideas round the Octagon exacerbate the situation (Letters, 31.1.20).

Last year, during the election campaign, I heard Mayor Hawkins respond to a group of residents who expressed their disappointment at the changes in transport which reduced significantly their ability to go into town, choose their own clothes or toiletries, perhaps have coffee with a friend.

The problem was finding a park close to shops; even when a van could transport them to town, there is a significant shortage of suitable parks for these vans. And what there could have been were transformed into ‘‘parklets’’.

The loss of independence can be a cause of great distress as we age. It would seem that our planners are more interested in providing a city for the young and mobile — even the logo for the Octagon Experience features eight upright and mobile figures. No walking sticks, no walking frames or wheel chairs. And the heart of our city is now cluttered with obstacles.

‘‘Trials’’ have a nasty habit of becoming permanent features.

I do hope a greater breadth of vision is brought to bear on this development which will demonstrate that Dunedin is an inclusive city that respects and upholds the dignity of all its residents.

B. Dineen

Glenross

Titles

GARY McEwan’s objections to titular honours (Letters, 28.1.20) needs to be balanced against the fact that almost 85% of those appointed to the two top levels of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the period 200008 chose to be redesignated as knights and dames when the opportunity arose, and that Bill English was knighted on the recommendation of Jacinda Ardern — scarcely an ageing white male with Rightwing political views.

It is also ironic that the temporary discontinuation of titles should have been implemented by Helen Clark, who on accepting membership of the Privy Council of Great Britain in 1990 both took the style of ‘‘Right Honourable’’ and swore an oath of allegiance to the Sovereign of the United Kingdom.

The egalitarian principles of the slaveowning Founding Fathers of the United States are perhaps not transparent. The prohibition of titles of nobility in the United States Constitution clearly prevents the official award of titles such as duke or baron, but did not stop serious consideration being given to calling the President ‘‘His Mightiness’’ or the creation of the hereditary Society of the Cincinnati or the use of titles of office by retired holders or the use of ‘‘the Honorable’’ by judges and elected officials or the proliferation of halls of fame and elaborate honours systems such as the Academy Awards.

Gregor Macaulay

Mornington

[Abridged]

Oamaru gulls

A CALL has been made to ‘‘exterminate’’ the seagulls who are occupying several central Oamaru buildings (ODT, 31.1.20). Apparently, their excrement on buildings and footpaths looks extremely messy.

Some people in Oamaru have short memories. It not so long ago when Oamaru's five ocean outfalls spewed a cocktail of untreated sewage and industrial waste into the blue Pacific Ocean.

I would consider the seagull’s excrement is nothing to compare at what was dumped into the marine environment and the waste that also littered the foreshore.

What goes around, comes around. Lorraine Adams

Oamaru