Imagine the value of having Taieri train trip back

WHAT on earth does the Dunedin City Council think it’s doing, trying to sell off the Taieri Gorge train and railway assets?

Instead of some of our secondary schools going to India to play cricket, or Nepal or South America, how about studying in our own back yard?

Otago University’s geology department does a superb presentation about the fossils found at Foulden Maar. The Middlemarch railway station will have all the information about the settlement of Central Otago and the museum there is first rate. Primary school pupils can even dress up in pioneer costumes provided by the museum.

How about a shearing demonstration, and animal petting corner? Ever been to the salt lake up there, or had a swim in the local baths? Leave your laptop behind and marvel at the amazing scenery from the train windows. A railway built with pick and shovel.

Come on, council. Look ahead, and don’t scrap one of Dunedin’s top tourist attractions.

Margaret Young

Mosgiel

Landfill plan

I AGREE with your editorial regarding the new dump site (ODT, 1.9.20). The Otago Regional Council must give it full and open scrutiny.

I attended the first meeting at Brighton about the issue, the 2GP presentation at Ocean View, and the recent meeting at Brighton. The ‘‘consultation’’ has been limited, superficial and cynical.

After the original meeting, the Dunedin City Council undertook to encourage recycling to keep the present dump open for as long as possible.

In fact, however, it accepted hundreds of tonnes of rubble from Christchurch, saw no irony in the same company that picks up the yellow recycling bins also picking up red bins into which anything can be placed, and has given up chipping and composting green waste.

For all ratepayers, there are issues such as leachate flowing to Brighton Beach — now Dunedin’s goto beach — and the flocks of gulls moving closer to Dunedin Airport. These and other issues must be addressed.

J. Munro Abbotsford