We must move on fire risk around Mt Iron

IT is high time some common sense prevailed, and the Mt Iron fire risk is recognised for what it is — a potential disaster which under the present circumstances is inevitable.

Property owners should immediately take action to clear the kanuka/manuka scrub for at least a

10m distance from any structure, and keep roadsides clear to allow safe access.

I was in the area today and saw for myself once again what has been talked about for years.

In this case, the Resource Management Act and its intent is an ass. Graham Taylor

Luggate

I AM surprised that councils allow houses to be built among trees, that insurers insure them, and that owners expect to be protected from fires.

Australians have learned to their cost that buildings surrounded by trees pose great risks.

Forest fires are akin to flooding on flood plains — they occur regularly and are to be expected.

Di Cook

St Leonards

Media studies

WAYNE Hope’s excellent article, ‘‘Media navigation skill critical’’ (Opinion, 9.2.21), stopped me in my tracks.

I am at a loss as to why the education ministry intends dropping secondary schools media studies from the level 1 curriculum of NCEA from 2023.

Media studies is an extension of language studies, which nobody disputes is essential.

Opinions and ideas have always reached us in many different ways — and this is not a problem in itself. But significantly, in the postmodern era, all ways are deemed (by default) equal.

Children and teenagers need to be taught how to discern the difference between a news story and a paid advertisement, between something that is a scam and something that isn’t.

If anything, this discussion should be encouraged earlier than NCEA. In an age of plethora, discernment is key.

Dr Helen White

Maori Hill