OVER TO YOU

Cottoning on

With all the discussion on the increasing road toll, no one seems to be addressing what I believe to be an underlying cause. In this country everyone is wrapped in cotton wool, child discipline has been taken from parents’ hands, children don’t fail at anything even the lengths of scores at our games don’t get recorded because it will make the losers feel bad. So undisciplined drivers, who have had no boundaries, who are sick and tired of being preached at and wrapped in cotton wool, seem to have adopted the attitude that driving like idiots is expressing their individuality and it is their ‘‘right’’. They have no boundaries and have not been taught that other people’s property and rights should not be impinged upon in the pursuit of their own life goals. These people are reacting to the establishment they see as holding them down, or back, and as such drive in a manner that is a raised middle finger to the rest of us. The consequences of appearing in courts are most often a slap on the wrist, which can be ignored, so we get drivers who just don’t care and will continue to repeat their behaviour.

Lee Hurley

Manaia Hedge Hassle Part II

With reference to John Wheeler’s letter and his roadside Hedge Hassle (TDN 5/4/18), one could almost presume that his confusion and dilemma may be a part of the council’s standard modus operandi?

Not that long ago one of my neighbours faced a similar situation with the NPDC regarding road-side plantings.

As a part of obtaining a building permit from the NPDC, they had to have an approved roadside planting plan that enhanced the long-established existing trees and shrubs.

All well and good, and many hundreds of dollars were spent complying with the council’s requirements - only to have PowerCo contractors come through not long afterwards and chop everything down...

Tim Busby

Egmont Village

No change on climate view

I regret to say that, while there is a lot of talk about the need to do this and that by government and Green ministers, there exists in the bureaucratic bowels of the system a lot of policies and obstructions which work in reverse. The media outside Taranaki has picked up my comments on this and there have been four articles in the Wanganui Chronicle and Farmers Weekly highlighting some of these.

I pick up just one of these matters in my Letter to the Editor.

MOI has belated started to say that they will have to review some of these after being adamant that they will defend their position.

The truth is that, given everything, carbon farming is a great opportunity for back country Taranaki, using only the worst of steep land. That is, if innate ultraconservative attitudes can be overcome.

Neil Walker

Chair of TRC Policy and Planning Committee

How many think so too?

Here we go again: council making a big job out of a little one. Rather than what could be a waste of ratepayers money trying to create repairs that could, with extra storms and swells, still be destroyed, a simpler quick solution would be to take out the damaged part from the two landings that are very stable at the moment, and put diagonal stringers between them - even using the same treads.

All could be done in a day with two good men and a four-wheel drive on the beach taking away the surplus. Screws, forget bolts and nails, could last for years with a bit of retaining using deadmen and cover helping stop wind erosion. Done in a day.

K A Harvey

New Plymouth

Great work

Dean Peter Beck has done a great job making St Mary’s and his faith relevant to an increasingly secular Taranaki. I thought he explained the meaning of Easter well in the TDN article (March 28). The success of the Taranaki Cathedral Project (the $15m upgrade of St Mary’s Cathedral, which I support) will only succeed if the drivers of it can explain its relevance to the public at large. In my opinion, this laudable project will get more Government funding (plus bi-partisan political support), if it pivots more toward becoming a Memorial for the NZ Maori Land Wars. As an aside, Central Government shouldn’t require local councils to make decisions about fluoride in their water supply and Easter Trading on Sunday. Such decisions should be made by the Ministry of Health and Central Government.

Bryan Vickery

New Plymouth