Council mergers unlikely: No surprise there

Of course voluntary mergers are unlikely – no turkey votes for an early Christmas.

The only support required at this stage is for the Government to forcibly merge the various councils for improved economy and efficiency. The Greater Wellington area has four city councils serving a population of only about 424,000. Those four city councils have four mayors, four chief executives and 47 councillors with fees, salaries and expense accounts to match. No doubt other highly paid positions are duplicated in local government, too.

In terms of population, probably the best comparison would be with Christchurch City, which has a population of almost 400,000, requiring only one mayor, one chief executive and 16 councillors. Christchurch is successfully emerging from major earthquake damage while Wellington continues to struggle with water leaks that are only getting worse.

Merely throwing more government money at the existing councils will not resolve the inefficiencies – and could probably make them worse. There’s an old saying: “Continue doing things the way you’ve always done and you’ll get the same result.”

As ratepayers, we don’t want the same result; and above all else, we want good clean drinking water when we turn on the tap. Spending millions on water meters would only put off the leakage problem for another day.

Gwyn Akeroyd

Zealand more than 50 years ago is stretching it a bit. It hasn’t been so since I was a 10 year old in 1949, lucky enough to live some of my childhood in the richness of a small Māori-Pakeha community.

Oscar Wilde, on exaggeration, reckoned lies become art when told often enough that they become the truth.

Another valid reason for leaving Petone alone, apart from the pedantic aspect, is that a name change would be an expensive waste of money that nobody bar a few, want, with potential to hurt ratepayers and small businesses that are already struggling.

Ask yourself a question: will a name adjustment for Petone improve quality of life for anyone?

Gary Lewis (Abridged)

Mark Roxburgh makes a good case for

New Zealand history to be taught in schools but not in the spirit he intends. There must be clear distinction between history and myth and he confuses the two. The word “Aotearoa” does not appear until the late 19th Century with the Treaty using “Nu Tirani” as the Māori name of our nation. The land of the long white cloud legend was one of the great tales invented by non-Māori writers and poets writing in the Romantic style of the 19th Century.

Being 35 years older than Mark, I learned many of them at school but they were never passed off as history – just stirring stories. The word “Aotearoa” was infrequently mentioned.

History has to be authenticated and since pre-European Māori had no written language this is difficult. In the Treaty, the Māori name for New Zealand, ”Nu Tirani” was acceptable as genuine but activists of the late 20th Century took up the spurious word “Aotearoa” and it became the politically correct word for protest movements.

I agree with Gary Lewis but rather than foisted upon us by stealth it seems to be the “woke” word of the moment and springs out at one from all directions.

Don Boswell