Closing of roads far too ad hoc

I cannot criticise the police for closing the road. A shooting death is a serious matter and requires proper investigation. But I do criticise the authority (presumably NZTA) whose job it is to direct traffic. Closures on this busy section of road are frequent due to crashes. Yet every time it closes the response is ad-hoc and disorganised.

There needs to be signage saying where the road is blocked (in this case at Pohuehue) so people who only want to use the section of SH1 before the blockage know they can do so. There needs to be another sign saying “Detour for Auckland through traffic” pointing to the diversion. What we had at Warkworth was a bunch of road cones, a road-worker in a highviz, and a detour sign directing all traffic into Woodcocks Rd.

So people who just wanted to go to the BP station up the road or the other end of Warkworth were stopping and holding up the through traffic. The situation was the same at Puhoi the last time I and many others got caught up in a similar blockage due to a truck crash. I wrote to NZTA at the time and they responded that they needed to learn from feedback on these situations. Obviously they’ve learned nothing. Graham Barton, Bayswater. Who gave the Auckland Council and Auckland Transport consent to ruin our city? About 98 per cent of us do not ride cycles. On a recent Sunday, a lovely afternoon, I went to Briscoes from Ponsonby via Mt Albert Rd to avoid Pasifika and cricket. It took 38 minutes. Cones were blocking lanes, no doubt since Friday afternoon, for no reason except workers and supervisors were too lazy to move them to the side of the road. As for cycle lanes, in the two and half hours we were out that afternoon we saw three cycles. Ken Beguely, Ponsonby. Recently waiting at the intersection of St Stephens Ave and Parnell Rd, I had time to study the enormous new Holy Trinity Cathedral, the one that hosts the goldroofed Bishop Selwyn Chapel. Turning into St Stephens Ave I saw uninhabited real estate worth tens of millions of dollars lining both sides of the road — all owned by the Anglican church. Why did the Government think it appropriate to give this organisation $10m of taxpayer money to rebuild the ChristChurch Cathedral?

Isaac Donaldson, Devonport. Once we’re over enjoying the spectacle of our Aussie cousins squirming because three of its test cricketers were caught cheating in South Africa, maybe we’ll consider the welfare of those same men as they face their respective futures. Okay, so they were caught cheating, and have to “pay a price”, but those who’ve heard what under-arm bowler Trevor Chappell has had to endure, since his moment of brother-directed madness over 40 years ago — marriage destroyed and a lifetime of ridicule — will likely be asking for that “price” to be carefully considered.

Maybe these three could be allowed to continue earning a living playing cricket but, for a specified period of time, have a sizeable portion of their income forfeited to charity. That would help both the players, the game and the community, but more importantly help avoid a real tragedy. M. Evans, Tamaki. Thank you for publishing Simon Wilson’s opinion piece last Thursday. As one who was involved with producing the software that was used in consultations for the first few years after amalgamation, I was glad to see so much input. Before 2010 the longterm plan put out by each council might have attracted two or three hundred submissions, some of which did little more than question the mayor’s parentage. Now we are talking of tens of thousands, representing people who are encouraged to speak up. Some make you smile, some invoke anger, but each one is from someone with something to say.

I saw a good number of these over the years during software testing, and I have seen changes other than numbers. Groups that had no voice now have one and are using it with the disabilities advisory panel. Mainly, though, the criticism that once was destructive has become much more constructive and helpful. That was good to see and, over those five years or so, it turned what was a job into a privilege. It is good to see that continuing and gaining speed. Mike Diggins, Royal Oak. Wellington bureaucrats must be rubbing their hands together at the prospect of the new regional fuel tax. The bill now before Parliament makes it clear a whole new bureaucracy will be required. A couple of managers at $250,000 a year, more junior managers at $100,000 a year, a bunch of people to do the actual work of collecting the tax, an enforcement section to make sure all those required to pay it do so, a legal team to prosecute those who don’t, and a separate team to administer the register of those exempt from the tax or receiving rebates.

There’s no indication in the bill of the proportion of the 10c a litre (plus GST) this bureaucracy will consume. However the much less complicated administration of tolls on Auckland’s Northern Motorway consumes almost half of the money collected. Surely it would be simpler, more efficient and economically superior for the Government to simply refund to Auckland Council the GST it already collects on fuel sold in the region.

Jon Addison, Milford. Brigitte Purcell’s “can’t get a seat” experience on the bus is common in selfish societies like ours. It’s mirrored by the experience of millennials who need to buy a house. They drive around looking for a place to perch with their young families, only to see endless rich people hogging all the available housing.

G. J. Philip, Rotorua.