Let’s get Northland moving much faster

John Williamson writes an excellent, informative and no nonsense column about our transpport in Northland. In reply to his latest abot road user charges, with the hundreds of trucks using the road Waka Kotahi must be racking in billions of dollars. Where is it being spent?

I agree that there should be a rail user charge eventually but let’s build the rail that came close to extinction, up and profitably running before slapping line charges on it. Let’s revive the line to Moerewa Freezing works and the spur to the port first. There is a wave of horticultural produce that will need cartage in the near future. Then when that is profitable, add a tourist/passenger service with a line charge as part of the fare.

It is all in the long term plan, but government, together with council lobbying, needs to shorten the long term plan with “let’s get Northland moving much faster”.

Marie Kaire Ngararatunua Down with speed Everyone in our community deserves to get home safely. There’s a tonne of evidence that lowering speeds on dangerous roads saves lives.

That’s why I support moves to set safe speeds on Northland highways.

Drivers are human. We know all humans make mistakes sooner or later. No amount of driver training will ever make any of us perfect. Even highlytrained truck drivers have crashes. Let’s set safe speed limits so that when the inevitable crash does happen, the outcome is less severe. Up with safety. Down with speed.

Patrick Morgan Cycling Action Network Wellington Game of the name I totally agree with Malcolm Ford (April 29).

I’ve seen Drummond photos where one can see the Main Rd North and the crossing of Station Rd. There were about six farmhouses, some distant and one could have been a general store. The heading was Kamo. The name Kamo would have come from the local Ma¯ori.

All of a sudden by the modern Ma¯ori it needs altering as their elders didn’t know what they were talking about.

John Hansard Kamo

Napalm tests

This week the students of Australia in years 3, 5, 7 and 9 are undertaking tests in Literacy and Numeracy — and they don’t want to in many cases. One of the more unusual suggestions mentioned in the paper was giving the students a lollipop like when you get an injection. That was apparently the best suggestion for helping them to cope.

These tests conducted worldwide by P.I.S.A. — actually only in 80 countries — show that we are performing badly. The rationale for the local tests are that they will provide helpful information for parents, teachers and educational experts but all the teachers and parents actually get is a dot on a line that goes from below expected result to above expected result.

The tests are done mid-year, by which time any competent teacher would already know their students and their abilities and the results are not available till later in the year. NAPLAN stands for National Assessment Program — Literacy

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and Numeracy but I often called them NAPALM tests because of the damage they cause to the students’ confidence. As this occurs annually, so does the usual reporting of concerns with the tests, concerns with the quality of teachers and the hope for improvement next year. Dennis Fitzgerald

Melbourne