Native tree plan won’t restore lake

The political games around Lake Ellesmere continue. The Government has announced a $2.6 million native tree planting scheme for the lake (Jan 23), suggesting this will help restore water quality.

It won’t – any more than a riparian strip of native planting where the Selwyn River flows into Lake Ellesmere has improved water quality. The trees have simply hidden the pollution from view and impeded river access.

The reasons for Ellesmere becoming an extreme environmental basket case are known to all interested parties – local and central government included. Top of the list are big irrigation and associated nitrate leaching. Unless these change, nothing at the lake will change.

Planting trees around Ellesmere will no more restore the water than Panadol will cure cancer. The tree planting is a job creation scheme. Talking it up as a lake restoration plan is misleading.

Bill Horsley, Rangiora

Virus ignorance

Nearly a year after Covid made its way to our shores, I am still amazed at the ignorance of some people, especially the owner of the Mad Cafe in Collingwood (Customers desert Covid-skeptic’s cafe, Jan 25), whose answer to why he doesn’t think people should have to scan the QR code in his cafe is because there was ‘‘no virus in Golden Bay’’.

I’m sure the people of Northland would have said the same a couple of days ago, but amazing what 48 hours can do.

The whole point of scanning is to keep ahead of the virus; no point waiting until someone actually has it.

And surely after spending winter locked down in Europe and 14 days in a hotel room, the golden beaches of Golden Bay would be a lovely place to visit, and someone might just venture to Collingwood for a little R and R. Let’s just all do the right thing.

Julie Casey, Riccarton

Appropriate name

The Mad Cafe is aptly named after reading the thoughts of the owner about Covid (p11, Jan 25).

I am sure the families of the 2 million who have died wish it was not real, or those who have been off work for months as they struggle to get better.

Could the owner tell me where he is

looking for the truth about Covid. Would it be on the QAnon website?

I do worry how we are going to get on top of this virus if we have people in the community who think like this.

Trevor Sennitt, Avonhead

Covid cards

Our first post-lockdown community Covid-19 case has finally happened. According to Stuff (We’d be getting CovidCards now, if ministers made different decision in August) we could have been using CovidCards by now, but the Cabinet kicked that can down the road, on the grounds that it would cost $168 million over two years, about $1.6m a week.

Given that a level 4 lockdown costs the country about $1 billion a week, that must have been a really tough calculation to make.

The Minister must have run out of fingers and toes.

Ian Orchard, Papanui

Town planning

Build up, not out, is the advice town planners should be following regarding population growth and land use. The continual expansion of residential land outwards only places greater cost and strain on transport and utilities, collectively for councils, and individually too.

The environment suffers, not only from increased carbon emissions from more car trips to the city, but also the continued transformation of farmland into residential land.

Individuals not in favour of increasing urban density will argue families need more space (and green space) than is available in dense urban environments. I don’t believe this argument because internationally land uses are far less spread out, and I’m not aware of issues with the spatial needs of families not being met. Potentially we need to place more value on our urban green spaces.

Build mixed residential, commercial, retail, and office space developments in and nearer to the central city. Town planners need to accomodate these developments.

R J K Franks, Christchurch Central

All night unnecessary

Between Sign of the Takahe and the Sign of the Kiwi cafe there are two sets of traffic lights at the moment. Both seem to be on timers and seem to be on all night.

There are now signs telling cyclists to stay on the one open lane and not to ride behind the cones.

As the cars are travelling 3-4 times faster than the bikes, the only way for a car to pass is for the cyclist to ride behind the cones. This is an accident waiting to happen as the lane is not wide enough for a car to pass safely.

Wilson Traffic Management has now put barriers across the closed lane, every 50-odd metres.

It’s fine at the parts when they are working, just two smaller sections at the moment, but after hours seems unnecessary.

Ian Shaw, Cashmere

Huge movement

One thing needs to be clarified in the article The student firebombers who hit US outpost (Jan 23).

It states: ‘‘In Christchurch, the antiwar movement was spearheaded by the city’s branch of the Progressive Youth Movement (PYM).’’

This gives a misleading impression. PYM was simply one small part of a huge anti-war movement, not only in this city and country but globally.

PYM was happy to have done its bit in the campaign to end that murderous war and to get this country onto the right side of history.

The campaign to do the latter continues to this day, which is why I and others will be protesting at the Waihopai spy base this Saturday. A luta continua! Murray Horton, Addington

Uni connection

I was pleased to see Professor Jim Flynn’s connection to Canterbury University acknowledged in his obituary in Saturday’s paper. It hadn’t been referenced in the news media thus far.

But Jim Flynn, with Austin Mitchell and Brian Edwards, were a central core of the intellectual and political activism in Christchurch in the mid-1960s. I was a student of theirs at the time, and an intimate witness to their influence.

Each one of them, in their 20s, and emigres from Britain and the US, would go on to be leading figures in their fields. Austin, who returned to the UK after making a name for himself in the media here, would represent Grimsby as its Labour MP. Brian became a mainstay of NZ radio and television as a commentator and host. And Jim, of course, broke new ground in his study of IQ and population changes over time.

But in those critical few years they played host to, and influenced a cohort of students who gainsayed the conservative reputation of the city, adding to its credentials as a centre of intellectual excellence and progressive thinking.

I’m just hoping someone will document this critical period in Christchurch’s (and Canterbury University’s) history before those of us who were there disappear. Susan Wauchop, Ilam

Woeful policing

Claire Coveney (Jan 22) wonders why DOC does nothing to punish the morons who deliberately kill birds nesting on our braided riverbeds.

The truth is, New Zealand has excellent legislation to protect wild and domestic animals ... but our policing of it is absolutely woeful!

Craig Minehan, Lyttelton