The East is easy to ignore
Once again Bromley is deep in a nasty situation: the poo ponds feature yet again.
Along the causeway separating the oxidation ponds has been erected a double fence line. Just why, no-one who I have spoken with knows. However, this has caused a problem, it catches and collects rubbish. Great!
The problem is no-one clears it and keeps things tidy, possibly because there is no gate or other access to the gap between the two fences. Even wildlife gets trapped, like black swans and geese.
This has been pointed out to the council by phone and action promised. Three weeks later nothing has changed; plastic, paper, and assorted rubbish has built up and now even a wrecked car is in there.
It would seem from total inaction that the council considers that Bromley and the eastern suburbs do not matter in the vast scheme of things.
If this happened in Fendalton, action on complaints would have happened yesterday. Bromley and the East can be ignored.
Tony Stevens, Southshore
Protest inappropriate
I find it disappointing that a legitimate protest group should lower itself to the pathetic criminal action of vandalism in order to make a point - which the ratepayer now has to pay to have cleaned up.
Yes, I get the whole flowing blood thing in the fountain, but it’s not particularly original. As for defacing Captain Cook, I wasn’t aware he even went to either Israel or Palestine! What’s the connection? How is any of this anything to do with solidarity?
And to do this on Anzac Day is tantamount to sticking their finger up to all who fought and died in both world wars, and to the families of those soldiers. They are the reason we can live in a country and have the right to say our piece, and to protest.
Lest we forget.
Victor Brown, Shirley
Scott should go
So Peter Scott, chair of ECan, admits on NewsTalkZB he has knowingly been illegally irrigating “part” of his South Canterbury farm (ECan boss winds back admission of illegal irrigation, April 27).
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His own consent applications with the organisation he chairs have been held up for 6 years by another government agency, Land Information New Zealand (Linz), which actually owns the land.
Ordinarily, you would expect Peter Scott to resign as chair. By his own admission, it is not the sort of behaviour he would advise other people to do. He has failed to meet a basic threshold demanded of his constituents. At a purely governance level, he has failed to meet the threshold of at least three of The Four Pillars of Governance Best Practice demanded of the Institute of Directors NZ — accountability, effective compliance and supporting a culture that leads through high standards of ethical behaviour and integrity. Governance 101.
And if Scott is not willing to resign, we should expect his fellow councillors at ECan, our elected representatives, to demand he does for exactly those reasons. Phillip Ridge, New Brighton [abridged]
Small step to better
Democracy is not ideal - it can be improved. Thanks to Liz Brown (Repealing Ngāi Tahu representation is regressive, April 29) for helping me understand more about a small step Aotearoa New Zealand has taken to improve democracy - which the current Government is about to repeal. The Canterbury Regional Council (Ngāi Tahu Representation) Act 2022 allows Ngāi Tahu to appoint two councillors.
Even though it may be a small step, this law is a treasure, like pounamu. The Act disadvantages no-one, and benefits us all, as Brown explains. Democracy needs to evolve so minority groups (like indigenous peoples with specialist, experiential knowledge of their ancestral land) are not undermined by ignorant majorities.
This Act is the opposite of “undemocratic”. It is a small step toward a better democracy because it ensures that indigenous knowledge has a place at the table. It represents a small step toward honouring Te Tiriti.
Elaine Mayo, Hoon Hay
Who pays?
Your correspondent Stuart McKinlay (Letters, April 29) still appears a little confused about who pays what with regard to building fees and levies.
In all cases at application time the homeowner is responsible for all council fees and government levies. Not the ratepayer!
Further, in the first instance, the council or the Government have to be the keeper of record construction works and the issue of a building consent is an appropriate tool to achieve this.
Secondly, having the builder take out insurance with Master Builders or Certified Builders is, as history has shown, fraught with danger. Some simply take the money and put it in their back pocket.
Thirdly, suing a bankrupt builder or their company is extremely difficult.
However I am sure Mr McKinlay would agree that the New South Wales compulsory insurance model of just over 1% of the construction cost for housing and 8% for units would satisfy everybody. Everybody except, perhaps, the homeowner, or in the case of units the developer, who of course will pay the builder as part of their contract.
This insurance covers non-completion and faulty building as a base rate.
Getting the Government to put this into law when housing costs are so high is, of course, another matter.
Red Sapwell, Amberley
Exploited women
Capitalism has always relied on an underlying unpaid support matrix to enable it to function, and increase the wealth of the fortunate few.
Flip Grater (Forget the ‘squeezed middle’, it’s women who are being wrung out, April 29) crystallises the long-unaddressed exploitation of women in society.
In the 1960s, as technological advancement began to replace workers, we were taught at school our problem in the future would be how to spend our leisure time.
There was no “trickle-down”. The money saved went to the top. It could have been distributed at least to fund those needs identified by Flip Grater: healthcare, childcare, disability and aged care, mental health, education, crime intervention and benefits.
But it wasn’t. So the unpaid workforce of women carry the can.
John Waldron, St Albans
Pleasurable read
A big thanks to Mark Walton for interviewing Mike Crean (Mike Crean master of words, April 27). A pleasure to read. And huge thanks to Mike for being so candid about his life.
I have enjoyed Mike’s writings about other things or people, but nice to read about him. I can imagine losing a day or three just listening to his stories.
Alan Grigor, Aidanfield
Wonderful article
Thank you Mark Walton for the wonderful article on Saturday. I did love reading Mike Crean’s articles, as I do reading Mark Walton’s.
Keep up the great work, Mark, as I do miss Mike’s.
Adrienne Tubman, Halswell
Ecological failure?
I’m not sure where to begin with rebutting Lewis Hore (Letters, April 29). Should it be the irrelevant appeal to authority from the 1980s? The generalisation of moa and deer browsing as “not dissimilar “(As though that settles it).
Or the fact he is comfortable comparing a beaked grazing bird to a jaw-grazing mammal! Six million moa were what would be called optimal.
Even 250,000 deer is shown to be suboptimal.
And comparing apples to oranges is just bad science.