Scholarship stopped
Great station but . . .
In June 2010, the new railway station opened at Avondale. It is a vast improvement on the dingy old station, built on a curve that made it difficult for passenger access. It must be that curve that spooked the powers that be to ignore the freed up space for parking, but made it eminently suitable for leasing out for commercial use. We now have a great railway station built adjacent to a one way street, the primary school and a medical practice, and no off street parking. Now the local streets have all become defacto one way as train commuters compete with locals for parking. Is there any way common sense can prevail? You cannot encourage rail patronage in a situation like this.
Tony Goodwin, Pt Chevalier.
Promote cycling
I am a Dutch national living in Franklin Rd for the past five years. I fully concur with Simon Wilson’s article yesterday. Having been actively involved in the cycle lane debate, it is astounding to witness the ignorance of the country’s 20th century love affair with cars. All countries are promoting cycling bar New Zealand. The argument that Auckland is too hilly can easily be countered now that electric bikes have been invented. Bart d’Ancona, Freemans Bay.
Housing crisis
On the first day of Simon Bridges' new job, interviewer Guyon Espiner had to ask three times, “Is there a housing crisis?” Bridges finally admitted there is, but added, “for those it affects”. What breathtaking arrogance. The housing crisis is a shameful reality which has been allowed to fester for far too long. It affects us all, young or old, poor or wealthy. It has created huge physical and mental health costs and therefore higher taxes, not to mention a whole generation of parents who thought they might have a comfortable old age but now face retirement poverty as they juggle their own needs with their children's inability to afford a home. Mr Bridges' “them and us” mentality will not win him any votes in 2020.
Judy Anderson, Cockle Bay.
Discovery ignored
Ten years ago, research in astronomy that I led at the University of Auckland received scathing criticism by colleagues. Working with a US group, and using a technique conceived by Einstein, we deduced that stars in the galaxy frequently have large, icy planets like Neptune orbiting them. The result was of interest because the ice on these planets, and the water on habitable planets like Earth, may have a related origin. The high abundance of icy planets increased the prospects for a high abundance of habitable planets.
Yet all aspects of the research were written off, and remained so even after the results were confirmed by the Hubble Space Telescope. The root cause of the criticism appeared to me to be competition between different scientific disciplines. Such
Jacque Skinner
This is a fantastic video, not only doing the flight safety stuff but also showing the importance of research in Antarctica and the environmental importance of it! What happened at Mt Erebus was tragic but they haven’t used it or any memorials in the video and we can’t just not show any photos or videos of continents where tragedies have happened can we? competition can only be harmful for the advancement of science in the country. To register my concern I recently returned an MNZM that had been awarded for services to astronomy.
Philip Yock, Orakei. Not content with destroying the future of 1200 kids in their zeal to close charter schools, the Government has announced a decision to scrap the highly successful Aspire scholarship scheme, thus saving the sum of $4 million. This scholarship introduced in 2009 supports disadvantaged youngsters into private high schools and has helped hundreds of kids. The savings resulting from this decision, which will probably not cover the Education Department’s paper clip bill, will be put back in the general education budget. Once again this Government is showing that ideology is a far more important to it than what is best for disadvantaged children. Pat Taylor, Bethlehem.
Waterview effect
The much-anticipated Waterview Tunnel was built at a cost of $1.4 billion. According to the AA, the tunnel has meant a reduction in driving time for the Albany to the CBD route from 29 minutes to 28 minutes, and for the Papakura to the CBD route, a reduction from 39 minutes to 36 minutes. Really. Did somebody not do their homework on that project? John Walsh, Green Bay.
Julia Robertson
I am sorry for all those affected by Erebus. It will always be etched on our hearts & memories. However, when ever I drive through plimmerton, I always think of the friend I lost there 30 years ago. It has not stopped people driving on the road or it being used on TV, when they screen that area . . . We all have to take a step, cry a few tears . . . & accept that 40 years of mourning is quite long enough.
Craig Swanson
A flight safety video by an airline that was responsible for the deadliest New Zealand peacetime disaster in Antarctica is a joke. In his report, at the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Air New Zealand Antarctica crash, Justice Mahon accused Air New Zealand of presenting "an orchestrated litany of lies.” An Air New Zealand Antarctica safety video is just plain wrong. Reminds me of that meme, “You had one job.”