We wanted sunny day DCC councillors please
An analyst (ODT 14.10.25) claims to be perplexed by voter choices in this year’s DCC elections.
It is no mystery that people voted for a change in policymaking and in the mix of temporary policymakers. A few of the latter are seen as having been institutionalised to the point at which they start to believe that ratepayers serve them rather than the reverse.
We don’t want any banana republic behaviour here, and certainly not situations perceived as "councillors versus ratepayers".
Cash-strapped voters are desperate for a fresh approach, a firm step away from time-wasting litigious blustering and vanity project money-wasting.
What we need is a council of fair and reasonable representatives who will focus on what this city needs first and foremost, and who will put ideological projects away for sunnier financial days.
Toothy grin
It is enlightening that in the recent election the vampire out polled the antivaxxer by more than 2 to 1.
Right idea, wrong place
After reading the ODT coverage concerning the possible construction of the inland Port Otago facility in Mosgiel I am convinced this is a bad idea only for the fact of incorrect location.
People of Otago, especially Mosgiel, please consider the following before "fast track" destroys your lovely semi-rural area of North Taieri and the lovely town of Mosgiel.
Consider North Taieri, and then compare it to Milburn in South Otago, site of the previously reported Calder Stewart proposal.
North Taieri does not have direct access to the main trunk rail line: Milburn has the rail line beside it.
North Taieri does not have direct truck access to inland facility — an expensive bypass is required). Milburn has direct truck access off State Highway 1.
North Taieri does not have direct truck route to Port Chalmers. Milburn has SH1, right through to Port Chalmers
The North Taieri proposal is to be built on good arable land, suitable for farming or housing). Milburn already has industry on site and is ideal for further industrial development. Milburn and Milton can do this and need it.
Leadership hailed
I am writing in response to today’s article (15.10.25) about the University of Otago’s Department of Marketing.
The university wishes to make it clear that Professor Kirsten Robertson did not step down from her role as Head of Department due to any concerns about her leadership or management of departmental matters.
Unfortunately, the way the article is framed may inadvertently suggest otherwise, and I want to ensure there is no such inference in the public domain. The university has consistently valued and supported Prof Robertson’s leadership and at no time have we had concerns about her performance in the role.
We thank her sincerely for her significant contributions as Head of Department.
We also acknowledge and appreciate the work of Prof Fiona Edgar, who has now taken up the Head of Department position. We wish to emphasise that she, too, is in no way implicated in the matters discussed in the article.
Questions asked about second former gas works
The Dunedin City council faces an $8 million bill to remove toxic tar from a contaminated gas works site.
Oamaru also has a contaminated gas works site, complete with a tar pit. Some work is currently being carried out at the site. There is a document "Guidelines for assessing and managing contaminated gasworks sites in New Zealand".
Is the current work at the site being monitored and clean up guidelines being adhered to? Should the site be closed to the public while work is being carried out? What happens to the toxic material being recovered?
The contaminated site is on the Oamaru coast. The land was prone to erosion and large rocks were placed along the face of the land to protect it. A short distance from the site of the gas works tar pit, at the edge of the land there has always been a strong smell of tar fumes. This is still relevant today.
This would indicate that for many decades tar has been seeping from the site. Slowly making its way down the bank, underneath the rocks and stoney beach and entering the marine environment.
Oamaru’s coast has faced many environmental issues and this is just another one.
Placing a value on each person doesn’t work
Of what financial value to the country is the life of each citizen? The answer is it depends, and on so many factors.
On what you do, what your skills are, how much you contribute to the economy; as well as who you know, or are related to, how you spend your money, whether you are in prison, how old you are. Some people are of no value at all.
Recently we learned just who comes into the last of these categories: from November 2026, young people between 18 and 19, with no job, not in training or education, and whose parents have a joint income of as low as $66,000 upwards. Their value is so low that they can expect no financial backing from Jobseekers Support, even though the job market is at a low ebb and still falling, partly as a result of government policies.
While announcing this decision, the prime minister made some disparaging comments about this group. One was that they didn’t know how to work.
For decades, during holiday jobs or work experience, secondary school students have learned all the intangible skills of being a good employee, as well as the job itself. Many of the jobs they did have disappeared, or are filled by casual or part-time adult workers who also need employment. Increasingly, students or school leavers cannot get a job as many employers require experience.
One group who do appear to be of great value to the country are people in prison. We pay up to $150,000 per year to keep them there. Even a fraction of this money could have a significant positive effect in assisting young people who struggle to get opportunities. Instead, some of them will surely join the prison population, where the time wasted there only rarely has any positive outcome, and further high costs to the country often occur later.
As a country we could do so much better than this.
Address Letters to the Editor to: Otago Daily Times, PO Box 517, 52-56 Lower Stuart St, Dunedin. Email: letters@odt.co.nz
