Would be better if we let well enough alone
Over the past week we have been dramatically reminded of how devastating landslips can be. When landslips bring down tonnes of earth and trees, people die.
Santana's plan to build an enormous pit in an area which is seismically active is menacing. The wall is expected to be higher than the Clyde Dam and a single slip into the tailings could release a tsunami of water polluted by cyanide and arsenic.
There are no suggestions that remediation will be paid by Santana. Nor do we know if it will be possible to insure against such an event.
Rental property for workers will not be easy to find. It seems unlikely that 21st century workers will want to live as 19th century miners did, in tents or hastily built shacks.
We have no guarantees that mining companies will pay tax, nor that the majority of work will go to New Zealanders.
Nor can we be sure that Santana will abide by any imposed conditions.
Let's leave these great landscapes alone.
Future thinking
Thank you for the recent opinion articles in the ODT highlighting the proposed Santana goldmine in the Bendigo Hills.
I have visited the area on a number of occasions and have appreciated the scenic wilderness and wild beauty of the area.
The proposed enormous opencast Santana goldmine will destroy this and in its place we will be left with a large tailings dam, 2km long, containing significant amounts of toxic cyanide and arsenic.
That is providing there is not a major earthquake.
The shortsightedness and disregard for our environment by the current government in encouraging opencast goldmining in Central Otago is beyond belief.
The future of Central Otago lies in sustainable tourism, cycle trails, viticulture, horticulture and sustainable agriculture, not in large-scale destructive and toxic mining operations.
Slow down
Assuming that the current government loses the next election, and assuming that the Labour/Greens come to power, and assuming they will want to halt all mining in Central Otago, Santana might want to minimise its losses and put its activity on hold until they know the result of the election, and whether or not they will be able to continue.
If my assumptions are right, there will be no advantage being on the fast track at all as it is going to lead nowhere.
Mike’s insights
I fully agree with Mike Hosking’s recent positive, insightful perspectives about Dunedin city.
I moved to Dunedin from Auckland in 2019, when l retired. This was the beginning of a new stage of my life.
Dunedin provides me with good, kind friends, welcoming and highly capable professional businesspeople, a great health centre and a range of art galleries and libraries.
I value the young people living or studying in Dunedin as they bring layers of new cultural and visual influences to our lives.
Everyone gives their time and attention which is a joy to experience.
I feel a very strong connection to this city and I value the beauty of the Otago region.
Playing South Dunedin’s giant game of chess
I am sure a few of us South Dunedin folk feel like we've gone through the looking glass and landed up as pawns in the Dunedin City Council's idea of a game of chess — chequered square markings for the so-called upgrade of the Forbury Aqueduct (ODT 22.1.26).
We are still reading the same old moves of consultation, surveys, design phases and er, what comes next?
Oh yes, now we put the project on the shelf and let it sit for a few years. Let the next lot deal with it.
Well it's checkmate, DCC. You have spent millions of our rates on consultations and surveys for the "upgrade and renewal" over the last 20 years or more but not a new pipe or upgrade to show for it.
Well this time we want to see the pipes going in and pumping at capacity or it will be "off with their heads" if we don't get this flooding debacle fixed.
(Analogy quote courtesy of Lewis Carroll)
Use heritage to make our city great again
One size does not fit all, ’tis often said.
The best of rules and regulations the current government has placed on what local bodies can or cannot do, when it comes to applications to demolish heritage buildings and build anew, is a case in point.
For Dunedin, recognised widely as New Zealand’s heritage capital, the implications are huge.
But obviously not to the current government which wouldn’t know the difference between an apple and an egg.
So long as Auckland gets its second harbour bridge and Christchurch gets what it wants because it suffered a devastating earthquake, who cares about Dunedin?
Well, sorry mates, we do. We live here, take pride in our city and have every right to jump up and down when, without notice, the bulldozers move in and destroy what we value the most and visitors to the city come here to see.
I despair at the vast number of mostly sound family homes and gardens in and around the city currently being demolished block by block to create rows upon rows of cheap looking two-storey terraced houses. Tomorrow’s slums? Most likely.
It’s a case of "watch this space" right now at 284 Stuart St, where a historic home is currently being demolished after a failed public attempt to save it.
It is time the Dunedin City Council took back control of what it is elected to do by the people of this once proud city, rather than what is dictated in Wellington.
Yes, central government will quickly remind us our long-awaited hospital is finally materialising and we should be grateful, despite a huge battle by us to get it off the ground.
But that should not mean we allow the politicians to turn their back on our long-held reputation as the Heritage Capital of New Zealand.
It is time to put Dunedin, once known as a city of consequence, back where it belongs on the map and we need to let them know.
Address Letters to the Editor to: Otago Daily Times, PO Box 517, 52-56 Lower Stuart St, Dunedin. Email: letters@odt.co.nz
