Pipes are our problem, not our Mother Nature
Re Jennifer Schulzitski’s comment on Surrey St and engineering our way out flooding if building houses on wetlands (ODT 3.12.25).
Well we did for many decades and managed very well. However population grows and pipes and pumping stations become too small or start to deteriorate and leak.
Countries all over the world drain land to use either for agriculture, recreational or building use. Our problem is old decaying pipes (oldest in New Zealand in South Dunedin which incidentally has the largest population of any suburb in New Zealand) and pumping stations too small to cope with the volume of water they have to process.
Causes are also increased impermeable surfaces caused by high density new housing and businesses on land that was originally playing fields (think the old Carisbrook) and or knocking down an old house with a garden and building two or more houses on that site.
This is occurring not just in South Dunedin but all over the Dunedin region. Thus more water instead of soaking into the ground is now having to be carried by pipes not big enough for the job.
Secondly, the wastewater debacle we have in Surrey St and neighbouring streets has nothing to do with the type of ground our houses stand on. It’s to do with an inadequately sized treatment plant and old leaky or undersized pipes delivering wastewater (sewage) into our streets from the hill suburbs (not even our wastewater.)
Before you go making glib "Mother Nature" type comments you would be advised to read the articles or letters that have been published in this paper and educate yourself on the water and waste engineering deficiencies we have in South Dunedin.
And, if you live in the hill suburbs start using an outhouse for your toileting then we won’t be inundated with your natural waste products.
Guidance offered
Jerry Walton (Letters ODT 26.11.25) has some unusual thoughts about the Waitangi Tribunal and Treaty.
In 1840, the Māori-language Te Tiriti o Waitangi was read and explained to rangatira, and many signed it. Common sense, natural justice and legal principle (contra proferentem) therefore prioritise Te Tiriti above the English versions favoured by the Crown.
Kāwanatanga (governorship) has much less force than "Her Majesty’s sovereign authority", claimed in the English Treaty. Tino rangatiratanga, guaranteed to Māori in Te Tiriti, is not just the property rights of the English wording; it amounts to independent authority. In 1972, Ruth Ross was the first to clearly elucidate these vital wording differences, previously hidden in plain sight.
The Waitangi Tribunal was founded in 1975, with its remit including interpreting the treaty, though explicitly requiring that both Māori and English versions be considered. Since they are irreconcilable, compromises of courts and tribunal have led to so-called Treaty Principles, but it would be preferable to return to the original treaty, Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
Like many New Zealanders I, a pākehā, believe it would benefit all of us if Māori finally regained their promised Tino Rangatiratanga, the ability to control their own destiny. Te Tiriti o Waitangi provides us guidance for a better society.
A fair question
If Netanyahu protests his innocence why would he need a pardon?
Missing credentials and evidence briefs
The ODT (Opinion 24.11.25) republished an article from the Conversation: "New Zealand is consulting the public on regulations for puberty blockers — this should be a medical decision not a political one" by Dr Rona Carroll of the University of Otago Medical School.
Dr Carroll stated: "The Ministry of Health published an evidence brief last month which found a low risk of physical harm from using puberty blockers." Because her article was first published in November 2024, the evidence brief she referred to is the one that agreed with the Cass report which found, as Professor Charlotte Paul explained, "there is an insufficient basis for saying that puberty blockers are safe or reversible".
Dr Carroll’s claim as to what our ministry had found is false.
Dr Carroll is on the executive committee of Patha, an organisation that follows the US World Professional Association for Transgender Health. Her byline should have reflected that.
[Dr Carroll advises that the latest evidence brief said that there was also insufficient evidence of harm, so saying there was a low risk of physical harm was true. Dr Carroll’s membership of Professional Association for Transgender Health Aotearoa was noted on the Conversation site, information which should have been included in the ODT version of the article. Editor.]
Wise words
Primatologist Jane Goodall (1934-2025) was greatly concerned about the damage being done to Earth by man. She said: "We are the most intellectual species to walk the planet, but we're not intelligent. If you're intelligent you don't destroy your home."
Address Letters to the Editor to: Otago Daily Times, PO Box 517, 52-56 Lower Stuart St, Dunedin. Email: letters@odt.co.nz
