Students vital but not worried about council
If students want an influence on the Dunedin City Council then it is quite possible for the 20,000 students to vote in their representatives.
I was at university in the late 1970s. I had no interest in local body elections or what were the issues in Palmerston North. My focus was studying, passing exams, getting on with flatmates and paying the bills.
I suspect the priorities for students today haven’t changed much.
I have lived in Dunedin for over 40 years. Retired I now have time to focus on local issues.
Students are a very important part of our cities community. Obviously there are also other valuable groups who are members of that community. Our city needs events culture and various amenities.
However a city cannot function without the basics: Three Waters, electricity and communication.
I believe Dunedin is at a crucial stage. We have a massive debt and our basic infrastructure needs huge investments. Although students and other groups have a reason to be concerned about their particular situation we need to look at the overall wellbeing of the city.
Certainly students could benefit from better housing. New houses and more students will require investment in Three Waters.
As a city these basics have been neglected and deferred for too long. Our electricity network hit a crunch stage and required massive investments. The result is a more stable electricity supply.
However it is the customers/ratepayers who are paying for this with huge increases in line charges.
We are now at a stage where less important investments have to be deferred for the sake of critical infrastructure. If we don’t make these hard choices now then rising debt and failure of infrastructure will force us into a position where we will have no choice.
Alan Paterson
North East Valley
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Party contribution
Given 2,880,000 employees in New Zealand, earning an average wage of $280 per day, and given that King’s Birthday costs employers a minimum of a day’s pay for a day off for each employee, the cost to employers for the nominal birthday exceeds $800 million - and it’s not even his birthday.
I say send Charlie-boy a cheque for a million bucks and a happy birthday card, and save the employers $799m.
R Hatherly
Dunedin
Steve Braunias. Photo: supplied
Certain leanings
I feel that Steve Braunias (The Secret Diary) constantly shows his political leanings and is unable to write an unbiased comment.
I am not of any particular political leaning but I find his continued basis for his weekly view of political events tiring.
All of the other parties, weekly and sometimes daily show plenty of fodder for his comments but he mostly lampoons the National Party and more often the leader.
He obviously lacks the courage to have a go at Te Pati Maori for fear of reaction and surely the Greens have plenty of scope for comment, let alone Labour and its leader.
Please can there be a bit more wider coverage to fill the top of the Saturday opinion page.
Ian Clow
Te Anau
Time to consider height restrictions for tall timber
We have all seen the recent devastation caused to and by our urban trees over the last few days, due to the high winds.
Have a look at the video of some students running for their lives from a falling tree outside the university, and the downed trees in Anzac Ave. There was a fatality in Wellington.
It is only a matter of time before this happens in Dunedin.
We will only get more of these high winds with increased Antarctic warming.
We urgently need some height restriction for trees in our urban setting, for safety and for sun.
Maybe 10m max? There are plenty of big trees in the Botanic Gardens, carefully maintained, for us to admire.
Andrew Smillie
Dunedin
Health, safety
An oak tree in a Mosgiel section needs to be removed for the sake of public ‘‘health and safety’’. Any passerby can visually consume this oak tree at no cost, but for the owners removing the tree, with its public physical risks, is costing them a lot. No government should take from a ratepayer’s property without the owner’s consent.
Jim Moffat
Caversham
Address Letters to the Editor to: Otago Daily Times, PO Box 517, 52-56 Lower Stuart St, Dunedin. Email: letters@odt.co.nz
