Passenger numbers and sustainability
I would like to respond to a letter from Nigel Thompson (ODT 22.6.24). Mr Thompson is correct in his analysis of the situation. Bird strikes can happen anywhere and at any time.
So too is his statement that 67 paying passengers on a plane that holds approximately 180 people is not viable. Yet Dunedin is constantly being told that flights are not going to be sustainable. No-one seems to bat an eyelid when low passenger numbers happen in Queenstown.
Young Benjamin Paterson is doing more for the visibility of Dunedin than Dunedin's mayor who is more interested in connections with China than with our Aussie neighbours.
What do the community need to do to prove that they can support the flights? We supported them in the past and we can see from the comments on the Reinstate Dunedin International Flights Facebook page that it will be supported again.
As a Dunedin resident currently residing in Alexandra I much prefer to leave from Dunedin than battle the traffic through to Queenstown Airport.
Support the airport
Isn't it interesting that when the heat went on Dunedin Airport about their lack of engagement with the community they were suddenly uploading videos about the Fiji Airways visit — but where have they gone now?
There are so many rumours coming from staff at Dunedin Airport about the potential of flights. How about Dunedin Airport straighten out a few of these rumours: it is upsetting for people who are putting on hold trips to see friends and whānau in Australia in case the flights come back.
From my reading of Benjamin Paterson’s facebook page there has been no interaction from the mayor or other public figures since late last year.
It is a shame that they are demonstrating a hands-off approach with the campaign. I do hope that because of our city leaders’ attitude airlines do not see our lovely city as one that is not worth supporting.
Ben Paterson through his campaign has shown resilience, community engagement, and perseverance. A lot is to be learned from this young teenager.
JPs MVPs
It was interesting and informative to read of volunteer fire services’ contribution to core government services: I suspect the public has no idea of the volume of volunteer work that is given to government departments for core services.
Judicial Justice of the Peace (JJP) give annually, as I understand it, millions of dollars of volunteer service to court bench work. There are no financial support/payments provided. It is interesting you cannot find any statistics on this (hours or monetary value), along with the many JP (justice of the peace) services given.
The lack of government public recognition speaks to these comprehensive volunteer services being taken for granted.
Like there’s no tomorrow
Simeon Brown has decided that 120kmh would be a good speed on our roads. What an idiot. Several hundred people already die on our roads with the 100kmh speed. We have enough impatient people driving like there is no tomorrow.
Years ago we had a road traffic safety officer, Jack Henderson visit schools and talk to us regarding road safety. His words were "Better to be five minutes late than dead on arrival."
So don’t increase the road speed.
Tall, narrow, raining down in their thousands
As a family from Western Australia, on our first trip to New Zealand, we decided on a driving holiday. None of us were surprised by the contrast and beauty of your country. New Zealanders are very lucky.
Driving around, however, you chat and comment on what you see and in only a few days we concluded that New Zealanders have a love affair with witches hats (red cones). Back home we have little stumpy ones that are spread well apart. In New Zealand they are tall and narrow and no matter how modest the road works they seem to rain down in their thousands.
You can imagine our surprise when we came across the "Red cone infestation" article in the Otago Daily Times (21.6.24). Our take on the issue is that red cones may be a cultural phenomenon more than a traffic management matter.
The red cone army is here to stay and no amount of reasoned, logical argument will ever change it.
Address Letters to the Editor to: Otago Daily Times, PO Box 517, 52-56 Lower Stuart St, Dunedin. Email: editor@odt.co.nz
