Flyover and underpass the sensible solution
Regarding the Pine Hill Rd-Great King St intersection.
Dunedin city councillor Jim O’Malley makes the argument that the only possible safe outcome for this intersection is a flyover and underpass, and I totally agree.
There are several companies who have made many stock underpasses about all of New Zealand, who I am sure are capable of designing and placing the required structure, only that it is a lot bigger project.
Just get on with it , before another accident happens.
It will never be cheaper than it is today.
Doom and gloom
The letters supporting Rosemary Penwarden’s illegal actions (ODT, 23.6.23) believe that others have done wrong, making Rosemary’s vigilante actions justifiable.
Ironically, they would consider actions of lies and deceit symptomatic of the industry they target.
Colin Campbell-Hunt stated our legal system defended the industry’s interests, but it defended everyone’s right for protection from fraud.
To blame the industry for "irreparable climate damage lasting centuries" is an exaggerated dire prediction, presented as fact.
Bert Holmes’ naive idea to put the "industry on notice" ignores our reliance on the petroleum industry.
There is evidence electric cars, wind turbines and solar panels are becoming the villains of tomorrow; their end-of-life unrecycled componentry is already causing worldwide issues.
The doom and gloom proponents will get airtime but science gives plenty of space for hope and confidence.
Who knew cleaner nuclear energy, reusing much of the previous waste, would now be back in vogue?
Election reading
The election is looming and so many local voters are still supporting the Labour and Green parties. Do these people even follow what is happening in our country and city?
Three Waters has not gone away. This Government has also closed charter schools, merged polytechnics, underfunded universities, changed New Zealand health providers, handicapped farmers and crime and criminal activities have increased.
All voters in our "Education City" should be researching the present health and education policies, both of which are seriously affecting our area in a detrimental manner.
Politicians announced that Dunedin would have a "state of the art" hospital but we already know that important and essential planned areas are being omitted or held.
Apparently the Government is now waiting for the cash-strapped Otago University and Polytechnic to pay for their own teaching areas. This is a cop-out. Otago University and Otago and Southland polytechnics have always been most successful and were financially viable until unwise changes and merges were introduced. Now southern finances are being shared with less successful areas and the results are obvious.
Huffing and puffing
The huffing and puffing of Peter Oliver and Gerrard Eckhoff (ODT 21.6.23) contain hard-to-fathom complaints about the opinion piece on farming by Civis (ODT 17.6.23). They present no research or references, no coherent arguments and in fact no clear statement of what is being disagreed with. I assumed this would be an opportunity to hear another side, instead there is polemic attacking the man and not the ball.
Tackle wait lists, don’t rearrange the deck chairs
The problems with prioritising health access by race rather than need are many.
Who gets to play "God" and decide the relative importance of a very sick versus a not so sick person whom this government wants to prioritise?
Do we next prioritise males over females because they traditionally have a lower life expectancy?
Should we also consider prioritisation by age-on the basis that a 70-year-old has had "a good innings" whereas a 15-year-old is just starting out on life?
What about usefulness to society? Do we really want to start calculating that a high court judge, should be prioritised over a drug addict?
I have a better suggestion. Why not look to eliminating waiting lists as a number one priority?
The UK experimented with a system of eliminating waiting lists about 30 years ago.
It was determined that the downtime of setting up theatres for different operations was a major inefficiency and so they embarked on specialisation to streamline operations, not unlike the methodology adopted by Henry Ford.
Hip replacements is where they started, and when they had cleaned up that waiting list they moved to the next operational logjam. It transformed the system.
Why did they not continue with it? The doctors and specialists objected to it as they had to work harder and longer hours.
The government has thrown eye-watering sums at lesser causes.
Surely it can do more than rearrange the deck chairs with this critical aspect of New Zealand society.
Utopia far away so get to grips with reality
Hysterical. That is the only word to describe the parliamentary debate over the alleged abuses of children at two Oranga Tamariki residences. Sadly, it demonstrated that mediocrity rather than statesmanship is the norm.
For Rawiri Waititi to declare that Oranga Tamariki is "rotten to the core," says more about his intemperate ignorance than it does about the hundreds of dedicated people in that department. And for Karen Chhour to declare the department is not fit to manage the facilities, without suggesting who is fit, does credit to the unthinking emotional retorts one hears in the street rather a parliamentary chamber where MPs have time to make considered comments.
Then we have Children’s Commissioner saying the residences should be shut down and replaced by a system that is fit for purpose, without any hint of what that might be. Now the minister, giving in to relentless, uninformed pressure, is talking about closing the residences in favour of "community facilities". As if we have not been there and done that.
There is only one way to eliminate the problems associated with taking children and young persons into care. It won’t be found in Parliament. The problems can only be solved by making parents fit for purpose. Since that utopia is a long way off, parliamentarians and officials need to get to grips with reality.
Survey misleading
I suspect that by now most people had enough of the troubles at Gore District Council. It was infuriating to read a somewhat flawed survey (ODT 19.6.23) and its farcical conclusion that the young mayor should continue and his chief executive should leave. Surveys are intended to produce genuine views and not to come up with somewhat misleading conclusions like in this survey.
Address Letters to the Editor to: Otago Daily Times, PO Box 517, 52-56 Lower Stuart St, Dunedin. Email: editor@odt.co.nz
