Brakes need to be put on Q’town development
Overdevelopment of Queenstown has finally caught up with them.
They haven’t kept up with the infrastructure according to the growth of the city. It has now become egg on their face, or should I say in this case crap on their face.
How hypocritical of this council and also the Otago Regional Council. Why does the QLDC think that they can put partly treated sewage into such a pristine river as the Shotover , and why hasn’t ORC been more forceful with the QLDC, knowing that this has been going on for some time?
All future development in Queenstown should be stopped until the sewerage and water infrastructure is put into place to handle growth. This cost should be put on to the developers, and not on the ratepayers who are already stretched to the limit.
[Abridged — Editor].
School lunch woes
Nearly half a million people needed to access food banks last year, and the number is still rising. For them, $20 a week for lunches for one child is unattainable.
The simple cheap lunch featured in a recent letter to the editor is heavily dependent on refrigeration. Cheeses, ham, and yoghurt need to be kept chilled to be healthy. There is no refrigerator supplied in a car, nor in a home where electricity is unaffordable. These foods are also unsuitable for children who are allergic to dairy products.
The quoted price is at supermarket level. It does not allow for people who must buy from a convenience store, where prices are higher and fresh fruit is often very expensive.
I find it surprising that the School Lunch Collective claims that there is no requirement for energy levels. Check most packaged foods and you will find that the energy criteria is top of the list. I have tried to find lists of ingredients which are said to be publicly available without success.
Mass production was always going to affect vitamins' effects, and was also going to avoid certain foods e.g. lettuce, which do not freeze well. There are additives which can affect some children, and without lists showing all ingredients truthfully, then there will always be questions. Most packaged foods have clear labelling of contents, including the percentage of an ideal daily allowance.
While there is no clearcut list of ingredients available, while meals continue to be delivered in less than optimum conditions, incorrectly issued, then the present system is most unsatisfactory and wasteful.
Tribunals and taonga
The kerfuffle over the inclusion of spirits recognised by iwi making their way into civic society is unsurprising.
In 1975 Parliament couldn’t provide a meaningful account of the place of the Treaty in our bi-cultural society so it established a tribunal to assist by identifying the principles that lay within. Five decades on we have some contested principles and increasing uncertainty.
I am no supporter of David Seymour but at least his approach has fuelled the debate which has been stalled for so long.
For me the problem is the meaning of word taonga in the Māori version, Article II, where the Crown confirmed and guaranteed the Rangatira the exercise of chieftainship of their lands, villages and taonga katoa — all treasured things. Hone Hika , when asked what are taonga, replied: "That which can be acquired at the point of a spear."
Can a spiritual belief meet this categorisation? I don’t think so. The sad reality is that this debate will drag on until Parliament shows a lot of courage and intellectual nous and brings down an interpretation of the Treaty that most of us can live with.
Important debate has one vital voice missing
About 700 signatures is a pretty hefty number of people, when it comes to the profession of psychology (Opinion ODT 24.3.25).
Since psychologists are a very diverse group of people was there not at least one dissenting voice — someone who could speak on behalf of the new plan?
The new plan, of course, promoted by mental health specialist Matt Doocey, is to bring forward newly trained young clinicians to bolster the deep shortfall in health professionals. A worthy cause, we might ask? Dr Helen Buckland-Wright seems to know it all, and rightly speaks for her profession.
But the biggest bunch of stakeholders in this issue are the client group and their families. Has anyone though to ask them what they think? Have the most important group in the equation even got a voice? It seems not.
On a roadie
I recently had a chance to do an inspection of Central Otago and the Mackenzie Country when the roads where very busy with visitors and discovered that the presentation of public rest stops lacked an acceptable level of maintenance by whoever is responsible. Maybe councils could get retired people to adopt selected sites, fix a few potholes and degraded info panels and signage. Some places such as Roaring Meg or Lake Pukaki shore access at Boundary Stream could even damage your car they are so bad. Otherwise it was great but maybe Lake Benmore should be considered a place of interest in the bigger picture?
Address Letters to the Editor to: Otago Daily Times, PO Box 517, 52-56 Lower Stuart St, Dunedin. Email: editor@odt.co.nz
