Letters: Council elected to make decisions, not just kick the can down the road
Council elected to make decisions
We’re in a bizarre situation where a retired Environment Court judge has hired a lawyer to make a submission about a change to the Auckland Unitary Plan. That just shows how absurd the whole thing has become.
I haven’t yet read the bloke’s submission, but I have an open mind (although not an empty one).
I note that the retired judge lives in Parnell (where, heaven forbid, he might see some “Terrace Housing and Apartment Buildings” zoning in his backyard) and was appointed as a judge in 2001 by then-Justice Minister Phil Goff to “reduce backlog” in the Environment Court.
Respectfully, judges and the people who want to kick the can down the road have created the problem, which council and government have been trying to solve.
Plan Change 78, introduced in 2022, already provided for two million dwelling capacity. Plan Change 120 focuses it around transport infrastructure like busways, train stations, the $6 billion CRL, and areas close to the city centre, which are often inhabited by retired judges and KCs (the types of lawyers rich people use) and stops the nonsensical practice of allowing development in flood plains.
For the learned judge’s information, 10,000 people have made submissions on Plan Change 120 – the biggest number we’ve ever had for plan change - and staff are now diligently working their way through reading them. That might sound like a lot, and I’ve no doubt there’ll be some well-considered ideas in there, but it pales in comparison to the 27,000 who made a submission for the 2024-2034 Long Term Plan and the 180,000 Aucklanders who voted for me.
We’re elected to make decisions, not just kick the can down the road. That seems to be a privilege reserved for the judiciary, and lawyers billing by the hour.
Let’s see what Aucklanders think, not just one retired judge who’d be better off focusing on his gardening.
Wayne Brown, Auckland.
Lazy political option
Our sportspeople excel internationally, and we assume they will. From a small population, they hold their own with the best in the world.
How is it that our political leaders prefer the lazy option when confronted by challenges? The latest plan is to spend more than $1 billion on a liquid gas facility. Am I the only person who thinks this is mad?
Climate change is real, we are no longer debating this. Fossil-fuel burning is one of the drivers of climate change. Undisputed fact. So why spend billions to build a facility for gas that will have to be imported?
New Zealand has no control over international prices, and it is naive to imagine the price will be stable. The gas will supposedly only be used in the “dry” years. Who believes that?
With that money, New Zealand could hold a place on the world stage for innovation, smarter use of the resources we have, and deliberate efforts to offset the drivers of climate change.
It is high time the Government lifted its game. There’s more than savings and security here. Deliberately burning gas instead of developing renewable technologies to power the nation? What will our grandchildren think?
Margaret Malan, Greenlane.
Sharing the blame
Paul Hamilton (Feb 11) says local government needs to be accountable for the ongoing spate of sewage spill disasters that look never-ending. However, the finger also needs pointing directly at central government which has “to-and-froed” over funding water and waste infrastructure.
Not so long ago, the three waters solution was thrown out for all sorts of political reasons, and no decent alternative has since flowed from central government sewers (excuse the pun).
We are now paying a price for years of handing the accountability for decent infrastructure on to others. The result? Degraded environment, huge clean-up costs and still we have an inadequate infrastructure with no manageable solution in sight.
Neil Anderson, Algies Bay.
Making excuses
My sympathies go to long-suffering Wellingtonians, and in particular the ratepayers.
After reading various reports and comments about the failures of their council’s water management, I am reminded of that quote of Benjamin Franklin’s: “He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.”
Barry Watkin, Devonport.
Not so clean and green
The Herald editorial of Monday, February 9, claims that “the majority of our country is beautifully unspoiled.”
I feel that it should be pointed out that the majority of the country has been, ummmm, clear-felled.
Most of our lakes and streams are unswimmable, thanks to the pollution from farming, residential and industrial activities on the said cleared land.
The once-thriving Hauraki Gulf is being bottom-trawled as we speak.
And here in Browns Bay, there are notices beside the large drain pipes voiding to the beach advising children not to play in the toxic water emanating from them.
Martin Adlington, Browns Bay.
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