Frog in the frypan: Letters, 19 March

The Bay of Plenty Times welcomes letters and comments from readers. Here you can read the letters we have published in your newspaper today.

 Letter of the Week:

Having spent the past four years as a student at the BOP Polytechnic Bongard Centre, I became quite accustomed to joining the daily melee to get a $3 per day park in the very limited student parking area.

Imagine then how surprised I am on a daily basis when I walk my dogs through 16th, 17th and 18th Avenues and notice the lines of cars parked on both the kerb- side and the grass, from the hospital workers who apparently are paid so badly that $3 per day for parking is too expensive for them to pay.

The huge tract of empty land directly across the road from the hospital and currently leased by Wilsons parking is available for the princely sum of $3 for all day parking (downtown workers - are you jealous yet?), and yet with the exception of perhaps five cars it remains empty on a daily basis.

The residential streets of 17th Ave, 18th Ave and Devonport Road are however, clogged with parked cars from 7.30am until 5pm.

So either they are too poor to pay what the unemployed students of Tauranga fight to pay every day, or they are simply so rude, arrogant, ignorant and tight-fisted that they would prefer to spoil the lifestyle of the residents surrounding their workplace than pay a measly three bucks a day for parking - wonder which it is?

Gill Doms, Tauranga

Be wary of hidden cost of alcohol

In response to 'Rethink our attitude to alcohol', we've become like the frog in the frypan.

How have we convinced ourselves that the fallout from alcohol misuse isn't that bad?

What about all the hidden costs that our hard-earned taxes are required to cover due to alcohol?

Students are dropping out of school because there is no money to buy a uniform or other necessities for school.

Alcohol distorts a sense of priority.

Boredom leads to crime which costs us big time.

What about sickness, loss of work in places of employment, child abuse and neglect due to alcohol?

If we truly cared for our Kiwi families we would stop the sale of alcohol from supermarkets and dairies and make our schools and public places alcohol-free zones, as we have for smoking.

To our politicians: for the sake of our families and national pride, please get out of bed with the alcohol industry.

Margaret Muirhead, Otumoetai

Couple of points

After reading the BOP Times I felt the need to write in support of two mums.

To the mum who smoked during pregnancy: I smoked during four pregnancies, had four normal births of four healthy sons who have grown up to be healthy men.

To the mum whose daughter took part in the naked bike ride: she probably felt the same as I do, that only misguided and narrow minded people think there is something wrong with the human body.

Elsie Adams, Bethlehem

An open mind

It seems to me that the BOP Times (15 March) is continuing the concept that all men are rapists or child abusers.

Funnily enough that is obviously not the case.

Seems to me that we have degenerated in our society to a point when men are fast becoming a minority, if the concept of equal rights is applied.

I take my hat off to the mother giving her 8-year-old girl an experience in the nude bike ride.

It's sad to see Alan Bell and Bob Miskoscrie given a platform to push their extremist views without some balance.

Maybe ask this conservative pensioner?

While I agree with the editorial that young children should not be included in protests (or door knocking religious groups), what would you rather have?

A "family" outing, or kids locked in cars or maybe farmed out to strangers while the parents express their opinion on a subject or other.

Don't disparage young children, they can comprehend quite a lot at the age of 8 given enlightened education by caring parents.

Or so it seems to me.

Roy Edwards, Tauranga

Governance

Your headline 'Millions offered to iwi' (March 17), should in fact read $33+ millions given to iwi!

Although this is on your front page you are still coy in bringing home the real significance of this huge gift to tribal Maori resources in the Bay.

The late Ian Smith of Southern Rhodesia withstood the arrogant claims of the British establishment to fight tooth and nail against his people forming a government.

Smith wanted to incorporate the tribal chiefs of the country into a new constitution with the principal of majority rule enshrined with safeguards that no legislation could impede this.

New Zealand and the rest of the Commonwealth stood with Britain against this, to let, in the end, Rhodesia go to the dogs.

Ironically, New Zealand seems to have no qualms in committing this country into the realms of tribal elites.

How extraordinary.

R. E. Smith, Tauranga

Water rates

Wow, you have to hand it to those fellows at the council.

A bit of an uproar about the water rate increases and they whip out a better alternative just like that.

You would almost think they already had one half-baked.

Instead of a huge, in your face $46 annual increase, it will now be $6.40. What?

Why wasn't that the first option?

Obviously there are now another bunch of questions to ask:

What was the $3m debt for? Is it owed to a bank or another council department?

Have they looked for efficiencies in the water department to cover the shortfall?

What happens if we have a couple of dry summers or if people decide to have longer showers? Will they drop the increase?

What happened to the silly looking car with a humungous tap on the roof?

Did it do its job too well? Will they now get rid of it?

In the council's defence, they produce some of the best drinking water in the world at a reasonable price. Private enterprise could probably do it slightly cheaper but the savings would never reach the ratepayer.

Also we could never interact with them in this way as we do with the council.

Dan Russell, Welcome Bay