Letters: Otakiri Springs decision a joke

Appeals against the expansion of the Otakiri Springs bottling plant have been dismissed by the Environment Court. Photo / Charlotte Jones

Can somebody please explain to me how this Government can, with one hand, ban supposedly single-use plastic bags (I used them multiple times) and with the other hand approve the expansion of the Otakiri water bottling plant?

The expansion will allow 3.7 million bottles to be made on site each day for 25 years (News, December 18). Nearly 34 billion plastic bottles.

Assuming the numbers are accurate, then not only is it ironic, but it is also, in my view, obscene. Talk about hypocrisy.

To have the approval granted by the Environment Court is an even bigger joke, in my view.

Abridged.

Phil Hereford
Rotorua

Brave personal story of family violence

Wow, Carmen Hall, how brave of you letting us into your life and story (Opinion, December 21).

How empowering it is for others to hear personal testimony.

When you interviewed me some time ago about pastoral care and suicide prevention in the kiwifruit industry, I could feel your empathy and understanding but did not know how deeply you understood.

Thank you so much for being open and letting us further into your life – I hope in some way it will be further healing for you.

Ian Greaves
Tauranga

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