Letters to the editor: Congratulations on excellent article on Kaingaroa Village

An aerial view of Kaingaroa Village. Photo / Andrew Warner

Please pass on my sincere congratulations to Zoe Hunter for her excellent article on Kaiangaroa Village on May 6.

It was highly informative and warmly written about a place that has gone through the mill, so to speak, since the New Zealand Forest Service was disestablished.

Many of us were young teachers in Murupara in the 1970s and remember going to rugby and school fixtures in the village. It was thriving and had a wonderful wairua, so it is indeed most heartening to hear and see it rising out of the ashes to become great again.

Zoe did a tremendous job and empathetically wove her story about the new progress with stalwarts of the village putting a very human face on its recent chequered history, thankfully soon to be very much in the past.

It was most heartening to read and enjoy. Well done, Zoe.

Anne Mackintosh

Tauranga

How we can fight poverty

Columnist Sonya Bateson has correctly identified how close we all are to circumstances plunging us into poverty.

While it is good to support social agencies that work to bridge the gaps, such agencies alone can never lift people out of poverty.

As well as supporting the social agencies, we all need to do our bit, research and talk about the many causes of poverty and then press community leaders for change.

There already exists good research on the causes and possible solutions to poverty.

David Riley

Arataki

Congestion was avoidable

In regard to congestion around The Lakes, Cambridge Rd, Tauriko and SH29, this could all have been avoided.

The Tauranga City Council had control of the situation before housing and commercial and industrial buildings were built.

Why didn’t the council ensure the infrastructure, including roading, was in place before these developments started and their consents issued?

Also if the council says it did, then it should have at least planned out 10 years-plus, not now try to patch up congested roads and roundabouts.

Leigh Neilson

Tauriko

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