After all, these little beings may be our future scientists, designers, nurses and surgeons.
How about that for some great investments and no embarrassment?
Russell McKenzie
Pāpāmoa Beach
Wards are better
I cannot agree with Mike Baker's view that to elect all councillors at large will create a better Tauranga council (Letters, June 29).
In my experience district and city councils are stronger when councillors are elected from wards.
If Tauranga wishes councillors to reflect their communities, it is logical there will be greater diversity of representation if councillors are elected from smaller wards.
At the moment the wards are far too large, and this will apply to the Māori ward the commissioners have decided to introduce.
When councillors come from smaller wards, they are closer to the people they represent, and the people are more likely to identify with their local councillors.
When councillors are sworn in after an election, Baker is right, they swear to represent the whole city, but it is easy to take a whole-city approach as well.
Representation from smaller wards would mean the city is more likely to get a better balance of women who are missing in local government, and greater ethnic diversity.
But fundamental is the need for good leadership, and people should be searching now for the next mayor to lead the next council term.
Margaret Murray-Benge
Bethlehem
Pay-your-own-way forward
The millions of dollars being wasted on emergency housing amazes me.
An average of $400,000 a week in Rotorua is dead money. Surely someone with more grey matter than those ready to dish this money out must be able to come up with more- prudent uses of taxpayers' money.
Why not evaluate people and families to see if they would be interested in owning their own homes and if they were of a mindset to look after said home.
Instead of making the motels rich, the Government should buy appropriate houses and put these people into them on a pay-your-own-way forward.
People put into these houses should pay rent they can afford, and rates and insurance as if they owned them, like the rest of the community does.
The house can remain state owned in perpetuity, but the owner can live in the house as long as they live and can leave it to family only.
It goes back in the pot if no family can be installed as the next owner.
Admittedly, there will be those in temporary accommodation who would never be suitable for rehoming.
These people need different things and that's another problem the Government needs to sort out.
An alternative to just chucking money and dreaming of building enough houses to fix this problem would be a challenge for any government.
Rod Petterson
Rotorua
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