Letters to the editor: Get the infrastructure basics right before we beautify

Durham St opened in October 2019 after 16 months of construction. Photo / Andrew Warner

In a recent meeting, the council heard from staff that the existing water infrastructure model was not sustainable and Tauranga needed to invest more (News, October 4).

Therefore the question must be asked: why then, has Tauranga City Council spent so many millions of dollars on superficial projects such as the Greerton main street abomination, beautifying Durham St, eat streets for Wharf St and Elizabeth St (with more to come), the Mount phoenix carpark concrete jungle and so on, when in my view this money could have gone into more water reticulation for the residents of Tauranga?

Get the basics right. Attend to the infrastructure then do the nice-to-have projects.

We have paid rates in this city since the late 1960s. I don't mind paying rates but what I object to is the, in my opinion, ridiculous waste of ratepayers' money on phenomenal overspends and botch-ups that I believe this council has been guilty of over recent years.

The list is long. I think we all know that list by now.

In my view, there is an ingrained element of incompetence at City Hall and a total lack of commonsense plus no accountability.

I totally object to the Government's flawed three waters scheme and the ultimate loss of control of our assets at a local level.

A Barbara Steele
Judea

Put pandemic response first

The announcement (News, October 8) that Ward 4 at Tauranga hospital is going to be converted into a Covid ward and that it should be ready by Christmas is good news but in my view far, far too late.

Surely with the Delta variant now hovering around us this facility should be ready months ago or is this just another example of this Government's ditherings?

This seems to just be another example that this Government is not able to plan as we have had Covid for over 18 months and also what then happens if Covid arrives before Ward 4 facilities are completed?

Rather than concentrating on proposed health system reforms, our Government should be exerting every effort into combating this pandemic as the stated nearly $500 million, of establishment costs for the proposed new system, could well be significantly better spent elsewhere.

This Government must do better and achieve greater goals than it is currently achieving which seems to be heading to a massive fail, in my view.

Mike Baker
Bethlehem

How are experts made?

I had no idea that we have so many experts, ologists and professors in this country as have become apparent over the last six months or so.

Now this begs the question: how does one gain the required qualification to be an acknowledged expert?

Just thinking.

A.D Kirby
Pāpāmoa

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