Growth doesn't pay for growth, ratepayers do - and it goes on and on.
Spare us the "Three Waters" bull, the unending road reconstructions designed for everything except cars, and the sports fields now destined to be low-cost housing (yeah, right) and send them somewhere else.
Dan Russell
Tauranga
Three Waters deal 'lousy'
The Three Waters Reform is a lousy deal for ratepayers, in my view.
The Government proposes that all the infrastructure assets which now provide our drinking water, and dispose of wastewater and stormwater, be taken from the ratepayers who have paid for it over the generations.
The law requires councils to consult with their ratepayers before any major assets are sold or disposed of, but how will that consultation help when the basic proposal is, in my opinion, flawed at its core?
If Government gets its way, almost a third of the assets owned by council ratepayers will be confiscated and handed to huge regional bureaucracies.
Somebody forgot to tell the Government that "local" means making decisions at the local level.
Ratepayers are waking up: at the last count, more than 500 have written to our council, opposing this proposal. People are worried, and rightly so.
The whole proposal is fundamentally flawed and should be scrapped.
Margaret Murray-Benge
Western Bay of Plenty District councillor
Bethlehem
Too much junk
It is a crying shame that we have to buy junk that only lasts a few months and then cannot be repaired and gets thrown out.
It is definitely better to buy more expensive items that will, hopefully, last.
The problem is better quality is hard to find.
It must surely be within the compass of Kiwi ingenuity to be able to manufacture electronic items, toasters, heaters, irons, etc - surely it would be something worth looking into.
I hate having to throw away electrical goods that have not lasted a year.
Jim Adams
Rotorua
The Bay of Plenty Times welcomes letters from readers. Please note the following:
• Letters should not exceed 200 words.
• They should be opinion, based on facts or current events.
• If possible, please email.
• No noms de plume.
• Letters will be published with names and suburb/city.
• Please include full name, address and contact details for our records only.
• Local letter writers are given preference.
• Rejected letters are not normally acknowledged.
• Letters may be edited, abridged, or rejected at the Editor's discretion.
• The Editor's decision on publication is final. No correspondence will be entered into.
Email editor@bayofplentytimes.co.nz
