Forward-thinking essential

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Opinion

Lately I’ve written about the coming of a new age and preparing to live differently and more locally.

In an item in last Thursday’s paper, Lucy Lawless said “Climate change is the greatest threat humanity has ever faced and the age of oil must end”.

In your July 15 editorial you said a Labour government would reinstate our rail line south, and asked what commitment it would give to strengthening our road network. Dunno about Labour, but I’ll say this:

When the oil age peters out, keeping our roads well-metalled and sealed will be more of a problem than maintaining a more fuel-efficient rail link.

The steel rails are ready and waiting for the trains to run on.

For the roads, however, before long there may be no hard-wearing sealed surface at all. When the rural roads break up, we may have to leave those exotic pines to weed. They may become too inaccessible or uneconomic to harvest.

For these reasons we truly need forward-thinking politicians in both local and central government. We need our rail. National does not think we do. Work it out for yourselves — the general election is coming up.

Bob Hughes