Hawke's Bay Today reader opinion: How many will shed tears from 'bubble fallout'

Quarantine free travel between New Zealand and Australia has begun, but beware the potential risk, says a Hawke's Bay Today reader.

Why are councils issuing resource consents for developments on land that is unsuitable?

According to Scott Richardson, only to get resource consent over the line. The first choice for access to the bike park was via Tait Rd, but the residents weren't having any of it.

Emails obtained under the Local Government Official Information Act show Scott Richardson, HBMBC president, calling for a meeting with the council to form strategies on combating opposition to using Eskdale Park that "… needs to be nipped in the bud asap".

Importantly by using Eskdale Park, and claiming wider community benefits, it opens up funding from the likes of the Lotteries Grants Board and others, that is why the HBMBC want access through Eskdale Park.

Eskdale Park does encompass an area larger than what we call the park. This land was donated over 100 years ago by Thomas Clark to be added to the park, and to be used for all people for all time, not until some minority group takes it over.

The tranquillity of Eskdale Park, the only reserve of its kind in the area, would be ruined by the amount of traffic that can be expected at a world-class track, if it is in the paddock next door. Pan Pac should be working with the HBMBC to supply access that is workable on their own land, especially for tracks only usable for 20 years.

Janice MacFarlane-Strachan
Napier

Complementary work

In response to your Letter to the Editor More for Estuary from Ross Angus on April 17, it's important to clarify that the proposed Ahuriri Regional Park is different to, but complements, work already done by Hawke's Bay Regional Council to improve the estuarine environment.

The author will be interested to know that in 2017, the regional council, Napier City Council and the Department of Conservation applied to the Ministry for the Environment (MfE) Freshwater Improvement Fund for funding to undertake activities in the Ahuriri Estuary to support water quality outcomes.

The total for this application was $5,717,900 of which 50 per cent was sought from MfE. This application was unsuccessful, but the regional council continued to invest $200k per year into the Ahuriri Estuary and catchment.

This investment has supported important environmental outcomes including fencing off nearly 17km of waterways, planting 45,000 native plants, and more than a thousand poplar poles for erosion control, 5.9ha of inland hill country has been reinstated back to a swamp forest wetland system to help improve the quality. Also a 12.7ha area has been retired and fenced and expanded with further native planting. We have also removed approximately 300 tonnes of invasive tubeworm and modelled water movement through the catchment.

The regional council will continue to work with landowners and Napier City Council to reduce contaminants going into the estuary and the addition of a regional park, as now being consulted on, will round out this restoration effort.

James Palmer
Chief executive
HBRC

Lockdowns coming

I am probably going to encounter a number of detractors in writing this letter, but in watching the television news this week, I found myself looking with considerable cynicism at the emotional reunions between New Zealanders and Australians on this first day of opening our borders to Australia.

Do not be surprised if we end up in another 'lockdown' situation as a result of this move. Was it not very recently that several states in Australia experienced community outbreaks of this dreaded virus, resulting in the closure of inter-state borders?

Why then is it suddenly deemed safe to open our borders to the same country, when we have all made considerable sacrifices to ensure our people are kept as safe as possible.

These people who are demonstrating emotional reunions chose to leave our country - often in pursuit of the mighty dollar, unlike my late father who travelled overseas, leaving behind his wife of two weeks, to serve and defend his country. He virtually had no choice, unlike so many of the New Zealanders who left our shores in pursuit of what they perceived to be a better and more lucrative lifestyle.

So, let us watch the inevitable fallout and then see how many genuinely sentimental tears are shed.

Glen Read
Hastings