Letters to the editor

Don't knock this facility
I am writing in response to the very negative letters there have been regarding the new housing for mental health people.
One comment has been, "It is a very busy road".
I travel Riverbend and Willowbank Rds frequently and do not find them busy. What do the roads have to do with care for mental health patients anyway?
If anyone of us, or our families, were in a car accident or similar, we could end up with head injuries and mental health issues also, so surely it is a good thing there is now somewhere for these people to be looked after in a safe environment.
Meg Dawson, Napier
Safety no better
I am unsure whether the cycle lanes that have sprung up all around Hastings are a legal requirement or a Hastings City Council initiative.
Either way, if done as a safety measure, surely they do nothing in this respect, ie cars still park parallel to the kerbside and the door-opening hazard remains. The lanes themselves reduce the road width for motor vehicles.
Bicycles, however are allowed to use either the lanes or the road, indeed some of the time they have to. Can someone explain to me how this adds to the safety of cyclists?
G E Williams, Hastings
Fair systemYour correspondents seem to think that the only option to FPP system of electing parliament is MMP.
I am not sure why everyone is stuck in that rut.
The very best system is STV where every vote really counts and where every member has to be elected.
It provides a totally fair system of proportional representation while doing away with the odious party list.
Of course, the politicians will not promote STV because it prevents them from getting a seat in parliament without having to front up to the electorate.
There are many MPs who would never, ever be elected yet they can even be ministers.
I urge Peter Bailey and A Thomas and everyone to become familiar with the STV system and then start working for it.
Vote for STV in the referendum.Sid McCannPirimaiPraise for staffI am writing to say thank you very much to the wonderful staff in Hastings Hospital in ICU and Ward 4, who looked after my wife in her short illness.
People are very quick to criticise, but very seldom, if ever, praise the work they do.
It would be impossible to have a better and kinder service anywhere.
Special mention must be made to Dr Carol McCallum who kept the family informed on my wife's health. Once again, many thanks from my family and I.
Jim Meredith, Napier
Just sort it out
Who's in charge?
Parliament legislates and the courts interpret so that the enactment is rendered null and void.
So who is running our country, Parliament or our legal system?
Russell Synnott, Napier