Saw point
A protected pōhutukawa was chopped down by developers in Hinemoa St, Birkenhead and another pōhutukawa cut down in Khyber Pass Rd.
In January this year, 13,700 native trees – planted by local community - were mowed down on the North Shore because of "concerns they would obscure views". It cost $16,813 to plant the trees and $14,000 to mow them down again.
The Appeal Court recently found that Auckland Council acted unlawfully in issuing a non-notified resource consent permitting 345 trees to be chain-sawed down on Owairaka/Mt Albert – thus halting the felling.
Sadly, it was too late to save more than 360 trees already removed from other mountains across the city.
Despite receiving nominations from the public to schedule and protect over 580 trees, the council has refused to act.
This should be a major local body election issue.
John Clark, Glen Eden.
Card games
In its efforts to protect players from head injuries, World Rugby has drastically diminished the number of safe and fair contests. This is because teams are repeatedly compelled to play without full complements.
In the interests of safety, no team should be required to field less than 15 players.
The simple remedy is to allow full replacements for red and yellow carded players, with the more serious offenders being subsequently
dealt with by the judiciary.
David Andrews, Tauranga.
Slow motion
Eddie Jones made a fabulous and valid point about the game of rugby.
The card system is naff. It has destroyed the game.
The fast pace of the game is being analysed at slow replay speeds, which, of course, will implicate the most innocent.
It has ruined the essence of any fast-paced sports fixture.
John Ford, Taradale.
Selective decisions
In Ireland's first tour game, Māori All Blacks' halfback Brad Weber was on the ground during a passage of broken play and kicked in the face by an Irish forward chasing the ball. Weber rose from the ground and play continued. It was, it seems, deemed accidental contact. Nonetheless, it was contact to the head by a boot. Many's the time we have heard a referee say something was accidental but the rules dictate a player is carded.
Had Weber stayed on the ground, medics rushed to his side and the TMO reviewed the incident it could have been a very different outcome. The Irish player made no attempt to avoid Weber and did not change his direction to follow the ball. In slow motion, it looked like a deliberate act and appeared much worse than Saturday's first yellow card involving a player (who smiled when he got up off the ground) received an elbow in the chest which deflected to his chin.
Here lies one of the great problems with the TMO. They are very selective in their reviews.
Matt Elliott, Birkdale.
Shallow defence
I watched the first half of the Australia v England rugby test on Saturday night before heavy eyelids got the better of me.
Some England players were offside so much that I wondered if they might eat the Australian's oranges at halftime as well.
Phil Chitty, Albany.
Budget underspend
In Alex Spence's article (NZ Herald, July 11), MP Matt Doocey says only 2 per cent of the 2019 Mental Health budget has been spent.
There are worthy charitable organisations offering their free volunteer support to help hospital out-patients integrate back into society.
Perhaps a little of that funding can go towards the administration of those organisations that contribute to the mental health solution.
Chas Bennett, administrator, Grow Mental Health Community.
Please hold
A note to all government departments, quangos, councils, banks, corporates and the like: the "we are currently experiencing higher than normal call volumes" line when you try to phone is wearing a bit thin now.
If you had better websites, organised yourselves a bit more efficiently and employed more staff in your call centres, you would not need to persist in this charade. If you try to phone later in the day, you get: "You have called outside our normal business hours."
And after all that, you have to send an email - if you can locate the "info" address on the website (heaven forbid you will ever find the address of a person) - or you fill in their box with your query, which gets gobbled up with no copy for you, the automated reply is: "Our response times are longer than usual - approximately 10-15 working days."
C'mon guys, are you trying to serve your customers or don't you give a damn?
Remember, "my call is important to you".
Robert Finley, Howick.
Short & sweet
On abuse
No amount of name changes have helped the children who are dying every week from domestic violence. Stick with standard names like "Ministry for Children" and get on with doing the job. Linda Beck, West Harbour.
On Foster
If the ABs expect to get to the even quarter-finals of the upcoming World Cup, we need to change the coach immediately. Bruce Kay, Hillsborough.
Saturday's performance against Ireland confirmed two things: Poorly coached and poorly captained. Dennis Ross, Glendowie.
All that really happened against Ireland in Dunedin was that an ill-disciplined team, (three converted penalties to none) was beaten by the better side on the day. Hardly a disaster, just a lesson in how to get the best result, playing within the rules. Jeremy Coleman, Hillpark.
On diplomacy
Did Ardern talk to Albanese about Penny Wong becoming New Zealand's Foreign Minister as well? It seems ours won't fly out of the country. Les Jepson, Hamilton.
Now that the Ardern self-promotion tour is nearly over, I hope that overseas folk will realise that looking good is no substitute for doing good. Christine McNamara, Wellington.
The Premium Debate
Liam Dann: Recession to the rescue, why we're cheering on the villain
I am very sure that there is nil chance of celebrating this current economy and a booming economy full of happy consumers is our goal right? This would mean that inflation is under control which of course it is not. Nicholas B.
All the very successful people I know are not optimists. All the leading governments and politicians I see are optimists. Successful people spending their own money or investing are very careful to the point of paranoia. For governments, politicians, the Reserve Bank, it is not their money. They are flippant and spend due to ideology. If a doctor used a politicians' method for healing, we would all be very sick. Yet this is the method our economy is facing and only serious sickness will eventuate. Mark I.
Homeowners feel richer when property values are high. They spend on renovation and this cash flows through to the economy. With banks indiscriminately raising interest rates even before any OCR rises means spending is constrained and borrowing grows which benefits the banks mostly. The fact that travel is now a drawcard for many this spending will now go overseas. Banks are making their biggest ever profits and sucking homeowners, business owners, and the economy dry. They should be regulated so that their margins are kept in check. John W.
We are borrowing our way into poverty at an alarming rate. Take a look at the freeze on fuel taxes which ends soon, where do you think the money comes from to pay for it? It's borrowed, it's part of the "Covid fund". It's not really a real economy, you print money.
The country needs real growth. Start up drilling for oil again, and stop farmers from being taxed under climate change. Ramp up manufacturing. Neil L.
Good to hear some realistic commentary. Not sure what Dann's economic credentials are, but he seems to be correctly reporting the mood of the experts without being apocalyptic or preachy, which is all a journalist is required to do. Colin J.
