Regulations need to change, and ownership for such special buildings needs to be New Zealand-based with input from local communities. We can do better. And we should.
Trish Jenner, Bayswater.
Chateau fiasco
The lack of leadership required to save such an icon as Chateau Tongariro reflects badly on all those involved.
If ever there was a case for immediate Government intervention in this disgraceful fiasco, this is it.
With tourism numbers languishing well below pre-Covid numbers, here is an opportunity for the Government to act. Surely with the experience gained in strengthening Wellington buildings to meet required earthquake standards, the challenge presented by the chateau could easily be dealt with?
The restoration of the building would provide a fillip to an area of the country now on its knees, with closures and the associated unemployment growing daily.
Restoration of the chateau would provide jobs, not only for its operations, but also employment for all of the support services which have depended on it in the past.
Taking all that into account, one could see an opportunity for employment of, say, up to 500 local residents.
Rob Elliott, Kohimarama.
Roading solutions
As reported on the Herald’s front page, New Zealand’s transport infrastructure upgrades face large workforce shortages (Sept 19).
This can easily be solved by redeploying the thousands of people working in “traffic management” and putting them into constructive roles.
I recently returned from a short trip to the US. We drove over 1500km through the New Jersey and Pennsylvania regions. We drove on everything from interstate highways and turnpikes to rural B-roads and suburbia.
We saw not one road cone. We saw numerous road workers doing everything from road resurfacing and mowing verges to picking up litter. In New Zealand, those workers would have been shepherded by not one but two massive protective trucks with flashing lights and an additional support vehicle.
Not so in the US. There, the workers just get on with their tasks. Despite this, the US has a minuscule rate of road worker fatalities. New Zealand’s “one death is one death too many” philosophy has wrapped our productive sector in so much cotton wool, it is a wonder anything ever gets done.
Alex Findlay, Pukekohe.
Identity crisis
On the subject of the gang patches, we should all be concerned about the activities of criminal gangs. But with all patches removed – except, of course, the ones tattooed on their faces – how is the public to identify a person they may want to keep their distance from?
Are the public now more vulnerable to individual crime from these people? Do the police have photos of all gang members so they can identify them? My other concern – is this just the start of a slippery slope for anyone wearing group identification? I have a spiritual symbol tattooed on my arm and clearly visible, as do many others. Could we possibly be seen one day as a gang?
And oh my, what about our politicians, who all wear the silver fern on their lapels? Could they be seen as a political gang one day and not be able to show their support for a different group that others may not support?
Sue Marsh, Ngātea.
Better bridge option
One of the latest proposals by Garth Falconer (NZ Herald, Sept 19) for the new bridge near the existing one does not address the problem of congestion on the approaches.
Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown’s proposal is better. It would start at the Northwestern Motorway and go next to Motions Rd and stop near Verrans Corner (after avoiding the retirement village). This will be adequate, with main roads able to be four-lane arterial roads if required within a one-chain reserve.
It is straightforward to deal with a 60m depth of soft mud (gloop). Lightweight fill can be placed on the reef and it is possible [to] drill 60m piles.
Ted Phythian, chartered professional engineer.
