Bary Williams’ letter was timely. I lived in Howick for 35 years and made a nostalgic visit last week, and saw the remnants of the concrete road that was built in 1930. It is still in use today and is located just below Stockade Hill at the entry to Howick Village centre. It ran from All Saints’ Church in Howick’s main street to the Harp of Erin hotel on Great South Road in Ellerslie. That road is now over 90 years old and virtually maintenance-free. A cost/benefit study of the road would be illuminating! In the modern world we do plan well ahead, but when it comes to allocating the dollars, our focus is rarely more than three or five years. Maybe the closure of the Marsden Point refinery could be the catalyst for change in road building methods. Murray Reid, Cambridge.
Healthy resolution
Your correspondent John Ford is absolutely right when he says fast foods have made us fat. He talks about the American-isation of of ready-to-eat meals and fizzy drinks leading to increased diabetes and heart disease. He is 100 per cent correct. I am sure we were all healthier in the ‘60s. KFC opened its first store in New Zealand (Royal Oak, 1971), and McDonald’s followed five years later (Porirua, 1976). Now there are a proliferation of other American fast foods, and in my view [they] have mostly been detrimental to our health. Ford talks about us living off the land and carbohydrates becoming obsolete. Whilst this sounds utopian, actually, carbohydrates are our body’s main source of energy. They help fuel your brain, kidneys, heart muscles and central nervous system. Good carbs are found in foods like oats, beans and kūmara. Also fruits like blueberries, bananas, oranges and apples. Examples of bad carbs are white bread and potato chips. The human body requires NO added sugars to function properly. Too much sugar can cause a range of serious health problems, including diabetes, dementia and obesity. A good New Year’s resolution for those seeking a healthier lifestyle in 2023 might be as follows: remove white bread, potato chips, doughnuts, fizzy drinks and all fast foods from your diet. Replace these with healthy carbs, plus lots of fresh fruit and vegetables. Throw in a 20 minute walk each day and watch the change in your physical and mental health. It will amaze you! Glen Stanton, Mairangi Bay.
Better health
Richard Prebble advocating lower prices for cigarettes as a way to reduce crime is welcomed by your correspondent, David Hood (NZ Herald, December 27). While Prebble and Hood seem concerned about the young people who they say are being drawn into a life of crime by cigarette prices (I would suggest that assumption is rather tenuous?), what they don’t seem to be concerned about is the facts. Cigarettes have been proven to cause all sorts of nasty health conditions. I bet these same commentators (definitely in Richard Prebble’s case) are the first to criticise successive governments for healthcare failures. Personally, I prefer the way the Government is trying to tackle better healthcare solutions using the tax from one of the main causes of personal health problems, cigarettes! Neil Anderson, Algies Bay.
Benefits of globalisation
Correspondent René Blezer implores us to create a more “internalised trading industry” (NZ Herald, December 27). The trouble is, I already buy New Zealand milk, meat and fruit and have no use for raw logs - our top four exports. I can buy almost no locally-made industrial machinery, motor vehicles, oils and electrical machinery, our top four imports, let alone pharmaceuticals and aircraft. Denying the reality and benefits of globalisation is sticking your head deep in the sand. Stewart Hawkins, St Heliers.
Claims on crime
Further to Peter Davis’ letter, I would add that readers need to be a bit more discerning about the “crime wave” on the front pages with the exaggerated claims of anarchy and worse, dancing on the graves of victims by the usual self-appointed “spokespersons”. Check out the sidebar news items on the inner pages, usually about page five onwards, to see where the police have arrested culprits and their response to crimes committed. John Capener, Kawerau.
Short and sweet
On Christmas spending
You’d think we were the richest country in the world going by the massive spending during Christmas. Inflation and the cost of living seemingly have gone out the door. When things turn topsy-turvy next year, we can always blame the Government - just like we did last year. Rex Head, Papatoetoe.
On pōhutukawa trees
Pōhutukawa! Popping up prettily, oh, thank you! With a year full of situations never faced before, and as we wonder how best to deal with these ‘downs’, pōhutukawa, with their crimson colours around us, help us to look for the ‘ups’ that are here. Go for a walk and find where your favourite picture-perfect pōhutukawa pops up, and feel the glow inside. Rosemary Cobb, Takapuna.
On snakes
I reluctantly agree with Jeremy Coleman’s letter that snakes have as much right to be here as we do - just not on Takapuna Beach. Could someone tell me where that snake is now? We used to have a beach bach out of Melbourne. Venomous tiger snakes sunning themselves on our front door mat was one of the reasons I chose to return to this ‘snake-free’ country. It would be good to keep it that way. Sarah Beck, Devonport.
On Amazon
Mega-company Amazon wanting to “...discuss opportunities we see for fine-tuning New Zealand’s policy settings that can support public sector cloud technology enablement” should surely ring alarm bells for Kiwis - this including how Amazon could meet requirements to host highly-classified data. Should we be afraid? Chris Blenkinsopp, Beach Haven.
Premium debate
Which big motorway projects are open for summer?
Everyone knows the issues, even the infrastructure and productivity committee recognises our projects cost a lot more than other countries and are often plagued by delays and cost overruns, yet do you think anything will ever change? Matthew S.
I would not hold my breath on the Puhoi opening dates, and if experience is anything to go by, there will be surface issues there as well. These big contractors seem to use the cheapest and least expensive methods for surfacing these roads (our suburban streets as well). The roads fall apart because of this, then the old ‘it’s climate change’ excuse comes out. Much like Covid is blamed for the delays. I am sure with testing and rotation, some work could have been progressed over the two years of lockdowns. Same thing happened at Auckland Airport. They waited until the lockdowns were over, then started their maintenance. All had two years of next to no vehicles or passengers. Ross H.
There was really no need to halt road construction during the lockdown. Most countries (including Australia) allowed road and major outdoor infrastructure projects to continue, as they were at very low-risk of [being] Covid spreaders. Unfortunately, the NZ Government panicked and shut down everything, which will now cost us taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars on this Puhoi-to-Warkworth project alone. John C.
How about [Waka Kotahi] NZTA start spending their budget on roads? Millions wasted on absolutely worthless advertising. And how about when they do make repairs, they spend the [money] to do it properly and [ensure] it will last 10 years, just like they do everywhere else in the world? That goes for not just [state highways], but for our heavy-traffic-bearing inner-city roads. Glenn P.
If you would like some insight to the decision process guidance being given to NZTA, just have a look at the Board of Governors. See how many have transport and infrastructure as their main base of experience? This group may [consist of] competent directors, although some I doubt, but they have no experience in guiding transportation thinking and planning. If you think back to the Global Financial Crisis, the summary of events after that was there were too few directors that had financial experience, and therefore they could not see the potential issues arising. What we have here is a similar problem, and that is becoming very obvious in the current state of transport in this country. So, get someone in Government to ask the current members to stand down, and then put in their place experts to have an idea of the big picture. The odd transport engineer might be useful. Storm R.
Would love to know why with the Ring Road connection in Auckland, they didn’t make it three lanes on State Highway 1 from Constellation Drive to Tristram Ave. It’s a great new piece of road that goes from four lanes to two, and comes to complete gridlock every day?! Renee M.
I drove from Waihi to Tauranga on Christmas Day. Just the most frustrating drive. Conscious of speeds, I held up traffic, got angry gestures, couldn’t set my cruise control as speed chopped and charged with frequency; just such an awful drive, and crashes waiting to happen due to impatience and disengagement, mine included. I’m going to hate it when they bring in all the different speeds on state highways, but that’s another topic. Cheryl P.
