Letters: Our bus service is up there with those of bigger cities

There are benefits to taking the bus. Photo / Greg Bowker

Letters to the Editor

The benefits of taking the bus

I catch a bus once a week in the rush hours to volunteer in a charitable role.

I live off the main bus routes. I walk up the road to the bus stop and even if I miss the bus I know another one is coming shortly to take me to the city. Or I can bus to Akoranga station and go directly to the city. I see all the commuters hopping off the buses.

I repeat the process on the way home. The buses are well patronised, affordable and clean. The drivers pleasant.

Congratulations Auckland Council and AT and more fool you those sitting in cars on the motorway.

Our city’s minor bus service compares well with those of major cities around the world such as London and Paris where my sons live.

Lynne Lagan, Takapuna.

A job well done

Council-controlled companies are often in the firing line with stories of long waits, red tape or hikes in costs.

It’s nice, therefore, when one of these companies - Watercare - exceeds all one’s expectations and responds to a report of a leak in the footpath outside the house in just over two hours and had men working on it all day to fix it.

And on a Sunday too. Amazing.

J. Gillies, Devonport.

Downside of convenience

While I can accept that online shopping is convenient, there is still the need to look at, touch and feel what you might be purchasing from time to time.

We will continue to see the demise of physical stores if this continues. Competition in the retail space will be eroded by the latest round of liquidations, and only the bigger players will have a say in what we can buy, and how much we will pay for it.

This will not help consumer confidence or the economy.

John Ford, Taradale.

People forced to move

There has been a revival of interest in a two-state solution for Palestine.

One difficulty is the half-million Israeli settlers in key sites in the West Bank. Benjamin Netanyahu, with the support of Donald Trump, has provided a solution to this sort of problem by showing that populations of that size can be moved quickly. A similar number of Palestinians are currently being forcibly moved from Gaza City to other parts of Gaza with no arrangement for accommodation when they arrive.

This Netanyahu model could be implemented to remove the badly sited Israeli settlers to another part of the West Bank. Given the shortage of accommodation in the vicinity, the model could be improved by not destroying the homes as they leave them.

John Strevens, Remuera.

Good news, bad news

Three articles (Sept 8) excited me to say thank you to the Herald.

Firstly, the Kiwi Palestinian who has joined the flotilla taking aid to Gaza will no doubt have the support of the thousands who will walk the Auckland Harbour Bridge on Saturday.

Secondly, the story on climate change and wildfires - with the dramatic photo of a helicopter helping to tackle a Canadian blaze - and the impact they have on the quality of the air we breathe, a continent away.

Thirdly, the good news story with fantastic photos of the takahē being released in the upper Whakatipu. Thought to be extinct, they were rediscovered in 1948, the year I was born, and that inspires me to keep going with the ecological restoration work we are doing here on Auckland’s North Shore.

Kia kaha to all those people working to make the world a better place!

Dennis Worley, Birkenhead.

Nothing wrong with visit

The Herald ran three excellent letters (Sept 8) all supporting the decision by John Key and Helen Clark to attend the Chinese parades celebrating 80 years since the end of World War II. I totally endorse the sentiment that it is realistic to engage in discussions with countries even when we have differences.

I would also like to point out to the critics of Key and Clark that 80 years ago, NZ was at war with Japan. Today, we trade with Japan and we regard Japan as a friend.

New Zealand and the allies supported China in its war against Japanese aggression. China was our friend back then so what has changed? Our farmers benefit from trade with China and we should try to increase a trade that benefits both countries.

Johann Nordberg, Paeroa.

It’s not just NZ

Further to your letters regarding hospital ED targets and nurses’ workload (Sept 4), your readers may be interested to know that we suffer similar problems in the United Kingdom.

We, too, have low-bar ED targets which are consistently missed, long waiting times for elective surgery, and recently qualified doctors who cannot get placements because there are insufficient senior doctors to train them.

Our graduates, like yours, are wandering off overseas.

Tony Gray, Edinburgh.