Letters: Police restraint, Dome Valley landfill, rates, Erebus memorial and The Luminaries

People take part in a Black Lives Matter march in Amsterdam, Netherlands, to protest against the killing of George Floyd, who died in US police custody. AP Photo / Peter Dejong

Opinion

Safe restraint

With the recent shocking incident of a man in America being "restrained" by a policeman and a disturbing video of a woman being "restrained" by police in France, I question the techniques used to gain control in both these potentially dangerous situations.
As a nurse who worked in forensic psychiatry here in Auckland, I was trained in basic calming and restraint techniques before commencing work on the wards, accompanied by a yearly refresher and update courses to keep my practice safe and effective for everyone involved.
From the video recordings of the above-mentioned scenarios I saw no evidence of a co-ordinated approach by police. I saw negligence (unsafe practice) by the American police and I saw chaos (ineffective practice) by the French police.
Perhaps the top police officers in America and France could come out to New Zealand and attend a basic calming and restraint course (that has been in place for years), learn how to manage these incidents humanely and safely, and pass those skills on to their staff.
Ian Matheson, Balmoral.

Landfill permission

In response to J Leighton's letter (NZ Herald, May 26), Beijing Capital Waste (aka Waste Management NZ) has been granted non-notified permission to purchase 1082 hectares of pristine farmland in the Dome Valley near Warkworth for a mega-landfill.
This land borders a conservation estate where there is endangered flora and fauna. Waterways underneath the proposed landfill flow into the Hoteo River and to the Kaipara Harbour. WMNZ cannot and will not guarantee no toxic leachate will go into the Kaipara Harbour. It has said at least 20 per cent of the waste will not be checked at the gate, therefore it will have no idea what toxic waste is going to be dumped there.
On the one hand, the Government is putting money into protecting the waterways and the Kaipara. On the other hand, Eugenie Sage and David Clark are clearly endorsing a mega-landfill.
Rubbish is indeed generated largely from China in the form of unnecessary packaging. Nearly 1000 submissions have gone into Auckland Council about this, a rahui has been placed over the Hoteo River and Ngati Whatua and Ngati Manuhiri are strongly opposed. Our wonderful country is full of clever entrepreneurial people who can manufacture and produce virtually everything we actually need. People need to wake up to the difference between "want" and "need".
Robyn Brown, Mt Albert.

Rates freeze

It is unbelievable that Auckland Council is still proposing a rates increase and also proposing cutting back on some essential and core services like closing toilet blocks, when there are already not enough of them, and street-cleaning, when it already doesn't clean up the leaves in residential streets, which are a disgrace.
There is no mention of postponing or deleting any of the significant feel-good spending that we can do without.
Auckland councillors, I am sure, are comfortable on their salaries but they don't seem to care about the many who have to pay the rates who will not be. There should no rates increase in Auckland this year,
Ken Graham, Greenlane.

Back to Carmageddon

Did the National Party manage to stealthily take over the Auckland Council whilst we were Covidly isolated?
How else could the Council's shortlist for emergency budget savings include: reducing public transport; pausing or cancelling red light cameras; deferring walking and cycling infrastructure; stopping the investment in electric buses; removing some public transport concessions; and charging for park & ride facilities.
The recommendations read as if they are straight out of last century - when folk were in denial that cars caused pollution and traffic jams, or that the "public" realm could actually be designed for people instead of motorised metal boxes.
People whose thought patterns are in this century know that implementing the above recommendations will be the quickest way back to a Carmageddon existence which has shown to be of higher long-term expense to the citizenry when you price in the externalities of respiratory disease, congestion delays, needing acoustically insulated buildings, environmental pollution, death and injuries from higher crash rates, squashed cyclists and the spiral of more kids being driven to school because too many cars make it not safe enough for them to walk or cycle?
Consultation on this budget is open until June 19.
Russell Baillie, Mt Eden.

Memorial site

There is a ready solution to local opposition to the location of the Erebus national memorial in Parnell's Dove-Myer Robinson Reserve: Move it to the Taumanu Reserve on the Onehunga foreshore. This reserve has a large open grassed area, ample parking, no close neighbours and, most significantly, it looks across the Manukau Harbour toward Auckland International Airport – the departure point for TE901 on its final tragic flight.
Gavin Ellis, Lynfield.

Warnings ignored

For decades we've heard "climate emergency", including warnings of droughts.
How is it that Auckland Council and Watercare have not planned for droughts? Why is the Waikato Water Treatment Plant at Tuakau not capable of processing the increased Waikato River water that resource consent does allow?
Why are households not encouraged to have their own water storage tanks?
Why do we tolerate the "bosses" being paid so much for their incompetence?
Rosalie Ashby, Ararimu.

Reel befuddled

In the 60s my wife and I were taken into custody for our own safety by the local policeman on the island of Flores. To entertain us he brought out a movie projector and a full-length movie in several unlabelled reels. He put the reels on in random order. It was a very odd, confusing and, I thought, one-off experience. But it's happened again. I have been watching the first few episodes of the Luminaries.
Peter Lange, Mt Eden.

Disarming

Once upon a time in a land not very far away and not a long time ago, a visiting American tourist and his very young daughter asked directions from a policeman. After obtaining these the little girl, aged about 4 or 5, asked the policemen what he did. "I'm a policeman" he replied. "You can't be" responded the little girl, "you don't have a gun". The policemen replied " In New Zealand policemen don't have guns".
The little girl then said to her father "this must be a wonderful place, can we come and live here?".
I don't know the outcome of this true story but let's not destroy this magic land.
Rod Lyons, Muriwai.

Switched on

Due to waking up early on Monday, I happened to look to the city from the shore and was amazed at all the buildings with lights on.
Surely the cleaners would have finished by now and no one usually goes to work on a statutory holiday? This is in contrast to when we were in lockdown level 4 when all the buildings were mainly in darkness.
Have all these companies got plenty of money to keep the economy of the power workers in business? What happened to lights that turn on when you enter a room and if there is no movement the light goes off - or the last person leaving turning off the lights?
I realise there need to be security lights but having all the lights in lots of buildings lit? Keep within the budget.
Dennis Manson, Bayswater.

Police violence

Credit to the NZ Herald for reporting that an unarmed Palestinian was shot dead by Israeli Border Police just days after George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police.
Eyad Hallaq, 32, was autistic and on his way to a centre for disabled people. Border Police officers claimed they believed he was holding a gun - there was none - and when they shouted for him to stop, he started running. The penalty was death.
George Floyd was executed because of his skin colour; the mayor has apologised, the four officers involved fired, one indicted for murder. What of Palestinians like Eyad Hallaq? A Jerusalem court issued a gag order on the names of the police officers involved in this episode and following patterns of deaths like Eyad's, it will be investigated internally and the perpetrators exonerated.
May their deaths inspire change to ensure justice for all victims of police violence everywhere.
Janfrie Wakim, Epsom.

Short & sweet

On exemptions

Coronavirus will not discriminate between the general public and those that are deemed "economically" advantageous to NZ. Alison Feeney, Remuera.

On Newmarket

Driving through Newmarket feels as though it has been abandoned. I use to love the Newmarket vibe but the new mall has destroyed that. K.S. Agar, Onehunga.

On distancing

With all the backing up, side-stepping and shuffling around people over recent weeks, when the dance floors reopen will there be a marked increase in proficient dancers? Keith Woodley, Miranda.

On America

Tragically, a morally bankrupt leader isn't equipped to calm and help heal a damaged nation. Mary Hearn, Glendowie.

Talk of loosening "vicious dogs" onto protesters and looters harks back to slave days in the swamps with bloodhounds. Rob Buchanan, Kerikeri.

On dishwashers

A simple Google check advises that dishwashers use far less water daily than hand washing. Roberta Gray, Epsom.

On level 1

The President of Ghana, Nano Akufo-Addo, succinctly stated that "We know how to bring the economy back to life. What we do not know is how to bring people back to life". Peter Jamieson, Titirangi