Hedgehogs, not road hogs
My sister lives in Edinburgh, in a residential suburban street that has houses mostly with green hedges, shrubs and trees, and a garden. The council introduced limited-time, paid parking on the street. Within a few months most of the hedges, greenery and gardens were gone, having been replaced by concrete to enable residents to park their cars off the street.
In the UK, The Climate Change Committee government advisory body says that healthy hedgerows are essential habitats for biodiversity, supporting local species of small wildlife.
Is this what AT is hoping for? More concrete in the city, and less greenery? Less opportunity for bird and small animal life to flourish?
Also, from Scotland, nations at the COP26 Conference have pledged to end deforestation. May I ask Auckland Council to play its part by ceasing its deforestation of non-native trees within Auckland?
Susan Tremlett, St Heliers.
Rewarded in kind
Our Government and Prime Minister have been urging our team of 5 million to be kind – and for the most part I think we have done a pretty good job. However, I suggest that it is now the turn of the Prime Minister, the director-general of Health, and the Minister for Covid19 Response to remember the senior citizens who reside in aged care facilities.
These citizens have been locked down, locked up, locked in since August 19 – i.e. 12 solid weeks without any face-to-face contact with loved family members and friends.
It is a lonely and isolated time – and I speak from the experience of my own mother, who is 97. Despite the best intentions of the staff and their kind and compassionate care, they simply cannot replace the close bonds of family members.
I would suggest that the current Covid regime regarding these elderly senior citizens is now seriously detrimental to their mental health and wellbeing.
It is their turn for a big dose of kindness – even if it is just an outdoor "picnic".
Gail Hofmann, Ōtāhuhu.
Personal emissions
I have recently seen floated the idea of a personal carbon-dioxide allowance controlled by the equivalent of a credit card. Swipe it with your purchases and the carbon-dioxide load is deducted from your allowance. When you exceed your allowance, then you can't buy anything that requires carbon-dioxide emissions along the production path. Assuming that everyone has the same personal allowance, where do we set the baseline? China? USA? New Zealand? A review of the most recent data available gives emissions per person as: China 9.857 T/yr/person, USA 19.9 T/yr/person, NZ 15.17 T/yr/person. Would the US really be willing to halve its emissions per person to match China? Would we be willing to reduce our standard of living by a third to match China? Should the world allow China to increase its per-person emissions in lieu? Note that China's emissions include all the heavy polluting industries that the West has moved there.
G.N. Kendall, Rothesay Bay.
Natural attrition
Some school principals have expressed concern that the new requirement that teachers need to be inoculated against Covid could present a problem of staffing. That is less than the problem that could exist without it.
Any teachers who do not place the safety of their pupils first should have their Teacher Certificates withdrawn and find other employment.
Education will be better off without them.
John E. Binsley, Parnell.
Home truths
I feel deeply offended that Councillor Josephine Bartley (NZ Herald, November 5) chose to argue over semantics with respect to the new housing policy tabled by both the Government and National, rather than discussing the issue itself.
The policy leaves all Auckland homes vulnerable to potential intrusion: loss of sun, light, character and privacy. It authorises plunder on a citywide scale.
Please at least shelve these policy decisions till the Covid crisis is over and further rational discussion can occur please.
Chris Chrystall, Epsom
Happy holidays
My wife and I, both in our 80s, will ride bikes the 15km from Glendowie to Dominion Rd.
Our luggage, in waterproof bags, will be protected from the south-westerly wind and rain.
After chaining our bikes to a lamppost in Dominion Rd, we will alight the new light rail to the airport.
A. J. Hill, Glendowie.
Go by road
Roger Hall's idea (NZ Herald, November 5) for shuttle buses could be the answer to Auckland's transport woes, provided they are electric. We lost our light rail (trams) in the 1960's to make way for polluting cars.
The next mistake was the Muldoon derailling of Mayor Dove-Myer Robinson's Rapid Rail in the 1970s.
Replacing the trams now is too late and too disruptive and expensive whether above or below ground. As for getting to the airport, use existing heavy rail.
Bring on the EV shuttles.
Geoff Barlow, Remuera.
Short & sweet
On borders
Regarding the proposed timed release of Aucklanders crossing the border at Christmastime, one has to ask if Chris Hipkins is using "1984" for his policy ideas. George Hawley, Hamilton
On mortgages
So, the mortgage interest rate party is well and truly over. Anyone with a renewal any time soon might want to set a rate well in advance of two years. John Ford, Taradale.
On isolating
So Covid positive people can isolate (and die) at home, but Covid-negative people flying in can't isolate at home? Obviously common sense isn't that common. Randel Case, Buckland Beach.
On hesitancy
Are we leaving the stragglers behind? The train has been at the station for a significant time now. Time to move on. Viv Topping, Green Bay.
On birds
With a bat now bird of the year, the endangered New Zealand flying fish, maroro, should be nominated next time. Kevin Schulz, Rothesay Bay.
Following on from other readers, my vote for bird of the year for 2022 is the ladybird. Melanie Scott, Mangawhai.
The Premium Debate
Time to go shopping
After the last lockdown, our shopping habits changed quite significantly. This wasn't a deliberate move. We simply found that being in malls with masks on and signing in at every shop was not so pleasant and, as the weather warms up, it's even less so. You barely recognise people masked up, so there is also little social interaction. We now make a supermarket visit once a week. Everything else is purchased online with a good spread to help support smaller retailers. I am not sure we will ever willingly move back to physical mall or retail shopping under this Covid cloud (vaccinated or not). Keith T.
A comment from a South Islander's experience: talking to an electrical and whiteware retailer soon after we came out of L3, he said their trade was dead. I was the only customer in the shop. Those who wanted that type of product had bought up large after the first lockdown. After all, how many new TVs and fridges do you need? I sincerely hope there is demand with the Christmas rush. I want the retail sector to have a chance to recover so much of what they have lost. My fingers are crossed for them. Marlene H.
It astounds me that the population is anxiously waiting for a government to give us freedoms that are our absolute right. Labour, get out of our lives. Ian U.
Steve Tindall appears to be saying The Warehouse is doing just fine now, so therefore doesn't need to physically open on Wednesday. The Cabinet needs to pay attention to him. Richard Q.
There will be a lot of people walking around buying nothing. They just need to get out. Anaru B.
If I can go shopping on Wednesday, will I? Probably not. Previous lockdowns left me with an aversion of shops, shopping malls and large stores in particular that lasted weeks. Those that haven't been doing the grocery run seem to be lousy at physical distancing when let loose. Besides, Christmas shopping is half done already thanks to click and collect and delivery. Kirstie P.
My prediction is that it's going to go ballistic. Some people just hanging out to get out and about. Many will want to get Christmas shopping done while stocks last. Andy G.
