With limited council resources of time and money, I see nearly everything as a matter of "opportunity cost". In other words, if we spend time and money in one place they are not available to spend in another.
Over a decade of living in the River City I have observed and lamented far too many projects and programmes that were poorly conceived, poorly designed and poorly managed.
All that money wasted for lack of robustness. I'm hoping the same does not happen with a fledgling climate change strategy.
We need to start by asking the right questions.
NELSON LEBO
Okoia
Port or abort
Murray Shaw, among others, has pointed out that to have a viable port, it must be separated from the river. A river port is not practical.
$100 million might build the separation wall and put the river straight out. Another $100 million will then dig out a regional port capable of handling decent-sized cargo ships.
Obviously, this is beyond Wanganui's capacity to fund, so it's abort the port.
If we attempt to make it viable for coastal shipping, then the bill won't be so big but will have a constant drag on the ratepayer.
A decent port would be of national interest, an income-earning enterprise, so it should be in the interest of the Government to build; $200 million is not big bickies to the government.
They would reap a lot of GST and company tax while building it, then an income from the port and an income from the tax take that would be generated by the businesses that would be created in the surrounding area.
Decreasing the infrastructure needs for growing our present ports and the huge distances the trains have to travel to load out of Tauranga and Auckland — it's called win-win.
G R SCOWN
Whanganui
Downward spiral
Jim Maidens (Letters, September 24) aptly describes NZ Post's "death spiral" as services are further reduced.
Time to remind readers how, three decades back, the Labour government, captured and captivated by neo-liberal nonsense, decided to split up the old P&T Department. The postal section was retained, although many rural post offices were closed. An Australian bank took over Bonus Bonds, and NZ Telecom was sold to an overseas corporation. Not that all members of the Labour caucus agreed with the sale — three were kept out of Parliament on decision day.
Today we find all the parties currently in our House of Representatives about to vote for the second and third readings of two bills designed to encourage more foreign investment in public projects, i.e. Shane Jones' NZ Infrastructure Commission and David Parker's Venture Capital Fund bills. Both would require the establishment of more teams of talking heads and their expensive reports.
When former Finance Minister, Roger Douglas declared smugly on a recent Q&A television interview that the ideas he promoted were still in place, he was all too correct!
HEATHER MARION SMITH
Gonville
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