Letters: Tunnel vision and infrastructure

Aerial shot of the city. Photo / File

Having tunnel vision and saying tourism must be Rotorua's first priority is to overlook a big elephant in the room.

Many people still have not got their heads around the profound and life-changing effect global warming will have on all of us.

Flying leaves a big carbon footprint. People with conscience are already deciding not to put in the air miles to reach New Zealand at the bottom of the globe.

These are the forerunners of what I believe will with time become a common way of thinking. Tourism could shrink to mainly domestic travel.

Those with farsighted wisdom will explore diversification and other ways of making a living.

Lesley Haddon
Rotorua

Infrastructure reality

Many candidates are rightly highlighting infrastructure issues in their campaigns for a seat at the council table, but there needs to be some reality to their arguments.

Infrastructure is expensive and takes a long time to be built. New stormwater systems can't be conjured up with a sprinkling of pixie dust.

To build new infrastructure requires money. That comes from rates and debt funding.

To run around arguing for more infrastructure and less debt and lower rates just doesn't add up.

Infrastructure should be debt-funded so it is paid for by the people who use it over life of the asset.

Philip Macalister
Rotorua

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