Letters: Relief for homeless after shelter approved

It is a relief that the homeless will have somewhere to sleep, says a reader. Photo/File

Congratulations to the marae and to Visions Of A Helping Hand for persevering in obtaining a Rotorua night shelter. What a relief.

Thank you to the Rotorua Lakes Council for assisting. It has taken years for Rotorua officialdom to act.

A bed is more important than skateparks and a sculpture.

People in desperate need have the same right to a roof and a bed as murderers, rapists and thieves in prison.

I remember going to the police station about 30 years ago to ask where a couple could get help. (They had found a temporary home for their children.)

The police told me they only helped criminals.

Diane Calder
Rotorua

Think about it

So, you may now download the plans to make a firearm out of plastic - a weapon that is just as deadly as a shop-bought metal weapon, only you can now do it in your own kitchen.

Great, and the idiot who invented it will make millions and anyone can make and own a plastic weapon that may be used to carry aboard an aircraft or ship completely undetected.

Think about it, any idiot with any kind of mental aberration is now able to carry a concealed weapon - possibly on the next flight you take.

Think about it. No one, not even the President of the US is either willing or able to stop this idiot making and selling these undetectable weapons.

Scared? I am. (Abridged)

Jim Adams
Rotorua

Time aplenty

My final word on the saga of the mayor's comments about the Grenfell Tower disaster comparison to the homeless shelter, are to clarify one thing.

John Pakes (Letters, August 1) says that I missed the point about keeping the inhabitants of the shelter safe.

Not at any stage did I suggest that housing the homeless in an unsafe building was acceptable.

My issue is that the mayor and the council have had plenty of time to do something for the homeless, but they have done nothing, instead leaving it to others in the community to struggle to provide a solution.

And if that was not enough, they have not assisted in this process. That is my bone of contention with the situation.

Elaine Mander
Springfield