Letters: Vote wisely, the state of Rotorua is at stake

Rotorua's central business district is heartless, says a reader. Photo / File

Many comments have been made over the past few years about the state of Rotorua and the mismanagement of ratepayer money.

Useless cycle lanes were installed but we have many crumbling footpaths in our suburbs.

Our lovely City Focus was replaced by confusing traffic signals.

The city centre is heartless - there are no seats for the elderly, no shelter from the sun or rain.

Expensive sculptures and the boardwalk at the lake will increase maintenance cost all of our ratepayer money.

No priority has been given to the museum or the Howard Morrison centre - both of which brought in revenue and life to our city.

No more entertainment or concerts.

Empty shops galore and our rates keep increasing every year.

Ratepayers: Do you want more of this? My rates for my tiny property 15 years ago was $1100 and now they are nearly $3200.

Vote wisely. (Abridged)

Corrie de Boer
Rotorua

Abortion law changes opposed

At last some space has been given for the opinions of people who are totally against this current Abortion Bill to counter much liberal comment (News, October 5).

It was claimed in Samantha Olley's Saturday article that abortion could happen under this Bill, legally up to 20 weeks, without going through hoops.

But, not mentioned, is that in certain circumstances, abortion could be legal up until birth.

I commend paediatrician Dr Viliame Sotutu for sharing his view that abortion is "quite possibly the worst form of child abuse imaginable". And he says we are willing to destroy babes in the womb in the most callous of ways.

It is my opinion that if we as a society condone child abuse before birth, how can we hope to eliminate our dreadful statistics of child abuse post-birth.

Those in favour of the Bill talk about undue pressure on a woman to have to travel to get an abortion, and women being inconvenienced and that women need to be trusted, not treated as objects.

Compare this to what happens to a baby being destroyed during an abortion, when the mother should be the one to be trusted to nurture him or her through to birth - when either she or family members or adoptive parents, as testified by adoptive parents in the article, will continue to love and nurture the child.

Jan Stevenson
Rotorua

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