Your Views: Reader's letters

<strong>FAILED WASTEWATER PLANT:</strong> Inquiry won't address the core issue, says Allan Wrigglesworth. PHOTO/PAUL DUNCAN

Boycott inquiry

Wanganui District Council's terms of reference for the wastewater plant inquiry ban any technical considerations and tell the panel to "confirm and reference expert opinions stating that the MWH-designed plant was not salvageable".

How they are going to find (terms of reference, point 2.3): "What fault, if any, was in the council operation of the 2007 plant which would have led to its failure?" without examining data quantifying plant performance is anybody's guess.

By stonewalling the inquiry, the council is refusing to address the core wastewater treatment issue, and the question ratepayers most want answered: Could the MWH plant be recommissioned with adequate aeration at a fraction of the cost of the proposed new BTO plant?

It saddens me that the enormous goodwill generated by the Wastewater Treatment Working Party guided by Dean Taylor, which led to engagement by iwi, industry and environmental groups, as well as the wider public, has been destroyed.

Even now, pre-treatment by industry would mean the community could build a cheaper plant with much lower running costs and it would cost industry less than them building their own plant. There was never any point in this council taking any action on resurrecting a treatment plant without getting agreement from the main users -- industry.

I consider I have no choice but to boycott the inquiry under the current terms of reference and I hope others do likewise.
ALLAN WRIGGLESWORTH
Castlecliff

TV3 ignorance

What a waste of time TV3's Story was on Tuesday evening. One year on, Duncan Garner and his bunch of jafas have once again shown themselves to be nothing more than a pack of latte-sipping t*****s.

When you arrive in town on a cold, wet Sunday and produce footage of a West Coast beach with the comment "not famous for its sunbathing", exit from a fish and chip shop and state "not known for fine dining", and walk up a cold, empty street on a cold Sunday and state that it's not known for its bustling economy, I have to question the intelligence and motives of this lot.

I don't think I've seen a better demonstration of ignorance and stupidity in my whole life, and where did the lunch with the mayor take place? It looked like something knocked up in someone's car shed.

We also had mention of the gangs, but no mention of the fact that our past mayor Michael Laws was the first person in this country who had the guts to outlaw gang patches within the city limits. We also had the comment from Mr Garner that the reporter was ex-Whanganui and had a massive bias.

So a request to our next mayor: Please do not let this lot into town again unless we conduct, supervise, and sign off, to our satisfaction, a reasonable representation of our city. They do nothing for us, except to take the p*** to enhance their own egos and ratings.
A. BARRON
Aramoho