Letters: 'Sharyn Underwood is deserving of recognition'

Sharyn Underwood recently put on a showcase at the Royal Wanganui Opera House. Photo / File

Last evening my wife and I spent a wonderful time at the Royal Wanganui Opera House watching about 100 superb dancers from Sharyn Underwood Studios showcase some wonderful dancing.

It was an amazing performance of grace, deportment, stamina and talent as over the entire performance I never saw a foot out of place. The choreography was outstanding.

Our sincere congratulations go to Sharyn for putting on that wonderful event for Whanganui to enjoy.

Sharyn surely is a person who is deserving of some recognition locally, even nationally, and I'm sure many of her students would endorse that suggestion.

Thank you so much Sharyn.

ALLAN WILKINS
Springvale

Blind faith

I'm motivated by lots of feedback from many sources on previous letters.

I liken the New Zealand property market to a bloated pig (for want of a better animal example) or to Mr Creosote in Monty Python's The Meaning of Life and it might just take an extra wafer-thin mint for it to explode.

Just not clear what form the mint will take, but it could easily be small. The market is grossly obese, with life-threatening diabetic complications, and about to pop.

People don't seem to realise – markets need to breathe, go up and down, come up for air, experience healthy corrections (I spent a decade in the investment advice industry). All markets need to self-regulate – that has almost never happened in New Zealand.

It has not really occurred in the New Zealand property market for 35 years, unlike anywhere else.

We think we're the exception – we think we're a safe haven internationally and we have had a housing supply problem for decades (because the Government won't step up and the market cannot deliver) - this latter issue has to be solved.

Supply could turn through market disruptors. And what happens when many returnees realise they can't afford to buy into the most expensive housing market globally?

New Zealanders have a literally blind faith in the property god. The Economist has rated us as one of the riskiest housing markets in the world for two decades now.

It's got to crunch/bursting point and successive governments have been gutless and/or can't see the wood for the timber framing.

Let us continue to prey?/pray.

MARTIN VISSER
Whanganui

Who uses the bus?

I was under the impression that ... Horizons were conscious of the need to protect our environment and start cutting our emissions wherever possible.

So I cannot understand how we have huge 12m buses cruising our streets with very few people on board.

These vehicles have huge diesel engines probably 8 or 9 litres in size, equivalent to 4 or 5 average size cars.

Because they are so long they have trouble negotiating many of our streets and corners.

The weight of these beasts must be taking a toll on our roads. I always look at them as they go past and seldom see more than half a dozen passengers filling the 40-plus seats.

Perhaps that is why many of the windows are covered in ads, so we cannot observe the emptiness.

Surely having much smaller transport would be much more environmentally friendly and economic. Next time you see one going past, have a look and see for yourself. [Abridged]

KEVIN O'SULLIVAN
Wanganui East