Bill Simmons wanted 60km/h ...
He has also raised the issue of the signatories to his petition but neither the content of his petition nor those that signed were made public.
I am one of his closest neighbours and I was not approached to sign his petition.
At the end of the day I am happy with the decision the committee reached. [Abridged]
MURRAY HUGHES
Otamatea
Jury headline
When I read the headline in today's Chronicle (June 29) "Arthur Allan Thomas jury hung" I thought "Wow, capital punishment has been re-introduced almost overnight and carried out on a jury which couldn't reach a decision. Man, I'm never going to do jury service again".
Of course that was not what the headline actually meant but it left me wondering what impression a person would get if they didn't read the accompanying story. More fodder for the conspiratory theorists?
DOUG PRICE
Castlecliff
A poll will tell
Re Aotearoa or New Zealand? (News, June 26):
Mr Editor, I challenge you to run a poll among Whanganui residents, and see which name comes out on top.
DAVID BENNETT
Otamatea
Assault on human rights
Well said, Alan Taylor (Letters, June 29). It seems our Labour government is hellbent on getting its own way with the Three Waters legislation, no matter what we, their employers, think, as it is with the draconian Water Fluoridation Bill ...
Apart from ignoring our right to democratic decision-making, this legislation is a direct assault on our human rights as stated by the UN.
This will, of course, create more severe, rates rises into the future. Guess who pays for the required infrastructure as well as an extra layer of bureaucrats and running costs.
Hold your breaths ratepayers because likewise the Three Waters legislation. This legislation will snatch away all the infrastructure that the Whanganui District Council, ie; you and I, have invested in. Your wastewater plant to begin with.
My guess is that, with all the expert consultations, workshops, visits, trips away here and there, two attempts at getting it right, and now added scum removers, this plant would most probably cost us close to $100 million.
We will be paying this off for many, many years into the future. How much capital do we pay a year, or is it all interest??
It's time you spoke up, tell your council and your government enough is enough or they will cripple you financially.
The shameful poverty throughout our land is partly caused by these sorts of measures installed by past governments. If these bills pass many, many more, including many pensioners will join the poverty-stricken, some may even become homeless.
Tell them to back off, or they will privatise your water, snatch it away from you, just as they did your electricity supply. [Abridged]
DENISE LOCKETT
Whanganui
