The council has known about these issues since before June 2018 but have not informed ratepayers that 101 Guyton Street was an earthquake and fire risk - let alone the danger from asbestos.
After a recent fire in Castlecliff, the council was quick to arrange for the building to be fenced off and signs placed warning people of the asbestos danger. No such signs on the fences around their Guyton Street headquarters during its removal.
It was hoped that with the appointment of Kym Fell as chief executive things would change. However, once he got his feet under his desk it seems it's business as usual.
It seems council has two main policies: "Do as we say, not what we do" and "Ratepayers are mushrooms so keep them in the dark and feed them horse manure".
The ironic part is that senior management and council meetings have temporarily moved into a building that is of a greater earthquake risk than their current one.
Jim White
Whanganui
Poll unwise
Any suggestion by the Ratepayers' Association that complex land settlement negotiations could be simplified down to a question in a referendum at this year's local body elections is unwise and irresponsible.
A series of questions requiring a 'Yes' or 'No' vote could never reflect the complexity of this issue.
Negotiations are between the Office of Treaty Settlements and iwi (through the Land Settlement Negotiations Trust).
The role of the Whanganui District Council in addressing historical injustice will be worked through in a considered, respectful manner, according to the nine recommendations passed by council at the end of last year.
As a community, we should recognise the privilege of being able to provide redress for historical injustice inflicted on Māori.
Councillors are aware of concerns around public access to land, and we are required by law to act in the "best interests of the Whanganui District".
Let's keep the discussion free from divisiveness, misinformation and alarmism, and maintain empathy and respect at all times.
Josh Chandulal-Mackay
Whanganui District Councillor
All one family
In reply to John Archer's comment on my letter to the Chronicle in response to the well-written but opposing views of Don Brash and Dr Danny Keenan about we New Zealanders being all one people:
Mr Archer has taken the opportunity to attempt to twist what I wrote to suit his own agenda, and also to ask what I personally have done to make us "all one family", how much of te reo I have learnt, and how much time I have spent on a marae?
To recap, the main point of my letter was to ask why, despite the millions of taxpayer dollars in settlement to numerous iwi over the years, many members of those same iwi are over-represented in our unemployment figures, our imprisonment numbers, our health spending, our numbers of people living in poverty, and those living in overcrowded houses and cars.
Meanwhile, those who fight for and won said payouts appear to live very well.
Whether I - or any other South Pacific citizen (his words) - may or may not be fluent in te reo and spend many hours on marae, the very South Pacific citizens Mr Archer refers to will continue to be over-represented in the above quoted figures until the above disparities are resolved.
For the record, I am a 60-year-old, third-generation South Pacific citizen who has no knowledge of te reo, but who has spent several nights on various marae during my adult life, and look forward to doing the same again should the opportunity arise.
Rod Anderson
Castlecliff
Just cover up
There is no sun "lotion" that will protect a baby left in the sun between about 10 am to 5 pm. Or even an adult. You have to cover up too. Thick zinc cream may be able to block the sun, and can be used on animal noses. Otherwise - sunhats and cover up!
Sara Dickon
Whanganui
Fake history
Someone by the name of Potanga Neilson has been acused of spreading false accounts of history.
So what's new? That sort of thing has been going on for a long time.
We are also informed that the Mangapapa lands were sold, not stolen. The Waitotara lands ocupied by my people were also sold, but many Maori living in Waitotara at that time only learned of that "sale" when soldiers turned up to eject them.
So here we have the real falsehoods of history - and the underlying treachery and Treaty breaches which have resulted in the never-ending war of words since 1840.
Tikanga Maori - defined by Tewhiti of Parihaka fame as "God's law" and a very important part of that Treaty - was destroyed with the stroke of a pen.
The imposition of individual title on Maori lands meant any Tom, Dick or Rangi could sell Maori land. And many did, even though they had no right to do so.
Tikanga Maori was a protection mechanism for all Maori resources, and there was no such thing as absentee landlords.
Of course, this was all done in the name of progress. But progress for whom?
The effect on Maori was quite the contrary, and still is right down to this very day.
So get down off your high horses those Pakeha who are not deaf but will not hear.
There have been many Treaty settlements. but few will stand the test of time.
'That Treaty can never be settled; it can only be honoured - and when it is, we may or may not become one people.
But we are all in the same waka - this global village - and the great melting pot is gaining momentum.
Would it not be possible for us all to be one in all our diversity?
Stop moaning and pay the bill.
Potonga Neilson
Castlecliff
