Our social workers can go to them with a bag full of money we have saved from policing and jailing, plus the tax take from manufacture and retail and offer them any help they deem would be good for them. I have sung this song for a while, but people whom you would think would have a brain and a dollop of good sense, who say they hate war, cry we will be overrun with druggies; everyone will take drugs - not us, we are too smart, but everyone else.
I am against the excessive making of laws.
I know it makes useless politicians feel useful and that they are earning their keep, when in actuality they are just making more and more essentially law-abiding citizens non-law-abiding, non-compliant.
G R SCOWN
Whanganui
Velodrome roof
We just want to assure Margaret Haddon (letters, October 14), and others whose letters we may have missed, that several members of the district council are seriously concerned about the economics of the consequences of roofing the velodrome.
In principle we have no objection to roofing the drome, since the majority of the construction cost will not be a burden on Wanganui ratepayers.
However, there are important and unanswered questions about the design of the roof, and the consequences of trying to add a skating track inside.
There appears to be no great urgency, as was argued some months ago, about decay of the timber track.
At the time the track was built some 10 per cent surplus timber was purchased, it is timber that was guaranteed for 50 years outdoors and at the current rate of repairs, there appears to be over 150 years of available replacement timber.
But more importantly, we have yet to see a business plan that shows any logical revenue stream that balances with expenses.
For some reason, the Napier draft finance plan was adopted, and as we all know, the plan to build a velodrome over there was scrapped despite a much larger resident population.
Presumably they even had more track cyclists than our five riders; still it was seen as uneconomic.
There is no spare money in the WDC finances, and unless a serious major sponsor can be found, or Cycling NZ comes to the party, this roofing can go on hold as far as we are concerned until such time as a detailed and reliable business can be shown to us.
DAVID BENNETT and GRAEME YOUNG
Whanganui District councillors
Attacking Trump
I picked up today's paper and, surprise, surprise, there was yet another Gwynne Dyer piece attacking US President Donald Trump. And, of course, Gwynne's piece involves an imaginary story, "reports" of a "secret pact" (must be very secret for the media to be able to report on it so easily...), slimy comments about Trump, and speculation based on the slimy comments and the unsubstantiated secrets.
The reason Gwynne and other "journalists" are not reporting the terrible consequences of Trump's words or actions is that there have not been any terrible consequences, so instead they continue to use unsubstantiated claims (usually from anonymous sources), speculation, or their own personal outrage at Trump for beating Hillary Clinton in the election, to attack the President day after day after day...
One thing I would really like to know is why the Chronicle cannot supply us, its readers, with a single balanced columnist or commentator on the international news.
Yes, Kate Stewart does bring a bit of sense to the discussion when she turns her sights on the international news, thank you Kate. But the rest of the time we have Gwynne, Jay, Terry, etc. and even the cartoonist, all pushing the same viewpoint.
I am not even asking that you have a columnist or three who are pushing a conservative viewpoint to try to balance out the long list of lefties you print. Just having someone (or a couple of someones) who are actually being balanced, whatever their personal points of view, someone to present the facts and a balanced discussion, would be such a breath of fresh air.
K A BENFELL
Whanganui
Send your letters to: The Editor, Wanganui Chronicle, 100 Guyton St, PO Box 433, Wanganui 4500; or email editor@wanganuichronicle.co.nz
