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Melody sales@mangawhaifocus.co.nz 021454814
Nadia n.lewis@xtra.co.nz 021677978
Reporting: Julia news@mangawhaifocus.co.nz 0274641673
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A matter of priorities
I read with interest the article on the new golf course Tara Iti, and hope their fortunes aren’t too closely allied to those of the fairy tern.

Here we have a bird that appears to be hell bent on its own destruction. They comment on a good breeding season which has produced four more birds. We now have a total of 43 instead of 39.

Look back several decades at predator trapping, relocating eggs and general monitoring and add the total cost in dollars and man hours and these birds that have no survival instincts whatsoever probably have cost about $100,000 each. There must be more worthy charities than this?

Let’s also look at the effect of this development on the local infrastructure. Note the article in the same issue of the Focus about the dust clouds endured by residents of Black Swamp Road. These people endure the extra traffic from the concrete, logging and metal trucks and most of the daily work force for this project.

On the southern side, Coal Hill Road, we have for several summers endured the dust from the fleet of metal trucks carting rubble and quarry stripping to form a base for every bit of roading, building sites, airstrip, reservoirs or whatever. This often amounts to 80 truck movements per day extra to our normal traffic. This is far from finished as there is still 46 house sites and associated roading to come.

If this dust problem were to arrive in Auckland I’ve no doubt the health authorities would close down the offenders immediately no matter how important their task or how much money was involved.

For some years now I’ve understood that for any subdivision or development of this nature the council has insisted on a roading contribution. What happened in this case? If one was taken where did it go?

On a brighter note I see we have a new Messiah in northland by the name of Winston Peters - may he solve all our problems. I note that his first word when stepping back into the debating chamber after the election was ‘Boo!’ Maybe we ought to call him Winnie the Boo?

Brian Styles
Mangawhai


Let’s get it right

I certainly got the message from the editorial of 13 April that Winston Peters was not Rob Pooley’s pick for Northland. However his misrepresentation of the truth must be rectified.

I followed the campaign closely both in attendance at meetings and in the press. Winston shared ideas on bringing more employment to Northland and his vision for railway and Port Whangarei, but he never at any stage, suggested that these things could be achieved in two years. He is no fool so don’t try to present him as one and don’t underestimate him.

Already the National Party is calling on his aid to try and settle the impasse over Treaty settlement negotiations in the North so let’s see if that works, not that that is part of his brief as he is not the member for Northern Maori but rather for Northland.

And don’t tell me Winston knows nothing about the North. He was born and bred there and stills owns a property there. Home is where the heart is and if you had followed his campaign as closely as you should have you would have noticed on all the YouTube video clips that he was hailed in every district that he visited as a friend.

Mark Osborne, who has only belonged to the National Party for three years and has lived in Northland for eight years, does not have the same affinity with the North or with the people there. And, of course, he didn’t have the 40 years in Parliament up his sleeve. Nor could he claim to be one of the great New Zealand Statesmen of our time. That, by the way, is not something Winston claims to be. That is my contention. And I’m sticking to it.

Just my opinion but let’s just wait and see shall we?

Barbara Pengelly
Mangawhai

 
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