Letters. Jun 23
Taxis
Is there some legislation that prevents taxis cruising for fares? There seems to be a peculiar attitude in NZ that taxis must only be hired by going to a parked car or by phone.
Let’s have taxis actually cruising the city actually actively looking for fares rather than the pathetic sitting around waiting for fares to magically fall into their (over-priced) laps.
The huge number of taxis taking up so many 100’s of metres of kerb space is not only wasteful and frustrating to anyone looking for a car park, it is an incredible waste of many vehicles (taxis).
It is obvious that there are simply too many (companies and individual taxis).
Maybe the taxi federation needs to look closely at the Wellington situation before central government does?
In summary; too many taxis, too many sitting idle, no real competition so fares still too high despite large number of taxis/companies and no real “service”.
Dave Stonyer, Petone (abridged).
Travel perks
Is Phil Goff playing musical poufs? Carter out! Robinson and Chauvel in!
Don’t put all the blame on MP Chris Carter. Look to the authors’ of his bad habits. Under the previous Labour administration, Helen Clark and Heather Simpson created and approved the extreme travel experience. No one would knock back a perk like that, knowing there would be no comebacks. Only thing is that there is no one to cover up and protect him now. So, I submit that the onus is on the people who initiated this arrogance in the first place, and not solely on Chrissy.
Ron Blair, Te Aro (abridged).
No cars through Lower Cuba
It was good to read Infrastructure Director of the Wellington City Council, Stavros Michael’s comments that creating the space in lower Cuba St that will effectively extend Cuba Mall is of high priority. He also said that it would be a level area that would be a shared space for people and slow moving vehicles, where pedestrians will have priority.
The questions remain - Why do we need to have vehicles going through there? Define what slow moving is? How do you control the speed of the vehicles?
By having the street as a level area will make it look and feel like pedestrian mall. People will naturally walk through it in a random manner and it will be dangerous. It will especially be dangerous for kids that may occasionally wander away from their parents.
Cuba Mall is popular and works well because of the absence of cars. Can you imagine what it would like to have slow moving vehicles going through it?
W Chan, Te Aro.
Tibet
I read in my recent copy of the Friends of Tibet (N.Z.) that Chinese police “opened fire at Tibetan villagers protesting pollution” at their local cement factory (after their petition, pointing out that at times it was difficult to have open eyes in the factory area, had been ignored.) Sadly such reports, well documented by neutral observers, are commonplace. Mr Russel Norman M.P. deserves our respect for exercising his democratic right to hold a Tibetan flag in protest at Parliament. A government that opens fire at a small group of unarmed villagers perhaps believes they can do what they like here?
Julie Burns, Island Bay.
Dog fees
I would feel much happier about paying my $112 dog registration fee if it seemed equal to council provisions for dogs and their owners. The number of areas designated for dogs has been reduced at the same time as this fee has been increased. Outside of these areas I can be fined $300 to $3,000 if she is not on her leash, and I cannot take her into the city centre during the day at all (and yes, I do abide by these restrictions). The fact that dogs are generally less inclined to aggressive behaviour off the leash, and that well supervised interaction with dogs gives children the opportunity to learn confidence and how to behave with dogs (placing them at less risk in the long run, and cultivating good treatment of animals) is a whole other issue in itself.
Recently my dog has been quite sick, and given that about the strongest product in my house is baking soda, I can only conclude that she has picked up some of the rubbish that strews the streets around my house (especially after collection day). Why doesn’t the council use funds from dog registration fees towards cleaning up the streets around Wellington, not only helping to ensure the health of dogs, but generally improving the well being of Wellington residents?
Name and address supplied (abridged).
Is there some legislation that prevents taxis cruising for fares? There seems to be a peculiar attitude in NZ that taxis must only be hired by going to a parked car or by phone.
Let’s have taxis actually cruising the city actually actively looking for fares rather than the pathetic sitting around waiting for fares to magically fall into their (over-priced) laps.
The huge number of taxis taking up so many 100’s of metres of kerb space is not only wasteful and frustrating to anyone looking for a car park, it is an incredible waste of many vehicles (taxis).
It is obvious that there are simply too many (companies and individual taxis).
Maybe the taxi federation needs to look closely at the Wellington situation before central government does?
In summary; too many taxis, too many sitting idle, no real competition so fares still too high despite large number of taxis/companies and no real “service”.
Dave Stonyer, Petone (abridged).
Travel perks
Is Phil Goff playing musical poufs? Carter out! Robinson and Chauvel in!
Don’t put all the blame on MP Chris Carter. Look to the authors’ of his bad habits. Under the previous Labour administration, Helen Clark and Heather Simpson created and approved the extreme travel experience. No one would knock back a perk like that, knowing there would be no comebacks. Only thing is that there is no one to cover up and protect him now. So, I submit that the onus is on the people who initiated this arrogance in the first place, and not solely on Chrissy.
Ron Blair, Te Aro (abridged).
No cars through Lower Cuba
It was good to read Infrastructure Director of the Wellington City Council, Stavros Michael’s comments that creating the space in lower Cuba St that will effectively extend Cuba Mall is of high priority. He also said that it would be a level area that would be a shared space for people and slow moving vehicles, where pedestrians will have priority.
The questions remain - Why do we need to have vehicles going through there? Define what slow moving is? How do you control the speed of the vehicles?
By having the street as a level area will make it look and feel like pedestrian mall. People will naturally walk through it in a random manner and it will be dangerous. It will especially be dangerous for kids that may occasionally wander away from their parents.
Cuba Mall is popular and works well because of the absence of cars. Can you imagine what it would like to have slow moving vehicles going through it?
W Chan, Te Aro.
Tibet
I read in my recent copy of the Friends of Tibet (N.Z.) that Chinese police “opened fire at Tibetan villagers protesting pollution” at their local cement factory (after their petition, pointing out that at times it was difficult to have open eyes in the factory area, had been ignored.) Sadly such reports, well documented by neutral observers, are commonplace. Mr Russel Norman M.P. deserves our respect for exercising his democratic right to hold a Tibetan flag in protest at Parliament. A government that opens fire at a small group of unarmed villagers perhaps believes they can do what they like here?
Julie Burns, Island Bay.
Dog fees
I would feel much happier about paying my $112 dog registration fee if it seemed equal to council provisions for dogs and their owners. The number of areas designated for dogs has been reduced at the same time as this fee has been increased. Outside of these areas I can be fined $300 to $3,000 if she is not on her leash, and I cannot take her into the city centre during the day at all (and yes, I do abide by these restrictions). The fact that dogs are generally less inclined to aggressive behaviour off the leash, and that well supervised interaction with dogs gives children the opportunity to learn confidence and how to behave with dogs (placing them at less risk in the long run, and cultivating good treatment of animals) is a whole other issue in itself.
Recently my dog has been quite sick, and given that about the strongest product in my house is baking soda, I can only conclude that she has picked up some of the rubbish that strews the streets around my house (especially after collection day). Why doesn’t the council use funds from dog registration fees towards cleaning up the streets around Wellington, not only helping to ensure the health of dogs, but generally improving the well being of Wellington residents?
Name and address supplied (abridged).
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