Letters, Jul 14
Paddy’s column
As a sportsman I always enjoy Paddy’s column but can you pass on to him that council isn’t putting $1 million into the Wharewaka for Rugby World Cup purposes (see Paddy column July 7). Council originally budgeted $800,000 probably a decade ago, and I’m pretty sure well in advance of the cup bid even being won. The agreement was part of a partnership approach (hopefully not too PC for Paddy?) as council’s contribution towards a building as a focus for Maori culture and as a home for Wellington harbour’s waka.
You may know that the city had its own waka built, I think, at the time of the of New Zealand’s 150-year anniversary, which was to be housed in the wharewaka. The waka has been restored and we are looking forward to it having a permanent home. The waka and wharewaka will be great additions to Wellington’s waterfront, both architecturally and in terms of the activity they will generate. The Crown has also contributed to the wharewaka, I think approximately seven million dollars, as part of the Treaty settlement. Council was recently asked to increase its contribution from $800,000 to $1 million, and agreed unanimously to do so. The building will be around for a long time, but will be used as a RWC “party venue” for three or four weeks of its life.
To put council’s contribution to the World Cup in context, we are in the position where we already have the infrastructure needed. Westpac Stadium has been ready for a decade! So all Council is investing is $100,000 for the party central aspect at the Wharewaka, Sir Richard Taylor’s sculpture, and some marketing/event operational money. I think we’re well under $2 million for an event that is expected to bring $45 million of new spending to Wellington.
Anything else is just rephasing the timing of things we were doing anyway. It’s easy to criticise (surely we don’t want that to be our national sport?) but look at the big picture – preparing for arguably the biggest event NZ has ever hosted has been very smooth in Wellington, unlike some other cities around the country.
Abridged
Andy Foster (Wellington City Councillor)
Paddy’s column
Thank you Paddy for a touch of realism and humour with regard to the “rugby village Statue” estimated at $350,000 (Capital Times July 7). But he left out the “Designer Dunnies” further north at $400,000...and in the Draft Annual plan just approved, allowance has been made for the upgrading of the toilets in Courtenay Place as “they are not coping with the amount of use they are getting despite regular maintenance and cleaning and this upgrade will be completed in time to meet the needs of residents and the large number of visitors the Rugby World Cup 2011 will bring to the city.” Perhaps we can rename our City the “W.C. Capital”.
Pauline Swann, Wadestown.
JB Hi-Fi
It is a bit rich for the staff at JB Hi-Fi to complain that $15 per hour is not enough for the work they do. It seems plenty for what is essentially a sales clerk role. The only skill required seems to be to operate the till.
I have enquired after certain pieces of music at the store, and found the workers there don’t seem to know their Handel’s from their Haydn’s.
I firmly believe people should be paid according to their skills, not according to their ability to go on strike and cause a public nuisance.
Ronald R Smythe, Mt Cook.
Film Festival gripes
Your correspondent Jamie Wisseau (any relation to Incredibly Strange icon Tommy Wiseau?) complains that the Festival is ignoring Wellingtonians by not screening Gaspar Noé’s Enter the Void here. He’s wrong. The film has been contracted late, after months of doggedly harassing the world’s most notoriously unresponsive sales agent. Our screenings will have been announced before your next edition hits the streets. In future you might like to check the veracity of any such claims with us before giving credence to uninformed slurs on our credentials as Wellingtonians, even if Mr Wisseau’s related claims that our programme is “a bit conservative and dull” and ignores “the younger audiences” may have alerted readers to his idiosyncratic grasp on reality.
Bill Gosden, New Zealand Film Festival Trust.
More little annoyances
David Thomson’s letter regarding walking through the Mt Victoria tunnel seemed more like a whinge he could have had in the pub rather than bother writing a letter to a newspaper about.
But, since he’s used this forum to sound off, I will too.
In response, no one “has to walk through the tunnel”. Drive. Take a bus. Bike round the bays. Walk over the hill. You are doing more damage to your lungs walking through that tunnel breathing in the exhaust fumes. Alternatively, if you feel you must go through the tunnel, buy some earmuffs. Not only will they muffle the sound - they’ll keep your ears warm as well.
Driving in Wellington is a frustrating, slow and ponderous affair, with traffic lights every 20 metres, crowded one-way roads, and no direct routes anywhere - one of life’s few joys as a motorist is to hurtle through the tunnel tooting to your heart’s content.
Live a little, David, and let others live a little too!
Jaden Sears, The Terrace.
Public transport
Dianne Buchan is right (July 7), there is room for improvement with Wellington’s transport management. One thing that would probably make sensible decisions easier would be if Central Government would change the transport funding policy. By investing phenomenal amounts of money in road building around the country, we have been subsidising and encouraging car-use for many years. The huge resultant cost include: thousands of people and animals hurt or killed by air pollution and accidents annually, ever-growing climate-changing emission levels, much land rendered biologically dead, destruction of much social cohesion, ever rising obesity levels, and so on. If this money were available to local governments to support people-friendly, nature-friendly transport modes instead, we would all benefit. What can we do to help the voting public, and Central Government decision makers, understand this?
K Brown, Kilbirnie.
To fight or not
Weekend media cover “Tampa Boy” Abdul Zullal’s advice to New Zealanders and John Key. He criticises Key’s support for Australia’s immigration policies, saying it would be better to welcome all Hazara boat people from Afghanistan, as it would be risky to send them home. Since Abdul’s residency in NZ, he has availed himself of a degree in Health and Science from Auckland University – very good! He also espoused an opinion that NZ should send more troops to Afghanistan to fight the Taliban and defend his beloved Hazara people – very commendable! At no time does Abdul or his father mention enlisting in military forces to return and fight for their country’s freedom – very wise! Apparently it’s ok to send our NZ boys over there to fight their enemy, but not okay to put themselves in the firing line – very patriotic! Shame on the favourable coverage, as Abdul seems to be an opportunist willing to contribute nothing, other than suggest other die for his cause – very stink!
Ron Blair, Te Aro.
As a sportsman I always enjoy Paddy’s column but can you pass on to him that council isn’t putting $1 million into the Wharewaka for Rugby World Cup purposes (see Paddy column July 7). Council originally budgeted $800,000 probably a decade ago, and I’m pretty sure well in advance of the cup bid even being won. The agreement was part of a partnership approach (hopefully not too PC for Paddy?) as council’s contribution towards a building as a focus for Maori culture and as a home for Wellington harbour’s waka.
You may know that the city had its own waka built, I think, at the time of the of New Zealand’s 150-year anniversary, which was to be housed in the wharewaka. The waka has been restored and we are looking forward to it having a permanent home. The waka and wharewaka will be great additions to Wellington’s waterfront, both architecturally and in terms of the activity they will generate. The Crown has also contributed to the wharewaka, I think approximately seven million dollars, as part of the Treaty settlement. Council was recently asked to increase its contribution from $800,000 to $1 million, and agreed unanimously to do so. The building will be around for a long time, but will be used as a RWC “party venue” for three or four weeks of its life.
To put council’s contribution to the World Cup in context, we are in the position where we already have the infrastructure needed. Westpac Stadium has been ready for a decade! So all Council is investing is $100,000 for the party central aspect at the Wharewaka, Sir Richard Taylor’s sculpture, and some marketing/event operational money. I think we’re well under $2 million for an event that is expected to bring $45 million of new spending to Wellington.
Anything else is just rephasing the timing of things we were doing anyway. It’s easy to criticise (surely we don’t want that to be our national sport?) but look at the big picture – preparing for arguably the biggest event NZ has ever hosted has been very smooth in Wellington, unlike some other cities around the country.
Abridged
Andy Foster (Wellington City Councillor)
Paddy’s column
Thank you Paddy for a touch of realism and humour with regard to the “rugby village Statue” estimated at $350,000 (Capital Times July 7). But he left out the “Designer Dunnies” further north at $400,000...and in the Draft Annual plan just approved, allowance has been made for the upgrading of the toilets in Courtenay Place as “they are not coping with the amount of use they are getting despite regular maintenance and cleaning and this upgrade will be completed in time to meet the needs of residents and the large number of visitors the Rugby World Cup 2011 will bring to the city.” Perhaps we can rename our City the “W.C. Capital”.
Pauline Swann, Wadestown.
JB Hi-Fi
It is a bit rich for the staff at JB Hi-Fi to complain that $15 per hour is not enough for the work they do. It seems plenty for what is essentially a sales clerk role. The only skill required seems to be to operate the till.
I have enquired after certain pieces of music at the store, and found the workers there don’t seem to know their Handel’s from their Haydn’s.
I firmly believe people should be paid according to their skills, not according to their ability to go on strike and cause a public nuisance.
Ronald R Smythe, Mt Cook.
Film Festival gripes
Your correspondent Jamie Wisseau (any relation to Incredibly Strange icon Tommy Wiseau?) complains that the Festival is ignoring Wellingtonians by not screening Gaspar Noé’s Enter the Void here. He’s wrong. The film has been contracted late, after months of doggedly harassing the world’s most notoriously unresponsive sales agent. Our screenings will have been announced before your next edition hits the streets. In future you might like to check the veracity of any such claims with us before giving credence to uninformed slurs on our credentials as Wellingtonians, even if Mr Wisseau’s related claims that our programme is “a bit conservative and dull” and ignores “the younger audiences” may have alerted readers to his idiosyncratic grasp on reality.
Bill Gosden, New Zealand Film Festival Trust.
More little annoyances
David Thomson’s letter regarding walking through the Mt Victoria tunnel seemed more like a whinge he could have had in the pub rather than bother writing a letter to a newspaper about.
But, since he’s used this forum to sound off, I will too.
In response, no one “has to walk through the tunnel”. Drive. Take a bus. Bike round the bays. Walk over the hill. You are doing more damage to your lungs walking through that tunnel breathing in the exhaust fumes. Alternatively, if you feel you must go through the tunnel, buy some earmuffs. Not only will they muffle the sound - they’ll keep your ears warm as well.
Driving in Wellington is a frustrating, slow and ponderous affair, with traffic lights every 20 metres, crowded one-way roads, and no direct routes anywhere - one of life’s few joys as a motorist is to hurtle through the tunnel tooting to your heart’s content.
Live a little, David, and let others live a little too!
Jaden Sears, The Terrace.
Public transport
Dianne Buchan is right (July 7), there is room for improvement with Wellington’s transport management. One thing that would probably make sensible decisions easier would be if Central Government would change the transport funding policy. By investing phenomenal amounts of money in road building around the country, we have been subsidising and encouraging car-use for many years. The huge resultant cost include: thousands of people and animals hurt or killed by air pollution and accidents annually, ever-growing climate-changing emission levels, much land rendered biologically dead, destruction of much social cohesion, ever rising obesity levels, and so on. If this money were available to local governments to support people-friendly, nature-friendly transport modes instead, we would all benefit. What can we do to help the voting public, and Central Government decision makers, understand this?
K Brown, Kilbirnie.
To fight or not
Weekend media cover “Tampa Boy” Abdul Zullal’s advice to New Zealanders and John Key. He criticises Key’s support for Australia’s immigration policies, saying it would be better to welcome all Hazara boat people from Afghanistan, as it would be risky to send them home. Since Abdul’s residency in NZ, he has availed himself of a degree in Health and Science from Auckland University – very good! He also espoused an opinion that NZ should send more troops to Afghanistan to fight the Taliban and defend his beloved Hazara people – very commendable! At no time does Abdul or his father mention enlisting in military forces to return and fight for their country’s freedom – very wise! Apparently it’s ok to send our NZ boys over there to fight their enemy, but not okay to put themselves in the firing line – very patriotic! Shame on the favourable coverage, as Abdul seems to be an opportunist willing to contribute nothing, other than suggest other die for his cause – very stink!
Ron Blair, Te Aro.
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