Friday, 10 Oct 2025
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • DMCA
logo logo
  • World
  • Politics
  • Crime
  • Economy
  • Tech & Science
  • Sports
  • Entertainment
  • More
    • Education
    • Celebrities
    • Culture and Arts
    • Environment
    • Health and Wellness
    • Lifestyle
  • 🔥
  • Trump
  • VIDEO
  • House
  • White
  • ScienceAlert
  • Trumps
  • Watch
  • man
  • Health
  • Season
Font ResizerAa
American FocusAmerican Focus
Search
  • World
  • Politics
  • Crime
  • Economy
  • Tech & Science
  • Sports
  • Entertainment
  • More
    • Education
    • Celebrities
    • Culture and Arts
    • Environment
    • Health and Wellness
    • Lifestyle
Follow US
© 2024 americanfocus.online – All Rights Reserved.
American Focus > Blog > World News > Letters to the Editor: landfill, hospital cuts and spouting
World News

Letters to the Editor: landfill, hospital cuts and spouting

Last updated: May 30, 2025 12:39 pm
Share
Letters to the Editor: landfill, hospital cuts and spouting
SHARE
Today’s Letters to the Editor from readers cover topics including the new Smooth Hill landfill site, another round of cuts to the hospital, and just how important is spouting?

 

Message to Lee: keep rubbish close to home

As a resident of Winton I would like to inform Cr Lee Vandervis that many of us here do not want refuse from other centres outside our province coming to AB Lime’s site.

Build your own. We don’t want to be the dumping ground for other provinces’ refuse/waste.

Dunedin has been dithering for 32 years. Just imagine what could have been done with the $85.4 million if action had been taken all those years ago when $7m was mooted. Consultancy fees have cost Dunedin ratepayers huge sums too.

Anyway, why on earth are you talking landfill when very efficient incinerators are available and are multifunctional?

Jacqui Legg

Winton

 

Contradictory votes?

Dunedin City Council just voted to go ahead with the Smooth Hill landfill.

So on one hand they want to dig a big hole on Smooth Hill, so we can truck our rubbish there. But on the very same day they debated carbon-friendly projects.

The landfill in Winton could be accessed by rail, so no need to burn tons and tons of diesel to build a new landfill that will never be accessible by rail. Looking for carbon-friendly projects?

Eduard Walthert

Glenleith

 

Being dumped on

Many Dunedin councillors today (27.5.25) in their meeting say they don’t support “at any cost dumping landfill waste on other regions”.

Good to hear but I’m a bit confused over their values when they support dumping diverted sewage waste from the hill suburbs on South Dunedin?

Lynne Newell

Dunedin

 

Which side are you on?

Last Friday, another round of cuts to our hospital was revealed: after five long years of construction, the government will deliver a facility with 26 fewer beds than the current hospital, which is already over capacity.

See also  UN Chief To India, Pakistan Amid Jammu and Kashmir Pahalgam Terror Attack tensions

This would plainly be a disaster for the South. If this plan goes ahead it will increase waiting times for ED and for life-saving surgeries, and will ultimately force many who need frequent care out of the city. Our honorable Mayor, Jules Radich, has welcomed the announcement as “a great result”.

Even ignoring his ethical and democratic responsibilities, this is an election year; Jules has little to lose and everything to gain by opposing these cuts. I cannot fathom why he is assenting to this plan which will plainly cause great harm to the city. Which side are you on, Jules?

Mickey Treadwell

Dunedin

 

[Mickey Treadwell is a Green mayoral candidate.]

 

What He says

Re “Claim hub sale call guided by God” (ODT 24.5.25), I would have been surprised had it been otherwise: the decision to sell was made after “the local churches in the region discerned the mind of Christ together over a long period of time . . . together they felt this was the decision God would have them make.”

Is it likely that after consultation among a group of like-thinking people strongly desirous of selling the property, they would not get the desired response from their God?

A neutral arbitrator would have been equally persuasively informed regarding current claims of rightful use of the property, and history of the provision of the land, buildings and improvements over the time it has been used both as a religious and community facility.

K. Nordal Stene

Dunedin

 

Good try but China can be seen another way

Mercy Fonoti’s article on the rise of China (Opinion ODT 23.5.25) was an admirable attempt at trying to be evenhanded, but it still failed.

See also  ME/CFS research program shuts down at Columbia over Trump cuts

This is because it views China through a Western minority world lens, which has at its core a deliberate omission of historical context, painting the actions of China as either capricious acts or interpreting their motivations as if they are the same kinds of imperialistic motivations that Western nations have had for 500 years.

The “contradictions” of China’s behaviour she cites are not contradictions at all. Their actions in the South China Sea are solely in response to the Obama administration’s initiation of “The Pivot to Asia” in 2011, which has at its core the military containment of China. As part of this, the US and its allies conduct an annual naval exercise, explicitly practising the closure of the Straits of Molucca through which the huge bulk of China’s exports and imports transit.

At the same time on the eastern side of the SCS, America and its allies began ramping up relatively dormant diplomatic and military relations with Taiwan in contravention of agreements going back 50 years, that recognise the island as Chinese sovereign territory, to a point where the Biden administration actually stated they would militarily defend Taipei from invasion – an explicit abandoning of five decades of strategic ambiguity.

In response, China activated its long but disputed claim to the SCS (and built its own equally illegal Diego Garcia type island base close to the Straits of Molucca) and conducts naval exercises off Taiwan (and in the Tasman Sea).

These are defensive acts in response to obvious provocation, not signs of any kind of expansionist agenda.

Andrew Nichols

Kew

 

Mushrooms, ridge lines, and mould

Re the recent article on the MBIE inspection of student flats.

I have the greatest sympathy for the tenants suffering damp and mushrooms as I did almost within the photograph where Liam White is standing, in an old masonry house where the damp proof course had failed, some decades ago.

See also  Aurora man arrested on suspicion of murder in fatal hit-and-run

I went to extreme lengths to replace the foundations and damp proof course and was thrilled when I managed to persuade the next door neighbour to do the same much more efficiently than I had via a masonry saw.

However, seeing from a careful read of the article that most of the problems with the flats, apart from three which seemed to be in a bad way, were the same minor home maintenance issues that most home owners of old villas would find if they inspected their own home, I feel that the whole thing is what people refer to as a beat-up these days.

Yes, spouting is important.

Twice a year, I have to deal with young troublemakers attempting (and succeeding) to climb onto the roof of a flat in that area. I’ve even seen photos of about 20 of them sitting on the ridge line multiple times. Despite this, I believe non-functioning heat pumps are a more pressing issue.

Ironically, their survey actually proves the opposite point – that the majority of flats in the area, despite the abuse they endure, are in good condition. This has led me to agree for the first time with the government’s decision to reduce the number of government employees.

This situation reminds me of a survey from a few years ago where all houses failed, including brand-new ones. I know someone whose house failed because the footpath was always wet, but it turned out the issue was actually a leaking spouting.

George Livingstone

Roslyn

 

Address Letters to the Editor to: Otago Daily Times, PO Box 517, 52-56 Lower Stuart St, Dunedin. Email: editor@odt.co.nz

TAGGED:cutsEditorHospitalLandfilllettersspouting
Share This Article
Twitter Email Copy Link Print
Previous Article Houston Dynamo vs Sporting Kansas City Prediction and Betting Tips Houston Dynamo vs Sporting Kansas City Prediction and Betting Tips
Next Article How luna moths grow extravagant wings How luna moths grow extravagant wings
Leave a comment

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Popular Posts

Eli Lilly is considering offering more Zepbound doses in vials at lower cost

Eli Lilly's move to offer lower-priced vials of its obesity drug Zepbound was seen as…

January 19, 2025

Democracy for Liberal People: Part 2

Inclusion and openness are essential components of a robust liberal democracy. In Part 1 of…

January 7, 2025

FLASHBACK: Brian Stelter and Others at CNN Pushed the ‘Cheap Fakes’ Narrative to Protect Biden (VIDEO) |

As the reality of Joe Biden’s cognitive decline becomes increasingly undeniable, the media's attempts to…

May 15, 2025

All John Elway Cart Accident Witnesses Interviewed, ‘No Evidence’ Of Crime Found, Sheriff Says

John Elway Cart Accident All Witnesses Interviewed, 'No Evidence' Of Crime Found ... Sheriff Says…

May 29, 2025

Champions League expert picks, predictions, best bets: Barcelona, Liverpool, Juventus headline Tuesday action

-- Jonathan JohnsonBest bet: Over 2.5 goals (-150) -- Both PSG and City have shown vulnerabilities…

January 20, 2025

You Might Also Like

Family asks for ‘Halloween miracle’ after thief nabs their 13-foot Jack Skellington animatronic
World News

Family asks for ‘Halloween miracle’ after thief nabs their 13-foot Jack Skellington animatronic

October 10, 2025
NYC Council approves bill to boost testing for Legionnaires’ disease in cooling towers
World News

NYC Council approves bill to boost testing for Legionnaires’ disease in cooling towers

October 10, 2025
Cindy McCain, widow of Sen. John McCain and head of UN World Food Program, suffers stroke
World News

Cindy McCain, widow of Sen. John McCain and head of UN World Food Program, suffers stroke

October 10, 2025
NYPD cop rushed to hospital for head wound after ‘violent struggle’ with Bronx suspect who opened fire: police
World News

NYPD cop rushed to hospital for head wound after ‘violent struggle’ with Bronx suspect who opened fire: police

October 10, 2025
logo logo
Facebook Twitter Youtube

About US


Explore global affairs, political insights, and linguistic origins. Stay informed with our comprehensive coverage of world news, politics, and Lifestyle.

Top Categories
  • Crime
  • Environment
  • Sports
  • Tech and Science
Usefull Links
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • DMCA

© 2024 americanfocus.online –  All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Lost your password?