Lots of letters Friday 4 September
Integrated health project
Thanks to both GPs who have contributed their thoughts on the future of health facilities in Golden Bay (GBW Whakaaro 21/8 and 28/8). One wants to keep the old ways with separated facilities, the other to integrate existing facilities into one venue. History has shown over and over that people and organisations have to change if they wish to survive changing times. If they don’t then they will suffer and die. Struan’s words seem to indicate this may be Golden Bay Health’s future if change does not happen.
Here’s an even more radical thought: why not bring together not only the existing medical centre, hospital and old people’s home, but also other so-called alternative therapies and practitioners? Then Golden Bay could have a truly “holistic” health centre, catering for all aspects of a person’s “healing”, not just the standard medical care. Recently acupuncturists, chiropractors, massage therapists, etc. have become more acceptable to the medical establishment; why not give them, and other practitioners some space too?
Gosh, I’m sure I just saw a pig fly past!
River Howe
Well done, Struan (GBW Whakaaro 28/8). It was so nice to read your positive and informative letter in the last GB Weekly. It just makes so much sense to have a fantastic integrated health facility in Golden Bay. I support you and the integrated health team 100 percent.
Kate Windle
Community occupational therapist
Recent letters/articles in The GB Weekly have raised pertinent issues about the proposed integrated health complex. The Integrated Management Group fails to answer these issues, except in very general terms. In my humble opinion the critical unanswered issues are:
1. Where is the proposed (apparently secret) site? This will determine whether the community will support the proposal, or not.
2. How does the IMG intend to establish whether, or not, there is broad community support for this project? The tone of IMG statements almost implies that this support is assumed, and that the project will go ahead whatever. I have concerns, increasing concerns, about the proposal, as apparently do a number of other people. One concern is that the IMG may not actually intend to ask the community, in a meaningful way, whether it does, or does not, want the proposal to proceed.
3. Is it not presumptious to engage an architect and draw up trust deeds before actually establishing that there is community support?
4. Where is all the money going to come from? And how dearly will the community have to pay in the long term? eg What will be the effect on doctor’s fees? They sure won’t go down!
Dick Wenzel
Regarding the IMG open letter (GBW 28/8): What is the accountability of the IMG?
There is a trust deed “that will be registered soon”. This means it is not up for discussion? The structure is a given?
The objective refers to those who need health services as “consumers”. Does this not give an unfortunate view of the health services as a strictly commercial enterprise, without consideration of individual needs?
IMG “proposes” the membership structure of the trustees. If it is a proposal, that means for discussion? But how can it be discussed if already registered? An impression is given of fait accompli.
Is the financial analysis of GB Community Health available?
We are asked to talk to our IMG representatives. Who are they?
Will there be public meetings in September-October?
I look forward to IMG’s responses.
Peter Foster
I’m glad Struan Clark was, reluctantly, prompted to write his Whakaaro. Weighing up all the “expert” opinions is tricky. Struan offered what I was needing - a vision, a picture of how this might look. Endlessly debating facts and figures of such an undertaking is part of the story.
Mostly what makes a project succeed and thrive is evolutionary timing and the goodwill of a community towards it. A project with true heart behind it is far more likely to survive than anything undertaken purely from a rational viewpoint - often the most unlikely ones survive when rationality says they shouldn’t!
We don’t like change - but let’s be in cahoots with change, playing an interactive role with it rather than having it forced upon us and looking not as we would have liked. Let’s be open to possibilities when someone is offering a vision and asking us to be part of it. For a long time now other services in the Bay have been feeling somewhat out of touch with the medical profession here - here’s our chance to change that. Let’s work together and make it a great facility. The Integrated Health Facility will be what we choose to make of it.
Martine Bouillir
Ed. The GB Weekly apologises to readers who found the integrated management group’s open letter difficult to read last week - it was a printing error rather than the fault of the IMG’s submission. The IMG has repeated the open letter and included new detail on page 13. There is a Whakaaro on page 8.
An alternative rugby dream team
I admit that Skeet’s dream team is a very good one (GBW Article 21/8), but I have a team of other good players that Skeet has omitted that I think would have given his dream team a nightmare or two.
Front row: Robert Haldane, Ernest Iorns, Brent Page
Locks: John Low, John Hills
Flankers: Lou Heenan, Aaron Griffiths
No. 8: Todd Blackadder (Captain)
Halfback: Mason Geddes
First 5/8: Alan Bolton
2nd 5/8: Colin Benge
Centre: Les McMillan
Wings: Graham King (to my mind the fastest and best tackler of any winger in Golden Bay), Barry Pomeroy
Fallback: Ivan LeComte
Off the bench: Brian Jones, Rod Morrison, Kerry Strange, Kanga Sparrow, Bill McKay, Tweedie McDonald.
Coaches: Brian Harris and Dean Lund
Manager: Roger Tait
Ross McDonald (Selector)
Safer travel in the Bay
I have just had a read of the Ministry of Transport’s “Safer Journeys” discussion document. I feel there are lots of good ideas in there. One that is particularly pertinent to Golden Bay is the recognition by the writers that 100kmph may not be an appropriate speed for all rural roads in New Zealand. Geniuses! The initiative suggested by the Ministry is to create more speed zones (80 and 90kmph) and apply these to rural roads where appropriate.
Regarding the push by some to get much of the Bay changed to an 80kmph limit (which I support) I think it would be worth making a submission in support of this particular initiative. If it can be brought in at a national level it will certainly make the local battle much more straight -forward.
To make a submission, go to transport.govt.nz. Scroll to the bottom of the screen and click on the “Safer Journeys” link. You will see a bit of a spiel. About four paragraphs down there is a list of links. Click on the fifth link “Make a submission”. Next, under the “Areas of high concern” heading click on the fourth bullet point “Safer speeds”. Fill in the relevant boxes and emphasise the need for lower speeds to be considered in rural areas through the use of more speed zones. Let them know that it just isn’t appropriate for rural roads to be 100kmph by default.
Jeremy Butler
Conservation Week 13-20 September
This year’s theme for Conservation Week is “Get involved and who knows (what might be possible)’’. This theme follows on from last year’s theme of “Meet the locals”.
The challenge is now that you have “met the locals” the next step is getting involved in caring for them. The staff at Golden Bay Area (DOC) are inviting all of our local conservation volunteers to a quiz evening on 16 September to thank you all for your work over the past year.
We will also be promoting with your community conservation groups at the Village Green at lunchtime on 17 September. If you have been wondering how to “get involved” in conservation locally, this is your chance. Come and meet us at the Village Green on the 17th. Our events are advertised in our front window, in The GB Weekly and promoted on www.conservationweek.org.nz.
Greg Napp
Crossword regulars
We’ve had a request by a regular crossword puzzler who sometimes (accidentally) sees an answer in the crossword solution, before he’s finished the puzzle. He asks if the solution could be printed the following week saying, “This would stop people giving up too soon!” I need to know what you think. Please see our survey on page 2.
Greengrass
1080
As a small boy on our farm in northern England in the 1950s, one of my chores every few days during the summer was to spray all the rooms of the house with DDT using a leaking squirt can.
Later I witnessed the effects of the sheep dip Dieldrin, which reduced the birds of prey in Europe to the brink of extinction. It was a time when governments saw fit to expose their servicemen to nuclear radiation and later to the herbicide Agent Orange. Through the 1980 and 90s in New Zealand orchards I, and fellow workers, were routinely exposed to now-outlawed organophosphates, since found to contain potentially deadly carcinogens. Timber treatment workers can tell the same tale.
In hindsight we now view the cavalier use of these poisonous substances as a horrific mistake. Yet at that time all these practices were sanctioned by government bodies drawing on the best scientific advice available.
Thankfully the bad old days are now history. When DOC states that the bombardment of our forest with the deadly 1080 poison poses no threat to the population or environment then we can rest assured that it is entirely correct. Yeah, right!
Keith Handley
I read with interest (GBW Letters 28/4) from people opposed to the use of aerial-applied 1080. There are two points I would like to make. 1080 is distributed at the rate of 3kg of pellets per hectare. It is biodegradable and rapidly breaks down on contact with soil and water. No toxic residues remain in the environment. It occurs naturally in tea leaves so we drink it with no harm at very low levels, and researchers have recently found that it may also occur naturally in puha. Many plants in the Perth (Australia) water catchment area also naturally contain 1080.
The other point is that we are the only country which can spread 1080 for pest control the way we do. Our native fauna developed in the absence of land mammals (other than two species of bat). This has had a downside in that they are very vulnerable to mammalian predation, but the upside is that we can use 1080 where other countries are not able to because of their native land mammals. Many other countries do use 1080 as a pesticide but cannot use it in the way we do.
Jo-Anne Vaughan
Our forests are being killed by possums, rats, stoats, deer and pigs. Every night possums devour 21,000 tonnes of New Zealand forest. That’s enough to measurably impact our carbon footprint. With an area the size of Tasmania to protect, helicopters and 1080 are the only viable option. Period.
No active environmental group, political party or scientific group is opposed to the 1080 option. That includes Green Party, Forest & Bird, Department of Conservation, Labour Party, National Party, Ministry of Agriculture & Fisheries, National Institute for Water & Atmospheric research, Animal Health Board and every New Zealand university environmental school.
Water contamination in drop zones is 0.2 parts per billion. Now it takes 70mg to kill a Homo sapien (7 possum pellets). So you would need to drink 350,000 litres of water to kill you. If that scares you, don’t move to Perth. In their water catchment, fluoroacetate concentrations are several hundred times higher than in our drop zones. This is caused naturally by leaf litter from the Gastrolobium plant family.
The truth is there is not a single scientist in New Zealand with a low enough intellect to conclude that 1080 is a bad option. The 1080 debate is full of junk science. Psychologists call this “communal reinforcement” the process by which belief becomes fact in an ideological aligned community. Like religious fundamentalism this eco fundamentalism thrives on communal denial of reality.
John Salmon
It was good to see a full page of DOC propaganda, funded by us, telling us how good 1080 is. Three crimes were not mentioned. It is illegal to be cruel to animals, to kill native birds, to cause pollution. If Mr Mason, the leader of DOC Golden Bay, could answer a few simple questions in your paper:
Is cruelty to animals illegal? Is 1080 poison a slow, unethical poison? If I kill a native bird, will I be charged? Is it a crime to leave dead, rotting animals in waterways? Will I face charges if I drop 1080 in your water supply?
DOC does all of the above and does not face a single charge. It must be illegal.
At present we have every available computer telling and showing the rest of the world how 100% pure New Zealand is not. Let our future tourists, the public and countries who buy our export meat, fish, and milk products, make up their own minds.
We could advertise ourselves; NZ 100% pure 1080; The only country in the world to see 1080 poison in action; or Toxin downunder.
Bill Climo
I have just made a quick analysis of the language in the four anti-1080 letters in your 28 August issue, looking for emotive terms, exaggeration and yes, untruths. I found 31 examples. By way of contrast I found nothing comparable in the one page DOC article. This has been a weakness of the Green movement ever since the sixties. The support of rational readers is gone with such content, the argument is lost before it starts.
Pat Timings
I get sick of the “Anti-1080 Brigade” pretty quick these days. The debate has been going on for years and they seem to have closed minds; not caring about the science that supports 1080’s continued use.
I think of all the time, talk and effort that goes into their emotive negative campaign and how much more could be achieved if that force was channelled into something positive - something aimed at finding an alternative solution to the problems.
After all, anyone who says “No” to 1080 is effectively saying “Yes” to further destruction of our forests; widespread predation of bird populations; and the spreading of tuberculosis. Given the present alternatives it’s actually as simple as that.
I would like to think that we all want much the same outcome - healthy forests, lots of native birds, and no TB.
I’m not scared of 1080 used the way it is, and no one needs to be. If the anti-1080 people could put their obvious energy and active imaginations to work finding alternative solutions that could be as effective and affordable as 1080, they would gather more support. Remember - in life, we need to work together more than we need to agree.
Robin Manson
Pros: It’s cheap, kills possums, rats and stoats and some other animals, hopefully hedgehogs too.
Cons: It kills other animals, family pets, dogs, cats. Possums will eventually gain some immunity as rats have to some poisons, and larger doses will have to be administered. Although 1080 is “a naturally occurring poison,” so is arsenic and you would not want to ingest too much of that. The Environmental Risk Management Authority is a bit slow in banning dangerous toxic and poisonous substances, compared to the rest of the world safety organisations. It causes a horrible, painful death that only some humans are capable of letting happen.
Ernie Morris
The world as portrayed in the media
The Poisoning Paradise documentary exposing blatant and severe corruption, and the propaganda machine surrounding the 1080 issue in New Zealand is a timely reminder.
Wherever I look, I see misrepresentation, severe bias, subversion, deception, and outright brainwashing in the world’s media sources, by most politicians, and by people and corporations with a vested interest in big money.
I am constantly questioning what I see on TV 1, 2 and 3, and in most newspapers. What is truthful? What is real anymore? And if it’s not a truthful story, it’s a trivial story. Watching the news is like watching comedy hour. The world as portrayed in the media is becoming blurrier and blurrier as to what is reality and what is fiction.
Our consent is only being manufactured because we let it be manufactured.
Do you feel like a character in the movie The Matrix? If you choose the blue pill, you can go back to your comfy life, pay your bills, kiss your wife/husband, and be dumbed down, and oblivious to reality. If you choose the red pill, it will lead you down the Rabbit Hole to the truth and freedom.
Which pill do you choose ?
Peter Rudolf
Heaphy Track opportunity
From now through to the end of April next year, I shall be driving cars around to Kohaihai on a frequent but irregular basis. Anyone from Golden Bay wanting to walk through the Heaphy Track could get an early morning lift with me directly to the Western end of the Track. There would be time that same day to walk in at least as far as the Heaphy Hut. There are several advantages in walking back towards Golden Bay. To find out when I am driving to Kohaihai phone me on 525 9576.
Derry Kingston
Thanks!
Thanks to Golden Bay Orchestra and Zing World Choir for a fantastic concert last Sunday. We are so lucky in Golden Bay to have such talented musicians who give so generously of their time. If you missed it, you get a second chance with a free live-to-air performance this Sunday at 1pm from Fresh FM’s studio at the Workcentre, or tune into Fresh FM 104.8 or 95.2 or live streaming on our website freshfm.net
Paddy Brennan
Campground at Tukurua
Reply to Robert Smith (GBW Letters 28/8): As a result of your visit to the campground, I was banned from access to Tukurua beach over the campground! Surely my enquiries to the council should have been kept confidential.
“Prior to applying for building consent for the project the Cromwell-based property developer shall submit a landscape management plan.” As of 31/8/09 this still has not been done and building goes apace. I quote Laurie Davidson, “That was a mistake.”
“The non-notified track was used as overall effects on the environment were considered to be no more than minor.” How can that be the case when one small block of six basic cabins is being moved back and being replaced by three buildings half the distance from the mean high water spring tide mark? The rule is new buildings need to be set back 50 metres from the mean high water spring tide mark. The existing cabins are already less than 20 metres back, and the first new one is half that distance again! All three buildings are being built on ground that is too low; this rule has been waived as well. The other three big new buildings are 20 metres back from the river. This is no more than minor?
Had this consent gone through the notified track, all the local residents’ concerns about the beach development and access could have been addressed. But the out-of-town developer was keen to get it through the non-notified track to avoid all this. The council should have been aware of the major effect on the environment and the strength of local feeling towards our coastline. Remember Pakawau.
Peter Blasdale
Response from Rob Smith, acting TDC manager environment and planning: When responding to complaints, staff do not provide the complainant’s details.
For compliance issues I encourage the public to contact the local service centre and log a service request. These are then directed to the appropriate compliance staff member for action. Please note that you can have the complainant recorded as anonymous if preferred. Thank you for you interest as we do value the public’s assistance in identifying issues of concern.
Cleaning up Golden Bay
Once again it is time for our annual Clean up of the Bay. This will be going on throughout September and so I would like motorists to be careful as we will have people walking or biking along the roadsides clearing the rubbish.
We still have a shortage of volunteers to look after stretches of road on the Eastern side of the Bay. If you are interested ring me on 525 8332 in the evening. Thank you.
Kathy Hindmarsh, Keep Golden Bay Beautiful
Three Little Words
Congratulations and big thanks to MONZA and all the wonderful artists who entered the postcard exhibition Three Little Words that is running during September at the gallery. I found it really inspiring and find myself, yet again, very happy to live in a community full of enthusiastic and creative people who let their art brighten up the day, bring a smile or contemplation and support others. What a great way to be springing towards summer and I hope that this month of word events around town will be a fest of fun for all.
Lynne Udell
