WeSay

never, never disposed of anywhere near a runoff to any of our harbours!

Steven Garner, Warkworth

This letter was referred to Waste Management NZ for comment, but a spokesperson said the company was not commenting to the media while the Auckland regional landfill proposal was before the Environment Court.

Bus occupancy

Correspondent Neil Anderson (MM Apr 10) believes that buses are good for the environment. They are, provided they are fully occupied. Unfortunately, each bus I see on the local circuit carries only one or two passengers. The CO2 output per passenger-kilometre is horrendous. But that is not all. The energy need to produce the bus is three times that of a passenger car, which is already sitting in the garage anyway. Probably the Rodney Local Board got it right. The notion “bus good, car bad” is somewhat simplistic.

K H Peter Kammler, Matakana

Keep off the grass

I chuckled over your ‘Early bird gets the win’ (MM April 10). “Two birds on the head are NOT going to lead to one in the bush” reminded me of a story told to me many years ago by my daughter when she was undertaking her nursing training at Middlemore Hospital.

A young woman was admitted to the hospital with appendicitis – she was a punk and her spiked hair was dyed green. When she was being prepped for the operation it was found that the hair on her head was not the only hair dyed green. She had written in felt pen on her lower abdomen, “Keep off the grass!” After the operation, when she had woken sufficiently from the anaesthetic, she lifted up the blanket to see what had gone on. She saw there, also written in felt pen, “Sorry, had to mow the lawn”.

Maureen Young,Warkworth

Turn the page

The time for Auckland Council to seriously look at investing in a purpose-built library in Warkworth is long overdue. Yes, we are all very aware of how tight budgets are and that council is on an austerity drive, but it does plan to spend $2.791 billion on capital investment in its next financial year, including $17 million on libraries. For a fraction of this pie, a start could be made on planning a fit-for-purpose modern library that will meet the needs of a town set to swell from 5000 to 22,000 over the next 20 years. Warkworth desperately needs a library that caters for people of all ages – from toddlers to totterers. The current library in Baxter Street, with views of the river and bush, and a carpark building across the road, is the ideal site but the present building is long past its use-by date. It is far too small to accommodate the plethora of programmes run in Warkworth, it lacks proper staff facilities and there is inadequate storage space, plus it leaks. The town needs a community hub that includes large and small meeting, display and workshop spaces, quiet places for research and study, a local history and archives section, spaces dedicated to children and teens, a council service and information hub, and café. It should also accommodate the information centre, as this would give visitors better access to information, including on weekends when the current centre is closed. A modern library could also accommodate external service-based organisations such as the Justices of the Peace, Citizens Advice and the Budget Service, which will all have to find new homes anyway when council closes the service centre next door.

Rodney Local Board member Geoff Upson was gone, but not forgotten when the April meeting was adjourned briefly for a ‘comfort break’ last week. Colleagues who returned to the table before him quickly deployed a sign the Kumeu member had brought along to illustrate his feelings on new speed restriction proposals, just in case anyone forgot who should be sitting there.

Libraries have been around for centuries, but they have evolved to be much more than just a depository for books. Modern libraries have embraced digital resources and thanks to the creativity and energy of our local librarians, Warkworth runs a range of programmes that also celebrate our community’s diversity. As places for lifelong learning, libraries say a lot about what a community values. They are not luxuries, but one of the most essential centres in any town that cares about its cultural life. We spend so much time asking council to fill our potholes – but what about the places that fill our brains. What we have in the town now is totally inadequate.