The new rocket slide in Memorial Park. A lot flasher than the old rocket slide from my childhood. There is a new Humpty Dumpty as well.
Another query from a local resident.
What is your stance on the following:
- Mandated water fluoridation
- Air quality connected to the port and surrounding factories
- High density housing
- Use of glyphosate and other chemicals in public spaces such as Mount
Maunganui and playgrounds
Several questions there to answer so I will do my best.
The three waters legislation gives the government the power to mandate water treatment. Fluoride has been mandated for Tauranga and presumably for all other councils. So by law Tauranga is required to start fluoridation by November. There is not much council can do about that. Possibly, if that was a Labour coalition mandate, the National coalition might be open to changing it?? Something to explore.
Yes air quality is important. At the moment I dont know enough about it to know what is the best way forward. That is one of those things that does require a bit of consideration so I would want to be briefed on it if elected.
I think medium and high density housing is a good idea, if done the right way. It is good to have housing options. Not everyone wants a lawn to mow. We need more one and two bedroom dwellings. The builders like 3 and 4 bedroom houses so there are not enough one and two bedroom dwellings. Also, I don’t think that the current urban sprawl is sustainable or affordable so we do need denser housing. I am also a fan of having more jobs and amenities close to where we live so we don’t have to drive so far to work or play. Our zoning / planning system works against that.
I am a gardener myself, keen but not very good. Glyphosphate and other chemicals are bad for the soil biome so I try and minimise the sprays I use. But what else can you do for prickle weed – so I do spray for prickle weed. And sometime I have to use glyphosphate but I try to use it the bare minimum that I need. I prefer weeding, or natural oil, or my gas powered flame burner wand or boiling water. Various councils have tried different options but they don’t always work well, or they are too expensive or impractical. As I say spraying is the only thing that works for prickle weed, but over time you are building up chemicals in the soil. I am sure that there would be lots of people very pleased if somebody could come up with viable alternatives.
Leave a Reply