Elected members
There are far too many people on the Howick Local Board.
That said, most local boards in Auckland seem to be getting more people on board when in reality ratepayers and local communities very rarely see a benefit from local boards, they seem to be a law unto themselves.
If they simply stuck to the basics in supporting residents and ratepayers and stopped spending public money like they have a direct pipeline to the local bank when in reality, it’s public money they’re spending.
Grant Maconaghie
Core business
Firstly, my thanks and appreciation for the good work done by Ray Sangster and his committee, during what must have been a difficult time.
And welcome to Barry Dreyer and the new Howick RSA committee. They have a big job ahead of them.
Some of the things I’d like to see are:
An emphasis on welfare via the appointment of a welfare officer, whose sole job is the welfare of ex-service personnel.
It’s not the job of the RSA to fund school kids’ tertiary education.
The re-establishment of a permanent and visible office for the Howick RSA, and the War Memorial Hall (former Information Centre) is the obvious place for it to be.
The fundamental purpose of the RSA is to look after its ex-service personnel and their families, along with keeping alive and growing the Anzac traditions, and to interact with the public.
It therefore needs a visible presence to carry out these functions, and there simply cannot be a more appropriate place than the versatile War Memorial Hall.
I assume this is the core of what the people of Howick had in mind in the years after WWII, when they donated the money to have it built, and it’s long since time for this generation to help fulfil that vision.
Arthur Moore, Pakuranga
Cheaper fares
Queensland has put in place a 50-cent public transport fare to encourage use of trains and buses.
Maybe Auckland Transport could introduce a $1 fare between 9am and 3pm and after 6pm and on weekends to solve the problem of all the empty buses running around?
You never know it might help to pay for all the busways being built around the city.
A little is better than nothing.
Bob Wichman, Botany
