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The Sun
Wednesday February 6, 2013
Sun readers have their say... with the WORD on the Street. Q: What will you be doing today, Waitangi Day?
Bethlee McKeage Blenheim
Courtney Robinson Blenheim
Derek Johnson Blenheim
Eleanor Coates Blenheim
James Churchwood Blenheim
We will be having a nice relaxing day at home.
I will either be working or packing to leave for Wellington.
I will be working, unfortunately there’s no day off for retailers.
We are going to the Kenepuru Sounds with my daughter and son in law.
I’m going on a hunting trip to the sounds with the boys for the goat.
Nick Kershaw Blenheim I’ll be having a relaxing one with good friends.
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Sun Weath er ay Wednesd 22, 2012 February
Letters on issues of community interest are welcomed. Guidelines are that they should be no longer than 150 words. They must be signed and a street address provided to show good faith, even if a nom de plume is provided for publication. The editor reserves the right to
abridge letters or withhold unsuitable letters from publication. Send or fax them to the address on page two, or e mail them to news@blenheimsun.co.nz. Please note that your name and street address must also be provided in e mails.
Double standards Dear Ed, Double standards are rife amongst MPs. Take the Labour and the Green parties. These parties now condemn the National government for privatisation of our assets, despite obviously, most Kiwis being against. Wait on! Were we asked whether we wanted legalised prostitution, smacking i.e sensible disciplining of children, and now, God forbid, legalised homosexual marriage? These moral issues are about the health of society as important, or
more so, than economic issues. But the previous Labour-Green government went ahead. Remember 845,000 New Zealanders petitioned against Fran Wilde’s Homosexual Law Reform Bill, yet were arrogantly ignored by a hundred or so in Parliament. It’s happening again with National’s privatisation. The only party to stand up against the injustices is NZ First and Winston Peters. As an independent voter I’m looking to 2014 election. Don Coyote
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guest speaker. numbers. Susan Continued circulation circulated Page one 5. yearly newspaper copies, leased its is now the number with 18701 h Express “The Sun in the region ent and support particularly newspaper to the Marlboroug the encouragem deis just fantastic, Les says sizable this compared another year,” says h public/ 8077 ANC” twice weekly major advertisers climate. suffered last publish the Marlboroug the Sun similar to “The Express Sun will 9. in this economic to support he believes to see this March The Blenheim However have continued it is so successful crease in circulation, be similar h on Friday Katrina Whiteside who edition will he says. starting reason why readers Les. Les and to provide Marlboroug Friday Sun surprises,” as the paper is the main confiPublishers “The new but with a few time, as well shows our advertisers.this move also as an excitinga second edition for for re- Wednesday, with Les. paper. to grow “We believeregion,” says Bureau of NZ readers Wednesday has continuedmonths and the Audit popular dence in support the ABC last 12 involves Advertising Sun over the for a Friday paper Last week tasty beer a bit of and Creating process, Nicholls shares the Blenheimfrom advertisersto go twice weekly. a great a David force the demand magic too.two about making the driving or has been a word Breweries. Sun Publishers
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Dear Ed, I would hope P.M. Key might see the benefits a cruise terminal would bring to Marlborough and offer a bit of financial assistance. Does not have to be flash, just an organised area for bus pick ups, cover, tourist information about Marlborough , coffee shop and that’s about it. Marlborough is in my opinion a hidden gem of NZ, the beautiful Sounds areas, coupled with the wine industry, Havelock, Waikawa and Pelorus Bridge, what a great area.
I love coming back to Blenheim, driving up Waihopai Valley, driving around the Dashwood Pass where I worked on farms as a high school student, driving along the Wairau River where years ago many Sundays were spent watching speed boat racing, and for a couple of years I did a bit of rowing. A drive up to beautiful Lake Rotoiti, the gardens in Seymour Square and Pollard Park. It’s only when you leave and after many years living away one realises what a beautiful place Marlborough, Kaikoura and
the Sounds are. There, now I am home sick. I read the Sun story of the Blenheim family on the Gold Coast during our tropical low. I live beside the Gold Coast airport, and I have lived in North Qld. The winds that weekend were around 130km hr, gives some idea what it is like to live through a category 4 cyclone up North Qld with winds of 200 kms plus. Terrifying is what comes to mind. Kerry Jacques Tugun, Gold Coast.
Hearty congrats to Picton festival Dear Ed, Your letter, ‘Cheap Political shot at Picton organisers’ (Sun January 30) is a little misleading. I was offering hearty congratulations to the organisers of the Picton Maritime Festival for a simply wonderful family event. As usual, Mr Gosling, surprisingly still acting unilaterally on behalf of the Picton Business Group, takes the wrong end of the stick and overreacts as we have come to expect. By comparison to a wonderfully organised festival enjoyed by locals and international cruise ship passengers alike, his failing wee group
of doomsayers’ are perverting the morale of Picton and doing nothing, I repeat nothing, to add vibrancy, excitement, positiveness and enthusiasm to the town. Furthermore, I attended a recent meeting where he did in fact state that people would not come to Picton up a one-way road once the ferries moved. Offering a correction after the horse has bolted is somewhat shallow but not entirely unexpected. Given there was no agenda for this meeting one cannot possibly expect there to be recorded minutes despite having to record one’s name
and e-mail address. chairmanship? I think not. Leadership, I will allow the community to judge on the basis of visible outputs. Mr Gosling also contradicts himself insofar as stating he is not scoring political points but then goes on to do just that. “I used to be confused, now I’m not sure anymore” pretty much sums up his approach to things. The community will judge on the outputs. About time we saw some merit in the outputs of the group he chaired. Happy Festival Attendee #2
Clifford Bay creates confusion Dear Ed, The Government’s investigation of the possibility of moving the interisland port terminal to Clifford Bay is generating some confusion about the Marlborough District Council’s role in this matter. The Minister of Transport has said it’s worth looking into the viability of a ferry terminal at Clifford Bay. Transport officials have been tasked with gathering information to see whether the project will pass its first hurdle; establishing the project’s financial viability. They’re looking at things like the capital cost of the build and the operational cost of Clifford Bay, and the ability of port users to pay. The future need to upgrade the port of Picton should the ferries remain is part of that calculation. They’re not looking at the wider economic
impact of such a decision. That won’t happen until, and if, the Government decides to move to the next stage and seek resource consents. That will be the time when the broader economic and social issues of any such move will be assessed. That’s the point when the Government will give us opportunity as a community to enter into any debate about this proposal. Until then, we can only gather our own resources and ensure we are well prepared to contribute good quality data. Some concern has been expressed about the confidentiality agreement that covers council staff involved in providing information for the ministry’s preliminary report. As is standard practice, a confidentiality agreement governs those supplying information to a financial feasibility report. Council staff deal regularly with commercially
sensitive information and are familiar with confidentiality requirements. This agreement covers any commercially sensitive information provided by the ferry and port operators that may emerge in the course of the ministry’s research. It protects the rights of the private businesses which use the port. But it does not constrain the council from advocating on behalf of the community. Nothing that has been agreed by council will restrict councillors from fulfilling their roles as advocate for the Marlborough community. My priority, should this project go ahead, will be to ensure that there is proper consideration given to all impacts and that an appropriate support package is delivered to Marlborough. Alistair Sowman, Mayor