Which substance is most used for pencil lead?

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by Miranda Spary

Miranda Spary is a tired, old, has been columnist that we feel sorry for. She used to write a weekly book column in the old Queenstown Times which was read more for the local gossip in it than the book part. She is quite lazy and very grateful if readers send in ideas about what’s been happening locally on miranda@queenstown.co.nz

Life in the new Wakatipu is defi nitely going to be different, and a better different. One big difference is that there are no weekly whinges - I know this because my mother, who is the head of the Wakatipu Citizens Unsolicited Advice Bureau, has been whining about the lack of weekly whinges in the LWB. She’s advised me to write some so here goes... 1. That infuriating and pointless development at the bottom of McEntyre hill (yes, the one that blocks the traffi c on Lake Hayes Road all the time) is now sneakily trying to push through a massive (160 houses!) old people’s village - really? There are already two other retirement complexes that have been built and not anywhere near sold out, plus Millbrook is doing a huge new subdivision. Has anyone at QLDC looked at the census and seen that this massive bubble of older people is coming to an end? Since the pill became available, (for contraception, sorry, not coronavirus) smaller and smaller families have become the norm. I’m at the tail end of the bubble and will have a massive selection of houses to choose from, unless I’m in jail for murdering my husband - I love him but don’t believe marriage is meant to be about 24/7 togetherness...

2. PLEASE can we get rid of the hideous green 40km motorway signs at the entrances to Arrowtown - there are masses of talented, creative Arrowtowners who could design something more in keeping with our environment than those eyesores. Even painting pedestrian crossings every few hundred metres would work better and be less offensive.

Enough enough - whinge over

Libraries, cinemas and other bliss spots are all going to be open - Dorothy Browns is very keen for the community to let them know which movies they’d particularly like to see screened - email dorothy@dorothybrowns.com with your wish lists and they will try and make them come true. There’s also a very lovely surprise at the cinema when it reopens - I’m not allowed to say what it is, and I am nearly busting to try it. Secrets are very challenging for me.

The hearing for the Olive Leaf community centre is happening soon and its huge group of supporters is keeping fi ngers and everything else crossed that it will be approved. It’s wonderful that the historic buildings and trees in the town have been protected, and that no buildings taller than a tree can get built - keeps it all on a human scale, but it’s time for this truly new and wonderful architectural masterpiece to be built. There’s still a huge shortage of community spaces and this one will not only create a lot of jobs in the short term, but will be a major tourist drawcard forever. Even better, it’s not going to cost the community a dollar. Win-win all round.

I’m not so interested in whinges, but I’m always delighted to hear your ideas for ways to keep our beautiful basin in clean and sparkling order, not overfl owing with dirty water and grotty people using and abusing it.