Nicki Delaney and Abbie Grant

12 WEDNESDAY 3 June 2020 Opinion

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Your Voice

We’re making chemtrails again:

Many people noticed the clean air around town during the lockdown. There were so few petrol-powered vehicles on the road that the whole town smelled better. Cyclists and oth ers did not have to breathe carcinogenic gases while getting around town and the health profile of our town went up. It was one of the bright spots in an otherwise difficult time. Now we are getting back to BAU (business as usual), one of the things about that “usual” is our children are breathing exhaust fumes again. Where are the usual shrill voices on 1080 and 5G when there is a very real carcinogenic discharge right at streel level and mixing it up with sensitive respiratory tissues. Chemtrails are real (I’m jesting) …. they come out of our exhaust pipes. This is a crossroads of our technology and our times. We can do much better than we are doing in this important climatic and public health issue. We have every incentive in New Zealand to make the switch to renewable transport options sooner than later. Now we know how beneficial it was. Let’s do this. Jace Hobbs

Making Civic House a work of art?

Great to have fresh energy and vision in Nelson. I’m always excited to hear of new, innovative and creative solutions to things. I guess we shall watch this space. Amanda Sears

What about a vertical green living wall... i.e. use real plants that will grow down ... some lovely examples of this in Wellington city. Nic Maguire

This structure needed a makeover from day one! Excellent idea! Nola Timpson

Terrible looking building. Anne and Kerry Laing

A giant mural up the tower would be amazing, adding some bright colours to the city. Lisa Brown

How about making the clock readable so that you can actually tell the time without checking your watch to make sure you are seeing it right, lol. Nettie Elder

Perhaps not the right time to be spending money, but oh yes, this building is well overdue for an update. Sarah Barker

Don't you dare waste ratepayer’s money on that desperately ugly monolith. Andrew Siddells

I have often thought, what could be done to improve the aesthetics of this building - I always come to the

St Vincent de Paul area president Jos Pattison and Network Tasman Charitable Trust member Patrick Adamson marketed the trust presenting the store with a donation of $5000, to help to store recovery from losses incurred due to Covid-19. The trust has been operating since 1993, giving out donations and grants to the community, with donations last year going to the Pigeon Valley fire relief effort and the women’s refuge, including the Fifeshire Foundation. This year donations went to the Fifeshire Foundation, Nelson Community Food Bank, and the Salvation Army. The Charitable Trust has so far given $25,000 to local charities to aid in their Covid recovery. Jos said that St Vincent de Paul is “very thankful” for the donation. Photo: Matt McCrorie

same conclusion - demolition! Diane Shaw

Civic House should be left as it is. A metaphor for governance and the architectural profession in the region. Unfinished, brutalist, obsolete and full of drones. Robin Whalley

It is a work of art already. Grotesque art! Sergey Ratakhin

I think a mural on the tower would be nice, i.e. a big gecko, then at least you can still use it for advertising banners. Lulu Armstrong

Yes, I can visualise it painted in rich, bright colours in the style of Hundertwasser. Linda Brett

Make it a community arts project. Robyn Halkett

It’s a disgrace, always has been since it was built. It needs a face lift just like me. Brenda Kenny

It's always been ugly, you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Beryl Kirk

Go steampunk! Mark Baker

Good idea, but unless it's free, don't do it. The NCC shouldn't waste money on irrelevant s*** like they have been. Now’s the time to set a budget and stay within it. Rayon Mackenzie

On Thursday the Government announced $25 million of arts funding for Creative NZ, so there's potential that no funding is required from council. Bevan Woodward

Meeting the local job loss chal lenge:

You lose your job, you get back up on the horse - even if it’s different to what you've been doing, its food on the table. Brenda Kenny

Good on you Dylan Phillips, will certainly come to you if we ever need work done on our jet skis. Tia Andrews

Kerbside compost collection on cards:

544 Waimea Road, Nelson

Nelson Matters

I would love to participate in this excellent idea. Lorna Johnston

My work currently is dominated by efforts to save Nelson jobs. I am becoming increasingly frustrated by Government decisions that are putting people out of work unnecessarily. A good example is my battle to try and save work and jobs at Aimex, one of Nelson’s major marine engineering companies at Port Nelson. This iconic Nelson company employs 100 people in building and maintaining fishing and other vessels like Nelson’s new Coastguard rescue boat. It has already lost $3 million of work from not being able to get vessels into Nelson and has laid off some staff. The Government is refusing entry of a tuna fishing boat from American Samoa that requires $400,000 of urgent repair work. Nelson has the expertise having last refurbished this boat in 2019 for $6.5 million. The crew pose no Covid-19 risk having been at sea for weeks and not landed at any port with the virus. The company is quite happy to put the crew in full quarantine while the repairs are done and get the crew tested. Immigration and Customs say no and Ministers have ignored my requests to allow entry. Officials say the vessel should go to Hawaii for repairs but that means Nelson loses the income and jobs. I am also frustrated over the Government’s business support. I have the Armadillos Restaurant in Richmond provided with an IRD business loan for $35,000 but then two days later IRD demanded that it be repaid. I am trying to resolve this to save the 14 jobs. I am also concerned by the lack of Government interest in the 100 jobs being lost at Nelson’s turbo-prop aircraft Regional Maintenance Facility. This week I will be supporting the presentation of Nelson’s 17,000 signature petition to Select Committee. My request is that Government tag its $900 million support for Air New Zealand to jobs and services for regions like Nelson. The failure of the Government’s business and jobs support is illustrated by the Business Finance Guarantee scheme announced in early April promising $6.2 billion in support. The uptake has only been 1%. These problems locally and nationally show Government does not understand business. 40,000 jobs have already been lost nationally and the economists are forecasting 200,000 being put out of work. 4,000 job losses are being forecast for Nelson and Tasman. National has backed up our criticism with strong alternatives. We will take a practical approach to border controls that will protect jobs and keep Covid-19 at bay. It’s about being smart and nimble in working with industries like marine engineering and international students. New National leader Todd Muller announced last Friday a bold grant scheme for businesses offering $10,000 per job. This is better than just having dole numbers soar. New Zealand has done well in flattening the Covid -19 curve and saving lives. We now need to move swiftly to ensure we do not flatten the economy and unnecessarily cost people their livelihood. We need to be relentless in saving as many jobs as possible.