whanganui.org

There’s art and there’s street sculpture …

The chainsaw carvings in Victoria Avenue were an eyesore. Good riddance to them. I’m sure that sculptor Merv is a very nice bloke and I’m sorry that his feelings were hurt, but his masterpiece was my blot on the landscape.

There’s a place for chainsaw sculpture but that place isn’t a permanent spot in a tree-lined avenue. An avenue is, by definition, a street lined with trees.

Living trees.

… and then there are trees

And while we’re on the subject of trees, what about replacements for the missing trees in Victoria Avenue and myriad streets all around Wanganui? Trees help to absorb the noxious emissions that we fill our city air with. As well as being easy on the eye they help to reduce city temperature extremes by absorbing heat and by shading asphalt.

Have you wondered why the temperatures shown on the evening news are a lot lower than what you suffered under during the summer days? It’s because of the vast areas of asphalt on our roads and ever-expanding heat retaining tar-sealed car parks.

Cities are invariably significantly hotter than the carefully selected places where the weather data are recorded. How many times do we look at the TV weather figure for Wanganui and say “Yeah, right”?

In my own little street I’m confronted by patches of flourishing weeds surrounded by concrete edging. These patches of ugliness were intended as tree sites. How difficult is it to sort that out?

Won’t put much strain on the rates.

And to stir a little controversy

It would be nice if the Victoria Avenue trees could be progressively replaced with natives. Won’t hold my breath on that one. I suspect that would be a minority view and I’ll bow to public opinion if that’s the case.

But we need lots of natives to replace lost trees in many other streets of our city. Beautiful Victoria Avenue is one of the reasons that so many visitors are surprised at what a pleasant city we have. Let’s add to that pool of beauty.

A dearth of decency

Michael Laws and offensive people I have known

I recently gave the Red Eye Café a swerve because some inconsiderate idiot had parked precisely dead centre between two car parks leaving no space for my little Freelander. I headed for Oggie’s Café instead. On the way I spotted a man pushing a beat up van in the opposite direction to mine. I stopped 100 yards up the road and walked back to lend a hand.

By the time I got to him he’d stopped pushing, but the van was still in the middle of the road. “May I help?” Said I.

He looked at me dead-faced and said “No.”

Nothing more. No thank you, it’s OK, or kiss my backside. Just a flat expressionless “No.”

“You’re welcome.” I said, and walked back up the road to my car. I was not pleased. Perhaps for the first time in human history, the Good Old Days really did have something going for them.

What’s this got to do with Michael Laws?

I’m sure that Michael is not an inconsiderate parker.

Well, I’m almost sure.

But his crusade to sort out the Whanganui DHB may have more chance of working if he gave some thought to the feelings of the other folk who’re trying to do the same. He and Clive Solomon appear to be lacking in the basic skills necessary to make a team work.

His recent confrontational behaviour at board meetings can do nothing to further the aims he espoused which persuaded folk like myself to give him their vote. Whether his views are correct or not, a more reasoned approach to people and problems would be more likely to produce results than the confrontational and aggressive behaviour exhibited recently at board meetings.

See for yourself in this Wanganui Chronicle report.

Makes me wonder whether or not Clive Solomon’s community support is standing on shaky foundations too.

First published in @ My Wits’ End March 12th 2008.

Roman Hasil isn’t the chief guilty party in yet another DHB fiasco

Watching the news media hounding Dr Roman Hasil has been disturbing to me.

Anyone who has experienced depression or lived with a victim would have immediately recognised the outward symptoms.

Watching the way TVNZ’s trusty news team pounced on an obviously distraught Hasil and his female friend in Australia was very disturbing. It wasn’t news reporting, it was akin to ambulance chasing. It was cruel.

The 8 unfortunate women whose lives have been affected by this flawed man’s botched sterilisation operations and problems with the bottle would have gained little comfort from the exercise in persecution. Hasil is as much a victim as they are.

Who is really to blame here?

OK, Dr Hasil is not blameless, but what about:

• the decision makers at Wanganui District Health Board and Wanganui Hospital who failed to carry out the most basic background checks when hiring Dr Hasil. They didn’t even contact his last employer.
• the recruitment company who held back a damning reference from one of two referees (yes, just two) listed in Dr Hasil’s CV.
• the string of employers who failed to address Hasil’s obvious health problems.
• the Medical Council, who could have done more to obtain information from their Australian counterparts.
• the whole unwieldy New Zealand health edifice which has left the Wanganui Hospital so short of medical staff that they find it necessary to cut corners. Too many administrators – not enough doctors and nurses. Overworked staff. A vicious circle of destruction echoed around the country.
• the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons who should have a one stop shop database of information about their members.

Who will pay when the lawyers start on the compensation hunt?

We all know who will pay. It’ll be the long-suffering taxpayers and ratepayers when the District Health Board is sued. It’ll be the patients whose care will suffer because of funds diverted to the battle and staff diverted by the process.

Who should pay?

• The recruitment agency.
• The individuals at the DHB who failed in their duty. Not the organisations to which they belong.

Every time an MP, a Minister, a council, a cop, or a raft of other perpetrators does something stupid which results in litigation the taxpayer pays the costs and the damages.

It’s time the individuals shouldered the responsibility for their actions. Maybe we could then look forward to a little more care being exercised before decisions are made or libellous statements uttered.

Responsibility

And after all this and various other fiascoes, the DHB Chief Executive, Memo Musa, still has his job.

Curious.

I indulged my usual Sunday morning routine today – reading the Sunday Star Times over a cup of coffee or two at Legends.

Their café prices are very competitive (unlike Vincent’s, just up the road, they don’t charge me an extra dollar for decaf) and the outlook is superb.

The view from next door at
Tamara Backpackers’ Lodge

Legends doesn’t get much patronage during the day. It’s a shame, because it’s a first rate establishment with pleasant staff, good coffee and great cooking.

My theory on this:

• although they do great à la carte and blackboard fare, they don’t have a sufficient selection of café food – slices, muffins, wraps and so on.
• unless they’re busy at the time, they close at 2pm, reopening later for dinner. I know that this costs them a lot of my custom, perhaps I’m not alone.

Nevertheless, it’s a nice place. Give it a try.

Rana Waitai’s column in last week’s River City Press was interesting reading. Rana has always seemed to me to be a man with his head screwed on and his down-to-earth observations on his new positions in council and the Hospital Board are a sign of hope that my vote for him wasn’t wasted.

I was tempted to say, “Hardly surprising when you consider his background,” but, sadly, a few of his erstwhile senior colleagues in the Police Force give the lie to that assumption.

Rana also wrote about the reduced vote count for Vision candidates in the election which brought him into Council.

There seems to be a feeling about, expressed often and with some vituperation by Rob Vinsen (who never misses an opportunity to put the boot into Vision whether it’s deserved or not), that the Vision team were given a thumping of Rugby World Cup proportions in the election.

Well, the fact is most people seem to have voted the way I did, giving an increased vote for Mayor Michael – despite his propensity for pit bull tactics – and pulling back a bit on Vision.

We had our way for good or ill – as happens with elections. We have “get things done” Bulldozer Laws and we have a Vision team without a majority. but let’s keep things in perspective. The Vision team have only been reduced by one. Hardly a massacre.

Congratulations to the successful candidates

And a big thank you to all of those who had the gumption and the stamina to stand as candidates for the thankless task of local body politician.

Results are listed here on the council’s website.

I didn’t get my own way entirely, but the preliminary results seem to be a victory for common sense. Mayor Michael, for all his acidity, has been a good leader (well… with occasional lapses). His Vision team don’t have an outright majority, so won’t be able to steamroll legislation at whim.

Those hard working independent folk like Barbara Bullock and Randhir Dahya have been rewarded and that’s a good thing.

Can we expect a gentler kinder Mayor Laws?

John Banks reckons he can do it. If Banksie can, anyone can.

Now a referendum to divorce ourselves from Horizons would be nice. How about it Your Worship?

And you voters

If your voting could really change things, it would be illegal.

Wanganui Gas have generously decided to fund the gas flares that will stop you from falling off the boardwalk after too many pinot noirs at your favourite downtown watering hole.

Who are they kidding? That gas isn’t free. Somebody’s paying.

If you’re a Wanganui Gas consumer would you care to guess who?

Then again, maybe they’ve been reading about this on my other blog:

Forget climate change. The Arabs can keep their oil. We can run everything on salt water.

Don’t believe me? You can see it for yourself right here .

Salt water burning. Not just burning, but powering an engine. There’s the picture »

All our troubles are over, right?

The inventor, John Kanzius, splits the molecules of water into oxygen and hydrogen and burns the hydrogen. Seems like a nice man too.

Hang on a minute, isn’t there a catch?

Well, now that you ask, yes.

It’s all been done before, albeit in a different way. In the breathless news reports nobody thinks to ask, “How much energy goes into the RF generator which initiates this miraculous process?”

There’s the small matter of the Laws of Thermodynamics which our fearless journos don’t seem to know about. Wouldn’t it be nice if journalists and TV presenters were educated and knowledgeable people.

Don’t get your hopes up.

Then again, I may be wrong. Wouldn’t that be nice?

Jonathon Schell, is a man of many accomplishments. With spare elegance he has encapsulated my generation’s legacy:

“Nature, once a harsh and feared master, now lies in subjection and needs protection against man’s powers.”

“Yet because man, no matter what intellectual and technical heights he may scale, remains embedded in nature, the balance has shifted against him too, and the threat that he poses to the Earth is a threat to him as well.”

Think about those cupfuls of oil. They add up.

Whether you’re a climate change evangelist or a skeptic, you can’t escape the fact that we’re fouling our grandchildren’s nest.

Seriously.

One world, one people, one chance.

What does this have to do with Wanganui?

Quote Mayor Michael Laws regarding a questionable addition to the splendid riverfront walkway:

“I also want to acknowledge the generous support for this project from Wanganui Gas who have offered to provide gas flares which will light up the area at night. They will work in with architectural designers Praxis to ensure the flares are used to best effect – it will be stunning.”

So, we’re all encouraged to install compact fluorescent lamps and leave the car in the garage but it’s OK for Wanganui Gas, with the endorsement of Council, to burn our rapidly vanishing supplies of gas for such a frivolous purpose.

It’s environmental vandalism.

More next post.

I hope that this web log will generate dialogue in our community.

Interesting and provocative letters make it into the Wanganui Chronicle but with several days between responses that kind of discussion has its limits.

I’ll be writing regular posts on topics of interest to Wanganui and the people of the Whanganui River.

In most web logs the “blogger” writes the posts and everybody else writes comments in response.

That will happen here too – please add your opinions to mine. But I’m not without my prejudices, so at whanganui.org you can write your own posts.

If you have something to say, send me the copy (text and pictures if you wish) as an email to alan@whanganui.org. If you’re a local body elections candidate or a sitting politician your input is particularly welcome.

If Telecom broke your email, you can post feedback here at MistyWindow. Mention that it’s for the whanganui.org web log and I’ll post it here.

I reserve the right to edit and abridge, but I won’t change the drift of your message. You will be acknowledged as the author.

Regular contributors will be invited to post directly as administrators. In that case there will be no editing on my part except in exceptional circumstances –

Go for it.