My Account
Leads needed
Charlotte Hopkins, Silverdale
I am fed up with dog owners allowing their dogs to sniff and jump up on strangers, because they are not on a lead. I have had bad experiences with dogs that have left me nervous around them. In Manly and Silverdale I’ve had dogs come up to me to sniff and jump at me. They were with owners, but not on a lead and the owners seemed unconcerned– in fact, one actually laughed when I looked upset at the dog doing this. I understand dogs need to be on a lead by law? Why is this not being adhered to by dog owners?
Editor’s note: Auckland Council’s regulations state that dogs must be on-leash at all times in all council-controlled public places unless otherwise stated in local area rules.
Landfill worst option
Betsy and David Kettle, Hibiscus Coast Zero Waste (abridged)
Does anyone else wonder why the national media hasn’t publicised the proposal for a new mega-landfill north of Auckland? A new landfill represents a failure of our society to create a sustainable resource management system. If our culture really valued our environment, we wouldn’t allow another landfill unless it was managed in an entirely different way. The landfill represents a failure of our society to create a sustainable resource management system. If our culture really valued our environment, we wouldn’t allow another landfill unless it was managed in an entirely different way.
We would demand that many materials be banned from landfilling, termed “Priority Products”. Materials like tyres, electronic waste, hazardous materials, recyclable goods, organic matter and batteries would incur a fine if found in the rubbish. We would require as a condition of the new landfill consent that existing recycling facilities be expanded or new, recycling facilities be set up to accept these.
We would have large scale composting and biogas reactors to process organic materials like food scraps and greenwaste. We would be turning our tyres into asphalt and other paving material. We would be dismantling our batteries, electronic waste and electrical appliances to keep valuable rare metals recycling through NZ industries. We would re-think our plastics industry so that only plastics capable of being recycled in NZ were manufactured or imported. We would require manufacturers and importers to take responsibility for the entire life cycle of the goods they produce. We would expand our Community Recycling Centre network to accept, dismantle and consolidate materials for recycling here in NZ. We would set up hazardous waste plants to break down dangerous compounds into safe ones.
We would be insisting these facilities be set up prior to and as part of the consenting of the new landfilling operation so that this was the last landfill ever to be established in the Auckland region. To make this happen we would need to catch up with the rest of the world and progressively raise the landfill levy to $140 per tonne over a five-year period to enable recycling to compete with landfilling. We would need Mandatory Product Stewardship schemes so that all manufacturers were on a level playing field to prevent the irresponsible from shirking their environmental responsibility.
The reason I think the national media hasn’t publicised this environmental catastrophe is because we desperately need another landfill as a result of our own catastrophic social failure. But it’s not too late: we can demand a better system and could be writing to the Local Board and Councillors now.
Editor’s note: This story was made public in our sister paper, Mahurangi Matters.
A head for heights and climbing skills came in useful when a seagull needed rescuing in Silverdale recently. Kerrie McIvor says the bird was stuck up a light pole nears Kings Plant Barn on October 20. Staff from the local vets got a ladder, but it didn’t reach far enough and no-one was game to climb the remaining distance until Jeff Zhang arrived on the scene. Jeff says he had stopped to get lunch and saw people looking up and pointing. He said the climb, while it looked daunting, was an easy one for him. The gull’s foot had become wedged and the bird was upside down and unable to free itself. Once the foot was released, the bird flew away. “It was amazing to watch,” Kerrie says. Photo, Kerrie McIvor
