The Curse of Central Otago

Posted 7th January 2018 to the mountain scene newspaper Queenstown NZ.

It’s been a long times since I have been into Skippers, and actually in a VW Kombi the Traditional Skippers Bus of the 1970s
I am so gutted to read that the Historic Mount Aurum Homestead is now gone but was very sad to see that all the trees are dead around Skippers. It looks absolutely terrible.  I don’t think I could bear going back there now.  Sad how it was once a place of great beauty now it looks like an industrial accident. It really is painful. The progress of modern times has not been kind to Central Otago. A cancerous petulance of Ugly has fallen on a once fair land. 

Mayors should battle for the environment

Posted 5 January 2018 to the Otago Daily Times Newspaper Dunedin NZ.

I was starting to wonder if the population has ANY free will when it comes to saving the environment but today someone has had enough of plastic straws and is getting traction in the media...

Years ago I wrote to several Key Mayors including Tim Shadbolt of Invercargill if they could join together for the people they represent and do what central government cant seem to do... Fight Waste which is a huge ratepayer Burdon.

Problem number one is multinationals make tons of non returnable containers of which they expect ratepayers to dispose of into our environment and our lame Government caved into this without so much as a whimper.

Even the Green Party appears mute on this subject.

 As someone in the hospitality industry I am alarmed buy the increasing amount of this trash like water bottles that where never even a remote a necessity in the past.

And why old school paper grocery bags are not a choice in a country that makes so much paper is beyond me.

Go on mayors, try and get your free will back and do something hopeful !

published 8th Jan 2018