Letters to the Editor
I write in response to the page three article Another Bridge Too Far (The News, April 27).
A majority of the community are not against major developments for his town, but rather are understandably against the lack of transparency, and the fact that consents involving possible crossing sites should be on hold until a greenfields site is secured, and any future developments are aware of its purpose. I think 3M are important members of the community, but didn’t realise their Nimby mindset regarding the bridge until this article.
It appears that developers in Waipā are the tail that wags the council dog when it comes to the third bridge location, and unless this practice stops, it will have a much larger impact on the community than a few digits in the profit column of their forecasts.
Danielle Schaad
Tamahere
Letters to Editor. Photo: Pixabay
Column comment
I want to thank Janine Krippner for her column. It’s always interesting and the subjects are so varied. I hope they can all be available in bulk for schools to use as research.
Deborah Christiansen
Cambridge.
Editor’s note: Janine’s previous columns can be viewed through our online sites.
Councillor responds
In response to my recent column, Selwyn June stated (Letters March 27) 90 kiwi were released back into the Okahu Valley (which skirts Te Urewera).
The Department of Conservation stated in a 2025 Official Information Act response that “DOC has not released any kiwi into the Okahu Valley, as there is no stoat control in the area to protect the birds from predation”. DOC also states it has removed over 100 kiwi and eggs from the Okahu Valley in the last 25 years. Despite the kiwi removals, the pig hunting, native logging, and absence of “pest control”, the population continues to thrive.
Mr June also states that “more than 600 kiwi have been monitored through aerial 1080 drops nationwide, and not one has died from 1080.” DOC tested only three kiwi for 1080 poison residues between 1998 and 2018. Since 2018, nine kiwi have been tested, two being positive – 22 per cent.
An OIA report on 740 dead kiwi in Northland between 1998 and 2018 shows 53 were tested for anti-coagulant rodenticides (not 1080), and 20 (38 per cent) were positive. Not a single kiwi has ever been recorded by DOC as dying from any kind of poisoning.
Between 2014 and 2024, 54 kiwi chicks were recorded as dying in the Tongariro Kiwi Sanctuary in the five years they were monitored. Between 2005 and 2013, over 120 chicks died, and in at least one of the seasons, the entire Operation Nest Egg batch of chicks died. Hundreds of kiwi have been translocated into poisoned forests like the Tongariro, none into unpoisoned forests.
In the Waikaremoana/Te Urewera wild kiwi range, the population is thriving. DOC states not one kiwi has been reported dead in the area in the last 10 years, despite the absence of pest control. As I said previously, mad scientist experiments are no place for kiwi.
Clyde Graf
Waikato Regional Councillor
