A letter to the editor of the Wairarapa News
I sometimes wonder if our MP John Hayes deliberately inserts something to rile me in his weekly column, From the House.
That of 28 October 2009 has a tailpiece about electricity generation – admittedly a topic about which a politician can please only some voters only some of the time. Like most of us, Mr Hayes supports sustainable energy; but he says, ‘what about Meridian looking at the feasibility of a couple of dams in the Waiohine and Tauherenikau gorges to provide clean electricity, water for irrigation in summer and lakes for recreation.’
Here’s what about it, Mr Hayes.
To you, the Tararuas may be no more than a strip of green wallpaper (white in winter) on the western side of the Wairarapa valley. But to a host of people from all over the lower North Island who know them well, the Tararuas are part of our heritage. Tararua gorges in their wild state provide superb recreation without anyone bastardising them into lakes. The Tararuas are a cherished place where the natural world is almost untouched by human intrusion, and we owe it to our descendants to keep them that way.
29 November is Wild Rivers Day in Wairarapa. Mr Hayes, I challenge you to attend the events that will be publicised in this paper, to learn why your dams are not wanted.
Build them in some other paradise, not the Tararua Forest Park.
John Rhodes
Greytown