The Daily Blog Open Mic – Wednesday 11th April 2018

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Announce protest actions, general chit chat or give your opinion on issues we haven’t covered for the day.

Moderation rules are more lenient for this section, but try and play nicely.

EDITORS NOTE: – By the way, here’s a list of shit that will get your comment dumped. Sexist language, homophobic language, racist language, anti-muslim hate, transphobic language, Chemtrails, 9/11 truthers, climate deniers, anti-fluoride fanatics, anti-vaxxer lunatics and ANYONE that links to fucking infowar.  

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7 COMMENTS

  2. MESSAGE FOR SHANE JONES TO COME BACK TO GISBORNE NOW AND TALK TO THE IWI’S AND ALL OTHER AFFECTED COMMUNITY GROUPS THIS TIME AND DON’T GET CAUGHT AGAIN BY THE TRUCK/PORT LOBBY AS YOU DID LAST MONTH.

    Protecting our environment & health.
    In association with other Community Groups, NHTCF and all Government Agencies since 2001.
    Public COMMUNITY REQUEST ; letter of public safety; – Lower ‘road freight trucks’ still increasing at 6% a year. (NZTA)
    Re-open notably the Napier to Gisborne rail line.

    Press release – Save our NZ rail project. 2012 – 2018 from East Coast Citizens Groups.

    11th April 2018.

    Minister for Economic Development Shane Jones say’s he is getting mixed messages about support for Gisborne rail, this article should clear up the minister’s misunderstanding.

    gisborneherald.co.nz

    “Do port, ECT care about impacts?”

    Published: April 4, 2018 12:09PM

    COLUMN

    Last Thursday we attended a Gisborne District Council “pre-hearing” meeting for Eastland Port’s log berth expansion plans.
    A few community members’ continuing submissions were heard at this pre-hearing at the Waikanae Surf Life Saving Club, before “secret” Chatham House Rules applied.
    Our submitter was ignored during earlier submissions, saying the planned expansion should be made under the usual “regional plan change”, rather than a Resource Management Act application.
    The aim is to have the process made transparent, and allow the community to have their right to make changes to the way the port operates in future, in a more environmentally responsible manner.
    Transportation of logs to the port almost 24 hours a day is a major concern, with the bulk of submitters voicing opposition to the industrial noise generated. Many were losing sleep.
    Past submissions to GDC on logging truck noise may have been overlooked.
    We made a strong case after receiving a petition in 2011-12 from the Esplanade community group, signed by 280 people, asking GDC to mitigate against the excessive noise, vibration and air pollution of port-bound logging trucks.
    The pre-hearing chairman, GDC’s consents manager, may wish to consider our submitter’s push for a regional plan change scenario rather than the restrictive, secretive process Eastland Community Trust-owned Eastland Port appears to prefer.
    Does Eastland Port care about wider community impacts of negative noise, vibration and air pollution from its “industrial activities in a built environment”? If not, can GDC encourage ECT and its company to be environmentally and socially responsible?
    As former residents of Napier before settling in Gisborne in 2005, our community there suffered similar problems to what Eastland Port is causing. Fourteen suburban communities surrounding Port of Napier have truck noise, vibrations and air pollution from export freight being carried to the port.
    Our groups there have met with Napier Port executives at their boardroom, receiving a strong level of support from the port company over these issues.
    So we are surprised ECT and Eastland Port are not reciprocating with suburban communities surrounding their port. Are they worried about criticism from the wider community of Gisborne?
    Since 2002 my wife and I have operated an environmental monitoring company, CER Ltd, that has partnered with government agencies as well as Watercare and Niwa. Our company has reviewed Eastland Port’s “independent environmental assessment” report and we have several concerns.
    Many communities around New Zealand suffer from truck traffic to ports. A new method of measuring “industrial noise” is warranted, as used by the World Health Organisation and the European Union. The monitoring of residential urban noise, vibration and air pollution from truck freight is a long debate now which we will take up again with GDC/ECT.
    We support the request made by Winston Morton to change the port’s application to a more inclusive, far less secretive procedure.
    The port, with its narrow focus “only inside the port noise zone”, is restricting residents from seeking mitigation to the negative truck effects of noise, vibration and air pollution.
    Our other submitter at the GDC pre-hearing was Rail Action Group chairwoman Gillian Ward, who expressed the wish that Eastland Port consider rail to move logs to its wharves.
    We support rail freight to ports around New Zealand, which was the plan in the Labour government policy from 2004 called NZ National Rail Strategy to 2015.
    The new Labour-led Government has committed to the transition to a low-carbon or a net-zero carbon economy.
    So the Government needs to get our rail line reopened, and to plan to electrify the rail service.

    Save lives with rail freight lowering ‘truck gridlock.’

  3. ‘May hesitating to join Trump’s attack on Syria, wants more evidence – Times’

    https://www.rt.com/uk/423768-syria-may-hesitate-strike-trump/

    …”Reports by the White Helmets, a rebel-linked group, put the number of victims of the supposed attack with chemical-filled munitions at dozens. However, Russian military officials that visited the area and talked to hospital officials dubbed the claims a “provocation” and the accompanying images staged. While the UN’s chemical watchdog’s fact-finding mission is yet to reach the site on the ground, the US and its allies have all pinned the blame on the Syrian government and Russian “obstructionism.”…

    ‘OPCW to send chemical weapons investigators to Syria’s Douma – statement’

    https://www.rt.com/news/423732-opwc-sends-syria-chemical-probe/

    ‘Tucker Carlson slams US foreign policy in no-holds-barred monologue on Syria, social media explodes’

    https://www.rt.com/usa/423707-tucker-carlson-monologue-syria/

  4. I thought ‘blogs’ were meant to create not only a forum for discussions and debating, but also an alternative source of information, thus offering an alternative to the MSM.

    What I observe though is that so many commenters refer to media reports, in western, in Russian and other media that does dominate the reporting of events on this globe.

    Where are the revealing stories on blogs like this, apart from the odd post by Frank and so?

    Some other interesting stuff that few appear to bother take note of:
    https://nzsocialjusticeblog2013.wordpress.com/2017/11/21/how-the-new-zealand-ombudsman-effectively-provides-cover-for-the-hdc-an-information-request-complaint-case/
    (published 21 Nov. 2017)

    https://nzsocialjusticeblog2013.files.wordpress.com/2017/11/how-the-n-z-ombudsman-effectively-provides-cover-for-the-hdc-report-post-28-11-17.pdf

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