BRIEFS
House prices stabilise
The latest homes.co.nz data show an element of price stability has returned to the Ōtaki housing market. After the median house price estimate slipped $25,000 off the high of $800,000 in January, the median was up slightly in April to $780,000. For the first time since Ōtaki Today regularly reported the median in 2019, prices were down in the previous three-month period – by 2.8 percent. It was still up 5.5 percent for the past six months, and 28.3 percent for the past 12 months.
Twenty-two call-outs
Ōtaki Volunteer Fire Brigade had 22 call-outs in April: 10 for rubbish, grass or shrub fires, four to assist other brigades, two each for property fires, personal fire alarms and medical emergencies, and one each “good intent” and special services.
Rotary donates masks for college students
Ōtaki Rotary Club has donated 480 face masks to Ōtaki College – more than enough for every student. The masks are made by New Zealand company Lanco, and offer state-of-the-art filtering at N95 level. They also ensure easy breathing. It’s part of a Rotary programme to donate of up to a million masks to communities and the education sector to help reduce the spread of Covid-19.
LETTERS
Something for everyone
Thank you for getting Otaki Today to my home in Paraparaumu. Your coverage of Ōtaki’s people and happenings both these days and from past times becomes very real as I reflect on 70 years and various roles within the Ōtaki community. Nostalgia aside, your paper is loaded with something for everyone. It skilfully combines hard and soft news through its spectrum of contributors from local and/or outside invited sources. March and April’s issues in particular prompt me to comment on how some contributions can inadvertently give balance to opinions such as those by [political contributor] Bruce Kohn. Mr Kohn has three right wings that blatantly undermine any semblance of equilibrium. Even back as far as last October’s issue he couldn’t find a crumb for a left wing and therefore was flightless and crunched into a reader–inactive wasteland (hard news). I couldn’t be bothered reading his column in the months in between Thanks to your cartoonist, Jared Carson. My sense of humour was restored in the freshness of youthful reminders that laughing at ourselves over normal everyday occurrences is healthy. No political undertones dominate the simplicity of his subjects (soft news). Perhaps Jared carries three left wings, unwittingly restoring balance to page 2. I eagerly await Fraser Carson’s monthly contribution. Without constraints of tact he tells it “how it is”, leading readers in with clever opening themes. During the plain language journey of his columns he condemns the actions of malignantly narcissist world power leaders, along with tough questions relating to conspiracy theories – eg, anti–vaxers – to facing our own perceptions of common sense in the realities of global peace and challenges in our own backyard. In short, his writing makes one think. After the heavy stuff, he brings one back to light relief, concluding the opening theme. Excellent journalism. Don’t let the newspaper conglomerates steal him.
Mari Housiaux, Paraparaumu
What’s wrong with ‘family’?
While I accept that te reo is now a part of our lives with new street names, local politics, central government and health and education, I am a little disappointed and rather saddened to see the almost non-use now of that beautiful warm English word “family”. Aren’t we overdoing the alternative just a little too much?
Jonathon Harrison, Ōtaki
