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Mike Hosking: Madness and lack of logic hindering progress

Author
Mike Hosking ,
Publish Date
Mon, 3 Dec 2018, 10:20AM
Drought at a Brightwater farm near Nelson in 2001.
Drought at a Brightwater farm near Nelson in 2001.

Mike Hosking: Madness and lack of logic hindering progress

Author
Mike Hosking ,
Publish Date
Mon, 3 Dec 2018, 10:20AM

Nine votes to five was your final score, and the Waimea Dam will be built.

That is the right decision and I am glad the Tasman Council got there in the end.

But in their fight lies the problem that faces most of this country in one way or another when it comes to so-called progress.

We complain when we have a problem, we complain when we have a solution. When the spot price of power is low we all flood to flick to get a good deal.

We don't ask how the system works, we don’t bother to understand how we capture water or produce power or whether the way we do business is sustainable, sensible or productive. We just sign up because we want something cheaper.

Then the lakes are low, demand is up, the gas pipe breaks, and the spot price is through the roof. And we are all ropeable and bailing out of Flick as fast as we can.

We fret over people bottling water, based on the concept that it’s a precious resource and we are going to run out when nothing could be further from the truth. We live in a country that grows food for the world, that’s how we make our living but we don't want to have the water that feeds the stock, and the crops.

The Waimea Dam will provide water for the region for 100 years, and it's one of your more productive parts of the country. The Waimea Dam is the answer to a problem and yet look at the ensuing scrap we have witnessed.

The dam was going to crack and break and flood everyone in a biblical sort of way and sweep Nelson off the map. That’s the sort of crap that gets pedalled in just about every major decision we look to make.

Logic and common sense go out the window and madness ensues. The reality is we need the basics of life. Water and power would be a couple of good examples.

And there are well known logical ways of providing them, dams play a good role in both. Not everyone likes a dam but we like water and power more. Not all of the country can be pristine, not every fern and snail can be saved, and left to prosper undisturbed.

The bit I did have some sympathy with on the dam was the cost, yes it blew out. But every project blows out, councils and government departments seem unable to pitch and deal with tenders and stick to contracts.

But it doesn’t take away the simple truth that there was no genuine, useful alternative to what they’ve eventually got across the line.

So here's to progress, here's to the right decision being made.

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