Alpine Cableway

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32018, 19 June 1969, Page 16

Alpine Cableway

Sir, —Paul Pascoe’s singularly apt analogy gives the lie to his own argument. If “the mountains are the altars of God” they surely demand a sacrificial respect from all anxious to do homage. Desecration, seemingly to “achieve” an armchair ride in the pursuit of gluttony, is just as surely excluded. That the flock come and their “offertory” already swells the tourist and travel coffers is ample testimony to the blessings of a hitherto relatively undefiled sanctuary. The impending perpetration should be opposed.—Yours, etc., J. K. PATTERSON. June 18, 1969.

Sir, —I have no doubt that, from an architectural point of view, the accessory building for the proposed Mount Cook cableway are of a high class. But surely man can admire the unspoilt beauty of nature without the compelling urge to add to and “improve it" with heaps of steel, plastic, etc., however imaginative in design. If, indeed, “the mountains are the altars of God,” should we brazenly believe it is our right to build restaurants, etc., on them? Normally an altar is viewed with reverence from below, and, for this, the park in its natural state can offer the greater peace and quietness. Further “development” within our national parks should be stopped forthwith so that this unique tourist attraction is not completely destroyed by man. It is only our national heritage to protect these parks for the generations who follow.—Yours, etc., a. ■Carper. June 18, 1969.