Broken glass on roads

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33933, 28 August 1975, Page 12

Broken glass on roads

Sir, — After each heat of the Midnight Slipper Marathon, I have so far been lucky to navigate my trusty bicycle through the glass minefields left in the wake of our local Cinderellas. I hope the grand final of these shattering experiences will shortly be concluded. The amount of broken glass on so many streets in the city may provide a ground plan for cycling virtuosi, but it also constitutes a traffic hazard for the motorist tracking the slaloming cyclist who tries to avoid perforated pneumatics. Perhaps an ecology-minded Prince Charming of the City Council works department could dispatch a regiment of retainers to gather up the shredded remains and do a recycling deal with a major glassware firm. The schemte might inject added revenue into the council coffers and help stabilise the rates. — Yours etc., J. J. BENEFIELD August 26, 1975. Deans Bush

Sir, — Your editorial on land at Deans Bush is commendable, yet one or two modifications might put the scene into even better perspective. Your sentence commencing “Christchurch owes the present reserve to the generosity of the Deans family. . .” can be immediately called into question. I have always understood that in 1914 part of the area was gifted to the public of Canterbury with numerous tags, one of which committed the City Council to an expenditure in perpetuity. Then in the late 1940 s 13 acres were acquired, not by gift, but by purchase from the Deans family by the interested councils for a very substantial sum. To say that the bush and Riccarton House have geen gifted to the city is quite wrong. Finally, I would prefer to see your caption and phraseology refer to “Riccarton Bush.” — Yours etc., J.A.R. August 26, 1975.