Letter to the editor, The Southland Times

"The decline of waterways

This whole business with the environment council doing things behind closed doors as highlighted recently by Mr Guyton makes you wonder about the makeup of the council itself. Why is the council dominated by the very group that is causing the majority of polluting in the first place?

Election after election we hear the same old story: "who better to protect the environment than the rural people who use the land", but year after year our waterways continue to decline without fail. Isn't it a bit like having a health board dominated by big tobacco employees?

I for one will be voting for candidates like Mr Guyton who actually put the environment first ahead of the short-sighted, unsustainable decisions we have been seeing for a number of years.

P Clifford

Invercargill"

(Thanks, P Clifford!)