Hellensville---a lovely little town.

I took a trip today to Hellensville with my sister and good friend, Doug. Small town, New Zealand, yes, but what a lovely little place; nice cafes, and the basics re shopping. I did note that clothing shops weren't present--blame the big boys down the road and the online shopping for that, I guess.
It feels like you have slipped back in time a bit, but I say that in a nice way---that is what I like about the place. Take a look at the prices for houses in the real estate agents and you get a picture of 'affordable housing.' Is that not a good reason to move there?
What needs to happen is for employment opportunities to match that. What will it take to attract a few medium sized employers to the town? It has good rail links to the north and south so transport shouldn't be a problem. Between Hellensville and Auckland there is this beautiful 'green belt.' Developing hubs along the rail link and the main road, would also make sense.
I get the feeling that Hellensville's day in the sun is about to happen again. It just needs to be a bit bigger to make the commute to the 'big smoke,' via rail work again. I know the brief experiment of a few years ago didn't pan out, but was it really well thought out and were the trains capable of making the journey without breaking down? Maybe the electrification needs to go as far as this town, although they are still trying to figure out if the big town south of Auckland (Pukekohe) makes economic sense too, so we may have to wait a while before we see moves in that direction again.
New Zealand needs its small towns to thrive. We need that spread in our population and be able to offer an alternate to the ever expanding of our big cities. I for one, given the right employment would move there in a flash. May you thrive, Hellensville.

Campbell Live---keep up the pressure on these low-life sellers of 'hell.'

I have switched channels lately as Campbell Live concentrates on exposing the activities of the sellers of so-called 'legal highs.' These parasites care nothing for the misery they cause; not just to the users, many of whom are barley teenagers, but to the families who have to try to pick up the pieces after the insidious substances have done their damage.
How can these 'businesses' justify their stance---that they are merely  providing what the 'community' wants? Would they let members of their own families partake in the substances they so willingly sell to others?
Good on you, TV3---keep showing the faces behind the misery. Let us see who they are, so that we can shun them, avoid them, not include them in our circles, not let them belong to our friendship groups or clubs. Then again, they are probably transitory 'citizens' within our neighbourhoods, moving from town to city, island to island as they go about their evil trade. I see them as little different to those who cook 'P' (Methamphetamine) in  the motels, flats, apartments, outbuildings and even mobile labs (Vans), spreading their own brand of destruction, the only divergence being that one is still legal!
Know who is selling the 'legal highs' in your community. Let them know how you feel about their chosen career. Confront them, but do not put yourself in danger. Perhaps it would be best to achieve your goal of ridding your community of these leeches by joining up with friends and neighbours in the latter exercise.
Mr Dunne (You know the Cabinet Minister, who has a son who is the legal brains behind the trade)  says the laws he introduced will eventually cut into the ranks of those selling 'legal highs.' That is not good enough, Mr Dunne. Yes, I know there are issues around a complete ban and that there will be an element of 'forcing the substances underground' or into the hands of the gangs, but even that would mean that our corner shops are not openly selling. You must, on our behalf, find a way of banning these 'new' products. Do that, and the people of your electorate may even vote you back in for yet another term. If not---well---you know what to do, voters in Mr Dunne's electorate!