Letters To The Editor
Take one last look at Ballina
The Sunday Telegraph published an article on July 21, about Ballina's "untidy layout, tall buildings, shrinking patches of native bushland and garish development in stark contrast to Byron Bay just 30 minutes drive up the road". What an ad to be broadcast Australia-wide, with our airport struggling for its very survival, and local tourism hammered by the loss of recreational facilities and loss of seaside charisma. Our planning foresight is nothing short of a disaster, and now the world has picked up on it.
So why are we allowing Ballina to become a concrete jungle along the waterfront, then tarting it up with a few yuppie shade sails at enormous expense? Why did we build the amphitheatre, as the worst form of architectural atrocity, in an area of pristine natural beauty? And why are we allowing the sleepy little seaside village of Lennox Head to become "Marrickville-by-the-sea", with grossly over-developed allotments and hardly any space between the buildings?
And then there's Tinkerbell. No, not even the fairy godmother could save her now. A lovely 12-acre residential and tourist park right in the middle of Ballina with trees enhancing the ambience of a seaside town – a vibrant population vanished, to be replaced with another mass of tilt-up-slab buildings, concrete carparks, and endless vehicles pumping noxious fumes into the atmosphere - A place for people in a hurry.
Yes, that's Ballina-by-the-sea, a Shire we used to be proud of, and a place many still call home. A place devastated by the development lobby in the name of progress. Are we going to keep going on the current track, or will sanity prevail when it comes to forward planning the home of the pioneers, Shaws Bay and Pop Denison Park?
But most important of all, what about the people who make up our communities, especially the aged, and the rift which is emerging between the living standards of rich and poor? Sadly the poor, the elderly and infirm are the forgotten ones. It's a case of "out of sight and out of mind" with many living in places like shanty town – lonely, and relying on the various community clubs to maintain their contact with the outside world.
Take a look at yourself, Ballina Shire, before it's too late as you're more than 50% of the way to self-destruction.
Cr Margaret Howes
Lennox Head
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Lawless drivers
In a recent letter to The Echo I wrote that I had been driving for 61 years. I feel sure that many would say, or at least think, it's time the silly old bugger handed in his licence.
I strongly disagree, I consider myself to be a very competent and experienced driver, not an old slow coach, so I feel that I have the right to comment on other drivers. In my first three years in Lismore I had no wheels, so I watched local drivers from the bus and from the footpath. I have now been driving in Lismore and surrounds for a further three years, as well as far south as Wollongong and North to Yeppoon, I am still wondering if some will ever obey simple road rules, such as not block intersections, (Keen and Woodlark about the worst.) Fire Authority cars, Telstra, RTA and even Police have been observed over those years having no regards for others.
There is also a big percentage of drivers who do not cancel the right indicator, or as they should, indicate left when leaving the roundabout. Quite a few drivers indicate left after leaving, and are already proceeding down the street.
Doug Myler
Lismore Heights
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Too true
I thought depiction by Bob Ellis (Echo, July 17) of Americans as mindless, delusional, and ignorantly and arrogantly convinced they run the world, was absolutely hilarious.
Except that he wasn't just joking and he happens to be dead right.
Nothing funny about that if you're an Australian.
Doug Burt
Kyogle
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The pain in Maclean
Most Echo readers will have read and heard via ABC radio of the current outbreak of violence in the Maclean CBD.
All the "thrash with a wet lettuce" solutions thus far proposed ignores the letters "F" and "C" which I respectfully submit have a lot to do with same.
"F" is for Field Court Attendance Notice, which the NSW Police now have to use instead of arresting miscreants.
Instead of being cuffed, transported in a caged vehicle, slotted, having fingerprinting completed and mug shots taken, these little darlings now simply get a "ticket" requiring them to attend court. Most tell the Coppers who their rellies were, tear up the ticket and are never seen again.
The few that make court are dealt with far too leniently by a Magistrate who has never lived nor spent an evening in Maclean, a Magistrate who has never experienced nightly fear and terror sans police, a Magistrate with no appreciation of what it feels like to be a Maclean business owner who can no longer obtain plate glass/display window, insurance.
"C" is for the dreaded word, Caucasian.
If all the current offenders were Caucasian, let's all be completely honest, they would have already been arrested and charged. Please, don't censor this missive. Deep within, you must know its contents are 100% accurate. It is just that most people are afraid to tell and print the truth. Please, for once, can we be fearless and say what we are actually thinking. Let the 'thought patrol' have the day off. Remember Political Correctness killed off the harmless little toy golliwog and my siblings never got over that egregious decision.
Grant Stuart-Gordon
Maclean
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No phone
As a regular user of the Lismore branch of the Richmond-Tweed Regional Library, I am absolutely delighted with the new premises in Magellan Street and commend Lismore City Council for its efforts together with the State Government, in bringing this project to fruition. Congratulations to Martin, Lucy and the wonderful library staff for their patience in the many months of plans and negotiations leading up to the opening on July 11 (Echo, July 17).
I am concerned however that the blue phone for use by the patrons is still to be connected. On June 29 I wrote to the General Manager of LCC with my concerns and, having received no response, spoke to him about the phone at the official opening. As of Monday July 21, the phone is still not connected.
Patrons who want to arrange transport especially during the evening when safety concerns are heightened in downtown Lismore, need the phone. Parents especially, want the security of knowing that their children, having completed research for school projects, can phone to arrange pick-up times.
I would like the Lismore City council to ensure that the phone is connected as soon as possible to alleviate the concerns of all patrons who want the reassurance that access to a public phone brings.
Jenny Dowell
Goonellabah
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Dishonest John
In reply to the adulation of John Howard's policies by G Wallace I can only quote my 9-year-old daughter's unsolicited comments after she watched the PM's address to the Press Club to justify the Iraqi invasion. "He didn't answer any of the questions and he doesn't tell the truth."
Dave Watson
Alphadale
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Booze & kids
Sadly it is no surprise to many that under age children are commonly binging on alcohol.
What will be a shock to parents will be the following nonsense that comes from a growing addiction industry. We'll hear the cries that alcohol is the worst drug of all, not too hard to accept that. We'll also hear cries that they want more drugs and more addictions to manage. As the industry develops an insatiable appetite for supervising younger children with worse addictions they forget that restricting supply prevents harm and their policies are about managing harm.
The relentless push by some towards a wider and more diverse drug market where children could avail themselves of not just tobacco and alcohol, but dozens of other addictive and dangerous products is not in the child's interests. What we must see is tighter control and greater resourcing of both law enforcement and treatment programs that emphasise drug free outcomes. We must also see demand reduction programs that teach children not to use illicit drugs or abuse legal drugs, where they make smart choices. It's a simple concept called 'Just Say No', and it's the safest option for their growing minds and bodies.
Michael D Robinson
Drug Free Australia Ltd
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History lesson
In reply to G Wallace's diatribe (Echo, July 10) it seems to me that it is Wallace who is "full of abuse" and has his "head in the mud".
A small history lesson for Mr Wallace re the "poor Yanks". The Yanks are not poor – in fact their global parasitism has and still impoverishes most of the rest of the two thirds of the world that isn't under its imperium and dictates. Australia is, unfortunately a quisling state of the most voracious, ruthless and murderous regime the planet has ever witnessed. America consumes 75% of the world's resources to produce 25% of its wealth, mostly concentrated in the hands of 10% of the population of the USA. George W and his corporate cronies are that 10%. They keep armies, plan invasions and steal other nations wealth, usually, killing thousands of their citizens, (men, women and children) all in the name of Manifest Destiny and in the framework of the Monroe Doctrine (1823).
Some nations America has invaded and decimated, leaving them in chaos and poverty are: Libya (1798), Guatemala (1956), Vietnam (1960s-1970s), the Dominican Republic (1965), Angola (1970s-80s), Chile (1973), Grenada (1984), Nicaragua (1980s), Panama (1989), Iraq (1991), Afghanistan (2001), Iraq (2003-?).
All these invasions took place within the Monroe Doctrine of 1823, which claimed. "other power have no right to interfere in the American region". This "doctrine" also stipulates that the USA and only the USA has the right to intervene anywhere in the world it pleases "to protect its interests". Interest No 1? Oil. Next: Water! Plenty in Iraq!
Michael Mizzi
Tabulam
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Prayer's answered
I'm not nearly arrogant enough to believe that it was my letter (Echo, June 26) that moved Lismore Council into action, but I'd like to thank them, regardless, for sending the grader down Martin Road in Larnook. This has greatly improved the road's condition, and no doubt the kids travelling on the school buses (not to mention we residents) can feel a bit safer.
Just in case I do have some divine power over council, how about you guys sealing the damn thing once and for all. It really is only a relativiely small stretch that becomes trecherous, and surely wouldn't cost as much as the ludicrous Skyline Road proposal.
Andy Gough
Larnook
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