Letters To The Editor

Click here to comment on this letter.

Respect for all

I read with great interest the response given by Cr Eileen Melling "certain councillors treat our staff with a great deal of disrespect" - in defence of Richmond Valley Council's Director of Environmental development Services Stan Taylor's reasons for resignation, one being "frustrations endured from external and internal interference." (Echo, Sept 11).

Cr Melling, may I remind you of the disrespect you verbally displayed towards the ratepayers of the Woodburn/Broadwater/Evans Head area at the Council meeting when consent for a Co-Generation Plant to be erected at Broadwater was given.

It may be easy gaining a place on Council with preferences, but might I say a few lessons in manners and an actual interest in what is happening throughout the Shire as a whole, and not just your end, wouldn't go astray.

Fortunately for we ratepayers Cr Jeffery is the only Councillor at this end of the Shire with enough gumption to ask questions! Mayor Cox, maybe if questions were answered at the first instance, councillors wouldn't have the need to "continually ask the same questions" then "motives wouldn't need to be questioned".

A Clarke
Broadwater

Click here to comment on this letter.

Save Aunty

Hundreds of Northern Rivers residents attending the Lismore Car Boot Market on Sunday, September 21, have signed a petition expressing concern about a range of issues involving the ABC. The petition calls on the Federal Government to:

• ensure the independence of the ABC Board;

• provide an immediate increase in funding to the ABC in order that the ABC can make the transition to digital technology without undermining existing programs (such as Behind the News and Fly) and services (such as the cadet training scheme);

• support ABC journalists when they are charged with unsubstantiated claims of political bias;

• provide the ABC with sufficient funds to produce high quality Australian drama;

• ensure that the Australian Film and Television industry is fully protected during negotiations over Free Trade Agreements; and

• protect the ABC from any need to carry on-air advertising.

Thanks are extended to Jill Keogh, Doug Myler, Jenny Dowell, Chris Hawke, Brian Whelan, Tony Betts, Ed Bennett and Perry Cornish who helped to raise these issues with local residents. Congratulations are extended to raffle winners: B.Gouros who won the Gift Voucher provided by Dymocks and Paul Foster who won the Rainforest Rhapsody DVD donated by the ABC Centre, Lismore.

Neville Jennings
Kingscliff

Click here to comment on this letter.

Art thanks

Council's decision to ban all motorised boats on Lismore Lake is to be applauded. Not so pleasing is a decision to allow rowing boats and other small craft within 30 metres of bird habitat. My opinion is that this will squeeze out bird life in time. True some hardier species will hang on regardless, but the lake will become an inferior bird sanctuary, not one that will greatly benefit the natural environment, or any threatened species. It will certainly not attract the bird-watching fraternity to our area.

Sport is an important part of modern life, and very welcome in the right place. There are many, many places suitable for sporting activities. Every Saturday morning the boat shed at the northern end of Lismore Lake is opened up for young people and their tutors to pull out their long rowing boats and lower them into the nearby Wilson Creek. No one interferes with them. We are glad to see them there, but is it really necessary for them to move over and rob the birds of what has become their small piece of territory?

We have the opportunity to create a little gem of beauty and tranquillity on the edge of our town, where people of all ages, and from all over Australia, together with some of our fellow creatures on this earth, can go to.

Re-create lives and spirits. This should appeal to Council and ratepayers from this point of view, it will not cost a lot of money. The birds are there for free.

Molly Crawford
Goonellabah

Click here to comment on this letter.

Vanishing market

Having done my regular shop at the Lismore Farmers' Market on Saturday morning, I am worried that this wonderful source of farm-fresh local produce is going to disappear.

Many of the stallholders who set up over the eight weeks since the market started have fallen by the wayside as shoppers have failed to support them.

On Saturday there were only 6 stalls and while they were selling a good variety of produce, it was regrettable that the breads, olives, coffee and lettuce stalls were absent.

So come on Lismore, support these local growers and shop 'First at Farmers' before going on to your usual supermarket.

See you at Lismore Showgrounds next Saturday morning.

Jenny Dowell
Goonellabah

Click here to comment on this letter.

Learnt nothing

Here we go again, all this blurb from Rous Water about how okay we are going to be in this next dry spell. Sure, it will rain again.

There was an air of complacency about this time last year before the well runneth dry. About that time, I heard a Rous spokesmen spraying an audience with his facts that there was plenty of water in store for future development. What a joke.

Our lives with water have changed forever because development continues without suitable water supply and you had apparently better get used to it.

Rous number crunching to make people feel that all is well is a real laugh. The bottom of that 14,000ML in Rocky Creek dam is probably mud and we will be using buckets once again long before it falls that low. So we have 364 days up our sleeve, what a joke.

Nothing has changed with Rous Water since the last dry. Business as usual.

The local Shire Councillors who sit with Rous Water management have continued to approve thousands of new homes, swimming pools, commercial and multi-occupancy buildings, all now also guzzling the limited water. Many more are on the way soon. Is this why water consumption is up?

The people at Ballina and Lennox Head are still drinking water from a highly contaminated Emigrant Creek catchment area and the Alstonville aquifer will again be sucked 24 hours a day until I am sure it will bring up sewerage from China one day soon.

Many questions spring to mind. How much of this dry weather dirty water, filtered enough to look 'clear 'and chlorinated by the tonne to smell 'clean', will people tolerate?

Where is the stop point for development? When will some responsible Council wizard consider water supply and demand? When are the businesses sent to the wall by this poor management plan going to commence class legal action as the water stops again? Who is going to pay that compensation for this obvious negligence?

Is there a water carrier-chasing lawyer onto this one?

Geoff Harris
Tuckombil

Click here to comment on this letter.

Art thanks

We at Lismore Regional Gallery wish to extend our heartfelt thanks to The Northern Rivers Echo for their support of the Regional Treasures Award and sponsorship of the $1,000 Popular Choice Prize.

Visitors to the gallery are presently voting for their favourite artwork and everyone is welcome to attend when Simon Thomsen announces the winner at 1pm on Saturday, September 27.

The Popular Choice Prize has always been a highlight of the Regional Treasures Award. It reinforces the pride our people feel in their community and celebrates the things we value most in the region.

Thank you to The Echo for supporting such a wonderful community initiative.

Bronwyn Larner
Lismore Regional Art Gallery director

• Editor's note: Hopefully, I can raise 'bail' in the Red Cross celebrity prison fundraiser at Lismore Square on Saturday morning in time to make it to the presentation!

Click here to comment on this letter.

Stop the rot

On Sunday, October 5, there will be a Public Meeting to be held at the Brunswick Heads Memorial Hall in Fingal Street, Brunswick Heads at 12 noon. The subject of the meeting will be on the possible demise of the XPT Rail Passenger Services on the Casino to Murwillumbah rail corridor following the Interim Report from Dr. Tom Parry.

Speakers will be Kevin Thompson who is an International & Constitutional Law Research Consultant, who will chair the meeting. Also Neale Battersby who is a Committee Member of the Northern Rivers Trains for the Future, and an ex Union Rep for the ARTBU Locomotive Division and train driver.

Invitations have been forwarded to all local Politicians both State and Federal to attend this meeting, as well as the current Minister for Transport Mr Michael Costa. All members of the public are invited to attend to show your support for this vital asset in our communities.

Neale Battersby
Lismore

Click here to comment on this letter.

Shame PM

The way the Prime Miniature is trying to turn the Bali anniversary into a political stunt and photo opportunity is beyond contempt. No politician, of any party, should be appearing at the commemoration ceremony in Bali.

They were not very quick to assist the victims and families at the time of the actual disaster. The media shamed Canberra into action. Let the Pollies have their moment in the spotlight at the Parliament House Ceremony.

Leave the Bali survivors, families and loved ones, to commemorate the moment with their rescuers, not pouting, opportunist politicians.

John X Berlin
Maclean

Click here to comment on this letter.

How many

Once again, the self-appointed, "Minister for Qantas", has sold Australia short.

Federal Transport Minister, the bumbling hayseed, John Anderson, has prevented Singapore Airlines carrying passengers direct to and from the USA and Australia. These are the routes often fully booked, sectors on which Qantas holds over 85% market share. Its only current competitor is the financially strapped, 'Chapter 11 protected', United Airlines.

Tourism operators and Hotel owners should telegraph their strong disapproval to the Federal Government. It begs the question: "How many Federal Government Ministers have Qantas shares listed on their pecuniary interest register?"

Grant Stuart-Gordon
Maclean

Click here to comment on this letter.

Young view

My name is Jake Bolt. I am eight years old. I am writing about the lake.

I like going to the lake to see the birds. I think Lismore Council should leave them completely alone. I don't need boats on the lake. Some of the birds are endangered species.

I hope the Council changes its mind.

Jake Bolt
North Lismore

Click here to comment on this letter.

Still the same

The more things change, the more they remain the same. Election is in the air, so our PM talks of "tax cuts". Does he learn nothing? Change is so fast that even the excellent 2003 book Hard heads, soft hearts - A new reform agenda for Australia by Peter Dawkins and Paul Kelly does not even refer to the great new burst of expenditure Mr Howard must plan and provide for if he is not to betray his electorate.

I refer to the urgent need to increase security of all forms against terrorism and the unspoken-of wars of the religious extremism growing in the world, of the dangers of world epidemics either from deliberate terrorism or natural mutated viruses or the like such as SARS (from which we seem to have been lucky enough to have escaped relatively lightly, we may not be so lucky next time unless we spend massive amounts reinforcing and strengthening our medical defences).

The world, the environment into which our children are growing up, is changing so rapidly, yet we skimp teaching them how to live in yesterday's world and are not even spending the money to work out how best to teach them to live in today's, let alone tomorrow's.

We are starting to realise what a problem obesity is, how many such medical problems on which we are forced to spend billions, are caused by our neglect to teach our children how to control their diet, how to keep healthy rather to just employ doctors in "disaster control mode".

We must teach our children early in life how to be healthy so that it comes naturally to them. And it, too, will cost millions just to find out how to effectively teach them, and we need to start doing it "yesterday".

And then it will cost billions to implement, needing yet more teachers and special skills.

Anyone seriously think an intelligent man would suggest tax cuts with all these problems facing us?

Nat B Wheatley
Alstonville

Click here to comment on this letter.