CITY of Newcastle's community consultation process for year-round pool facilities at Lambton ('Have your say on indoor pool proposal', Newcastle Herald, 20/8) appears premature and disingenuous.
By their own admission, the future uses and needs of Lambton War Memorial Swimming Centre (Lambton pool) are entirely dependent on whether the state government builds an indoor aquatic centre in the Broadmeadow Hunter Park precinct.
Council has said repeatedly that it cannot afford to upgrade Lambton pool without 10s of millions of dollars from the state or federal government (even with the private operator putting in $5million). Our governments cannot afford to fund a new pool at Lambton and a major aquatic centre at Broadmeadow, which are less than 1.5km apart.
Council should not be asking for input into something they do not have the money to build.
The timing of this announcement seems suspiciously like election campaigning.
Stop playing politics with our pool, City of Newcastle. Fix the leaks and broken tiles. Upgrade the heating system and changerooms so the current pool can stay open all year.
When the state government makes up its mind about the aquatic centre at Broadmeadow, then we can have a genuine consultation and develop a comprehensive masterplan for the future of our much loved and used pool.
Anna Glasby, New Lambton
Defence spend long time coming
I TOOK notice of Newcastle Greens councillor Charlotte McCabe's response (''I feel I've been lied to': anger at missiles plan', Newcastle Herald, 23/8) over development of the missile factory at Newcastle Airport, which is jointly owned by the council.
Good on the federal government. We have an army and air force in our region. We may need these missiles to help protect our own country, even though the factory is owned by Norwegian Kongsberg. All I can say is wait and see. The present government is spending our hard earned tax on defence over the next 10 years, which should have been done 50 years ago to keep up with the future.
But I will put another spike in the works. Some ex-navy gentlemen tried to get the Australian government at the time to invest in building mini subs to protect Australia because we are an island and have them stationed in each state. But the government at the time did not listen and look at us now; we are open to whatever because we keep cutting back expenses to fill the politicians' pockets. Good on your forward thinking, Albo, and glad to read Liberals are supporting the idea. It's about time the Liberal party got its act together, even though it's 50 years too late.
Evelynn Campbell, Thornton
Problems with gasworks idea
GLENN Sulivan ('Gasworks site makes sense for basketball stadium', Letters, 27/8), you say the old gasworks site is easily the best location for the new basketball stadium.
This means you must have solved the very significant problems associated with that solution.
So please advise what your solutions are for this proposal as follows:
- What is the massive added cost of using this site over and above using existing (free) Crown land, specifically, what is your budget for purchasing and remediating the land and the cost of upgrading roads in the area including traffic controls?
- How long will all this take? Land acquisitions can take a long time as can remediation works.
- Will the basketball-associated be happy with the massive time delay and cost blowout that this sort of project will have?
- Who is going to pay for this increase in budget? I am sure the basketball-associated cannot afford this massive cost blowout! Are you looking at this being funded by the state government and where are they going to get the money from? Are you asking for a great big new tax?
You may see this as an obvious solution, but I see it as a likely massive cost burden to the taxpayers. I just want to know the details.
Glen Wilson, Cardiff
Electricity bill saving a meagre one
I DON'T know how many other households in our area received a similar letter from their electricity supplier as we did. In it, it explained we are to have a reduction in the price of electricity. Their estimate on our present usage was we would save (wait for it) $10.94 over the next 12 months. Wacko, let's celebrate. Are they kidding?
Fred Saunders, Waratah West
Profit amid high grocery prices
COLES justifies its billion dollar profit, telling us that more people are eating at home and buying more groceries, because they can't afford to eat out ('Coles rings up $1.1b as sales surge', Newcastle Herald, 28/8). Are they serious? The cost of groceries has gone through the roof in recent times, especially meat, which we pay world market price for. They don't tell you that, or that their stores are fast becoming self-serve checkouts, meaning less labour. You don't get any discount for using them. These days, I think people would find it cheaper to live off Macca's than buy groceries from Coles.
Steven Busch, Rathmines
Practical train solutions
HERE we go again ('High speed tunnel vision', Herald, 28/8). "All aboard". We are now having visions (short for dreams) about tunnels for a fast train to Sydney. I hope their tunnelling machines are better than the machines they hired to do the Snowy 2 hydro project. What we need for Newcastle is improved train services, like a train to the airport which, for any state government, should be achievable and affordable. We, the people of Newcastle, deserve practical transport solutions - not never-delivered political promises.
John Cooper, Charlestown
Short memory
REGARDING Grahame Danaher and others out there, you all seem to forget that when the Don was in power the world economy was in a better place and there were no wars.
Mick Porter, Raymond Terrace
Generator needs gas
JOHN Cooper makes some very valid points ('Destructive and divisive politicians', Letters, 28/8), but he left out the $1billion diesel generator at Kurri Kurri! Wow! What an asset that will be when there is no gas available to run it.
