I DO not live in Lambton now, but I went to Lambton Public School and my family have had an over 60-year association with Lambton Jaffas and Elliott's Lambton cricket.
I have been observing the ongoing debate/debacle of the proposed building of a basketball stadium on Wallarah Oval. I have had time to realise that this oval is more than grass. It is full of memories for so many generations of Novocastrians. The first cricket game played by themselves, children and grandchildren; the first soccer game; the first win at the sports carnival at high school. So many memories for so many.
I have watched my son and brothers play cricket there and soccer at Edden Oval, which in the fine print, it's on the hit list of reclamation too. With the destruction of green space, people are focused on the obvious lack of parking, long-term no room for expansion and many more negative reasons as to why it's in the wrong location. Green space is more than grass and it's irreplaceable.
Kay Laudadio, Minmi
The airport we actually need
IT was always difficult to understand the rationale for a major investment in an international airport terminal in Newcastle. We have a population of half a million. NSW is building a gigantic new international airport two hours away with 10 times the population on its doorstep, and it is already pretty straightforward to get to Sydney Airport on the train. The development always seemed to be driven by Hunter 'chip on the shoulder' hubris and local groups think as much as any plausible business case.
The local business advocacy community should have asked harder questions before investing years of the region's advocacy capital and political goodwill in backing the international terminal push. There are good investments in the Hunter's economy that sensible expansion of the airport can support, but the international terminal was never the right horse to back. Maybe we should be looking for the 'right size' airport we need, rather than 'the airport we deserve' signage I see all over the international terminal construction hoardings.
Warwick Jordan, Toronto
Transport front in climate fight
LIKE many others, I'm concerned about climate change. However, with all the hysteria about coal mining what seems to have been overlooked is how much greenhouse gas emissions are coming from transport; in particular, roads. I recently read that transport accounts for about 25 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions in Australia, whereas coal mining accounts for about 19 per cent. So why is transport being overlooked?
This is why I have spoken of the need for more freight to be moved by rail. How many times does it have to be said that rail transport is at least three times more fuel efficient than road? Why are the environmentalists silent on this issue? One thing they could lobby for is restructuring the Australian Rail Track Corporation from a corporation to a service so it doesn't have to pay a dividend and can charge lower track access fees making rail more competitive. This could do more than blocking the harbour.
Peter Sansom, Kahibah
ID isn't all it's meant to be
I LOST my wallet two years ago. I notified the police, notified RMS and got a new licence. Someone has been using my lost licence since that time on Newcastle buses and has been getting fines from Transit police. I don't use buses or work in Newcastle.
The traffic police are not checking the licences or details and issuing fines. I have had to spend countless days and hours proving I wasn't the person on the bus without a ticket. The culprit is using different licences with my details on them all of which are incorrect.
I have contacted the NSW Transport Minister, and my local Charlestown member about this issue. There are no significant checks when transit police issue fines. When the police pull you over to fine you, they check your licence and details are correct. They should verify all details and identity before issuing a fine.
You can't cancel a licence or the number. It doesn't matter if I have a new licence or number I still have to prove each time I wasn't there with a fake ID. I have since been to Newcastle Police who took my evidence, but it felt like they didn't look at it and didn't really care. They mentioned something about updating a report but I didn't receive any information. Transport NSW checks the identity at the time of fining. Get the real criminals on the spot. Stop letting them get away. Check their details!
Hugh Walker, Charlestown
Short Takes
Wipe debt and give students a break already
WELL, these graduates from uni have put in 13 years at school, and then another three, five, eight years at uni; all done so that they can then pay government tax for the next 60 years? How about the government just completely wipe all students' so-called debt?
Simon Ruddy, Newcastle
Turn off the tap
PREMIER Chris Minns has rejected calls to save important bushland in Minmi because he wants certainty. He is probably aware that both death and taxes are certainties but there is another more relevant one. When the bath is overflowing you have to turn off the tap.
Don Owers, Dudley
Divide and conquer
WHY is it that the facts clearly show that Australia's inflation rate had rapidly risen to well over 5 per cent in 2022 while the federal opposition was in government, which was due to international issues such as the effects of COVID and the war in Ukraine, that they continue to blame the present government? I can tell you why, they are divisive liars. Have you also asked yourself why Dutton continues to push nuclear energy without giving away any information about how much it will cost? Divisive. Politics that is meant to divide Australians.
Colin Rowlatt, Merewether
West is on the rise
IT is heartwarming to see Albo's hard life growing up and living in Sydney's western suburbs is beginning to pay dividends. Nothing wrong with western Sydney, but over the years we have heard Keating with the same story and now Albo. There is hope for all from the west.
Greg Lowe, Lambton
Market will decide
IN reply to Colin Rowlatt and his very flimsy facts about nuclear costs ("Nuclear is no power panacea", Letters, 2/11), especially when there has been no definitive costs about renewables, with some figures as high as a trillion dollars and timeframes that are unachievable. Adding to that quoting anything that Matt Kean has to say makes the argument laughable, so I think you need to take on board that Peter Dutton has said on multiple occasions, there needs to be a mix of base-load power and renewables and in the end, let the market decide who they get their power from.
Tony Mansfield, Lambton
Passing ball on stadium
AFTER reading "Stadium 'fiasco': MP dunks on council" (Newcastle Herald, 2/11), regarding the fiasco which is where the basketball stadium is to be and City of Newcastle saying it's a state government decision, why then did the Office of Sport and Newcastle Basketball approach City of Newcastle in 2022 to discuss possible sites?
