Letters To The Editor - March 1, 2018

Tackle head-on problem quickly

Dear Editor,

As head-on collisions on the Great Ocean Road are becoming too numerous a quick remedy is needed.

Surely the fastest, easiest, and most likely interpreted signage for international drivers would be arrows painted on the road surface on both sides of the entire route.

Melva Stott
Anglesea

Phone coverage problems

Dear Editor,

“Vodafail” is alive and well and living in Armstrong Creek.

We moved to the area in early September and found the mobile service for Vodafone to be practically non-existent.

Their coverage map promised improvements by October.

October came and went, November came and went – still no improvement.

Vodafone told me improvements were being made and promised better service from January.

Guess what’s happened, exactly nothing.

The next false promise date given was the first week in February – still waiting.

I just don’t get it, Armstrong Creek has been the fastest growing area in the Geelong region for some years now, surely these mobile service providers could see that and would have made the necessary upgrades long before now.

Dave R.
Armstrong Creek

More consultation needed to manage growth

Dear Editor,

I would like to support the comments made by Maurice Cole in his letter (“Cole’s call to arms”, Letters, February 22) regarding the Surf Coast Shire councillors and their lack of consultation with ratepayers.

The Surf Coast has grown rapidly over the past 10 years and with the development pointed out in the letter by Maurice Cole, there is a lack of planning for the long-term future of the Surf Coast and in particular Torquay.

There are major problems with town centre development, traffic management, lack of parking, planning issues concerning development, job creation measures and lack of transparency with councillor decision making.

For instance, how many residents support another playing field at North Torquay?

How was the decision made to provide additional childcare in North Torquay and how was it funded? Why has Torquay no aquatic centre?

I also question the decisions made by Libby Coker as a Surf Coast councillor and the Labor candidate for Corangamite.

As pointed out in his letter, Maurice Cole has questioned where does she stand on local issues as opposed to pushing federal Labor issues?

This has been highlighted recently when Cr Heather Wellington moved a motion at a recent Shire meeting calling for greater transparency in relation to decision making by the Shire.

It was defeated 5:3 with a block of councillors opposing the motion. Why?

Surely it is in the best interests of all ratepayers to know what the shire intends to spend our money on beforehand. Have they got the priorities in agreement with the ratepayers?

Much of this additional expenditure is increasing debt.

How do they find out what the ratepayers want?

I agree with Maurice: please explain Libby and David. We expect leadership not political agendas being pushed to the detriment of good decision making.

Ray Page
Torquay

Losing that holiday feeling

Dear Editor,

I have been holidaying in Torquay for the past seven years.

During this short time, I’ve observed vast changes to the town.

New housing developments, a growing local population, busier traffic and crowded beaches have all become increasingly evident.

In addition, the former seaside township environment of Gilbert Street and surrounds, has been forever changed by the new building development that is occurring.

The big question is, will Torquay maintain a semblance of its beachside charm or will it become just another urban environment, an extension of Geelong?

It greatly saddens me to say this, but if the latter continues to happen to Torquay, I will plan to holiday further down the Great Ocean Road.

Hopefully, I’ll be able to enjoy a true holiday vibe in a more natural environment.

Jan Eddy
Warrandyte

River health is primary concern

Dear Editor,

Re the Alcoa site in Anglesea, my concern is the long-term health of the river and its flow into the ocean.

Prior to the open-cut, the coal was covered with layers upon layers of soil that prevented the rainwater runoff from becoming polluted with sulphur compounds and the river was healthy.

After many years of runoff from exposed coal, the river has had many periods where the pollution levels are too high and it is dying.

There is a lot of conjecture about the source of the pollution, but one apparent source may be the exposed coal.

Won’t filling the open-cut with water just allow the sulphur compounds to leach out from the coal into the “lake” and eventually into the river.

This may take many 10s of years – and the effects will not show until many years after Alcoa has left.

What guarantees are there to show this will never happen.

Is Alcoa proposing to provide a financial bond for the eventual clean-up of the waterways?

Other mine sites around Australia are required to return the land to its original state, including valleys and hills.

Why is Alcoa not undertaking a landfill program to return the site to its original conditions?

Andrew Cherubin
Surf Coast

“Reasonably aligned” not good enough for Anglesea

Dear Editor,

The two-year community consultation process for Anglesea residents has clearly delivered a big “no” to the inclusion of residential housing on the former Alcoa mine site.

This result is represented in the Draft Anglesea Futures Land Use Plan in a simple-to-read table. I’m not sure how this can be misinterpreted by Business and Tourism Anglesea as being “reasonably aligned” (“Mine Matters”, Surf Coast Times, February 22) with the recommendations in the plan, which advocate for residential to be included in a rezoning exercise that can only be a money grab by Alcoa.

If the community is in need of additional housing, why haven’t the old school site in Camp Road and the Barwon Water basin in Parker Street delivered this much-needed low-cost housing.

The fact is, it has been sold to developers who will build quickly and cheaply and sell at a premium.

So can the state government and Surf Coast Shire make sure this won’t be repeated at the Alcoa site making Anglesea just another domino knocked down in the thirst for developer dollars?

Andrew Arnold
Anglesea

Anglesea doesn’t want residential development

Dear Editor,

I was surprised to read the Business and Tourism Anglesea comment in the “Mine Matters” article on the front page of the Surf Coast Times on February 22, where it was claimed that the community consultation about the use of Alcoa’s land had been a “sound process” and that both DELWP and Alcoa’s plans “are reasonably aligned with the feedback gathered”.

The survey results tell a different story.

Residential, for example, was the second least preferred option with 76 per cent of respondents voting against it, versus only 2.3 per cent registering any support.

This was despite the high density Area 10 residential housing estate proposal being notably omitted from the DELWP August 2017 discussion paper.

Presumably, had it been included, the community feedback against residential would have been even higher.

In my opinion, omitting such a critical item would more reasonably be considered deceptive and misleading, rather than a “sound process” and to call 76 per cent of the community voting against residential housing estates “reasonably aligned” is a stretch.

Geelong through to Torquay and beyond is struggling to deal with the saturation of high density housing estates, many targeted at the first home buyer/low-cost housing sector.

Is our seaside village the next to be gobbled up by the housing monster? If so, why?

It’s just not good enough to suggest that the proposed plans are “reasonably aligned” with the feedback from the Anglesea community. They’re simply not!

Jim Bailey
Anglesea

Smokestack should be work of art

Dear Editor,

I thoroughly agree with Tom McGrath re the Anglesea smokestack (“Get high on the smokestack”, Letters, February 22) that something should be done to it to make it a tourist drawcard.

I think it should definitely be retained and decorated by a silo artist.

If it were able to be climbed and used as a look-out would be a bonus.

This would certainly attract the tourists and locals alike.

Might even be handy in the fire season.

Margaret Elso
Anglesea

That growing feeling

Dear Editor,

Firstly, I would like to thank this paper for printing the article by Rodney Ford (“Where to now or growth in the region”, February 15).

I have felt for a long period of time that my feelings about the rapid growth of Torquay and the decisions about the future growth of our town are not in the interest of the residents of our town. Firstly, the infrastructure of our town cannot cope with the present number of residents that currently live in our town, but the Surf Coast Shire seems adamant that the growth is vital for us to survive.

The area seems to be a place for open-ended growth with all the subdivisions we are seeing today.

Not only subdivisions but the implications of even considering the thought of five-storey developments in the centre of town, as well as considering a rail line through to Torquay.

It’s a great concern to the residents of Torquay. An extended rail line will only increase the easy access for a larger population, therefore a greater burden on our infrastructure.

Presently our population growth is controlled by a greedy few developers who exert an influence over shire decision making.

I understand that we must move forward, but the reason we moved to this lovely place was the tranquillity and peace and quiet that made us set down here.

Are there reasons that we must grow beyond our capabilities to survive.

Rodney, I felt that I was one of a very few that felt the way that you do and now I realise that maybe there are more of us that feel this way.

Thank you for your insightful thoughts and constructive outlook and just maybe there are others out there with similar beliefs.

If there are, maybe we can control what seems to be this foolish thought that bigger is better and we can sit back and enjoy what we came to this beautiful place for.

Lawrie B
Torquay

70 years of answering the call

Dear Editor,

Every March for 70 years, thousands of volunteers have made a wonderful contribution to our community during Red Cross Calling.

They’ve knocked on their neighbours’ doors, said “g’day” and their combined efforts have raised millions.

All of that effort has gone a long way, allowing Red Cross to help where we’re needed most.

Red Cross Calling is more than a fundraiser – it gives us a reason to connect and volunteer for the sake of our community. Research shows that volunteering and helping in our neighbourhoods helps us live happier, longer lives.

I’d like to send a massive thanks to all those thousands of schools, businesses, community organisations and individuals who’ve answered the call over the years.

These volunteers make Australia a special place to live. This year we aim to double the number of volunteers in Victoria. Will you be one of them? Join the fun today: redcrosscalling.org.au or phone 1800 RED CROSS.

Wenda Donaldson
Director, Victoria
Australian Red Cross

Liberal National’s police program

Dear Editor,

The old saying “a stitch in time…” is applicable to the Liberal National’s policy to re-establish the Police in Schools Program.

It really means that if you act before you have a problem then you can save yourself time and hassles down the track.

Putting police in schools is not a new idea and other states all do it. Victoria did it until 2005 when former Chief Commissioner of Police, Christine Nixon, scrapped it despite university studies finding the program was effective.

It’s about enabling students to understand that police are part of our community to protect us – they are real people who are there to help and not hinder.

That simple engagement activates trust and respect for them as both people and police. By extension, it engenders respect for the law.

That the Minister for Police, Lisa Neville, condemned the idea isn’t surprising. Nor is it surprising that the ALP-supporting Australian Education Union voiced concerns.

But as the Member for Bellarine, where crime rates have been rising, one might have thought Ms Neville would want to do everything she possibly could to reduce crime in our communities.

Simon Ramsay MP
Assistant Shadow Minister for Agriculture