Opportunity knocks
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I have put down a few thoughts about the new regional hospital and its potential effect on the South East region.
As a small business owner I see the next few years as a real opportunity for businesses to look at the big picture of how we can help sustain and grow the community.
I, like many others, came to the Bega Valley because of its lifestyle, but as a business owner I see the need for growth at a controlled rate.
Here are a few facts on the potential effects.
On average, during construction 300 people a week will be working on site, some local, some from outside the area.
This equates to about $300,000 per week income.
Most of that gets spent locally on such things as rent, food, entertainment, clothes and so on in both small and big business.
This in turn pays for more employees that spend money elsewhere and so the effect of job creation goes on and on.
Currently we have a large older population that quite often moves out of the region when they get to a certain age to be closer to hospitals, services, families and so on.
If these retirees stay here with improved services we are going to have a shortfall in housing, therefore more development will be needed.
Hence more jobs again.
Being a brand new hospital in the most ideal setting in the best part of the country, it has already attracted doctors and other professionals to look for housing or land.
These professionals will have higher incomes, therefore more money to be spent locally.
The reason I wrote this letter is to point out not only to retail shops, but tradesmen and other professionals from Batemans Bay to Cooma and further south over the border, the potential for growth.
When this happens please consider putting on more staff or trainees, in particular our youth, to increase their skills and keep them employed locally.
I see it only as a win-win situation as growth is needed to support many of our local industries.
Mal Barnes, president
Bega Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Rezoning concerns
The residents of Coolagolite are not the only ones in our shire concerned about recent rezoning decisions by Bega Valley Shire Council (BDN, 6/6).
In what is widely expected to open the way for the development of a major Bunnings outlet, five of Bega Valley Shire Council’s (BVSC) councillors voted to support a rezoning of two privately owned lots in Tura Beach from residential to business development.
According to Mayor Bill Taylor, who opposed the move, the council’s decision clearly flies in the face of the new LEP - it is contrary to the NSW Department of Planning Policy for Tura Beach, contrary to council’s adopted town hierarchy and commercial strategy, contrary to the South Coast Regional Strategy and contrary to the recommendations of council’s own planning staff.
Notwithstanding the above, those councillors supporting the proposal seem unable to offer anything more substantial in support of their decision than the usual superficial flat-earth platitudes, borne out of what seems to be a dogmatic commitment to development at all costs.
I would argue that a Bunnings store in Tura Beach will not generate the sale of one additional screw, nail or hammer in the Bega Valley Shire.
However, what such a development will do is destroy local businesses that have invested in our shire over many years, supporting our community and contributing economic wealth for the benefit of us all.
While I acknowledge Bunnings might be cheaper and its range of products broader, at least initially, its profits will be directed away from our local community and we will all be the poorer for it.
I believe the decision of those councillors who supported the rezoning proposal is irresponsible and commercially unjustified.
However, the most offensive aspect of their decision is that our community was not afforded an opportunity to have a say in the matter.
While I do not dispute the council has the legal right to make the decision it has, that does not mean it should not have sought the views of the community before doing so, in particular as there is no evidence their decision will serve its wider economic interests.
I challenge the councillors who support the rezoning proposal to publicly articulate detailed, fact-based arguments in support of their decision.
If they can’t or won’t do so, I call on them to reverse their decision until such time as adequate community consultation can be arranged to properly consider the matter.
John Richardson
Wallagoot
Inciting hatred
I refer to the article regarding the number of illegal workers located in a Department of Immigration operation on the South Coast of NSW (BDN, 17/6).
This annual operation has been conducted to my knowledge for about 30 years and this newspaper has reported on this operation from time to time over the years.
However, this time we find the Federal Immigration Minister Scott Morrison with photograph and the new and inexperienced Federal Member for Eden-Monaro Peter Hendy have sought to inflate their profile and take credit for a normal immigration procedure.
We do not receive information regarding the number of seamen from merchant ships who have entered Australia illegally, or the number of American servicemen who are absent without leave from their base in Northern Australia.
This article raises the question whether the Liberal politicians are attempting to excite the base instincts and bile of the uninformed, or the misinformed, or the timid, within the electoral district of Eden-Monaro, to promote racial hatred and discrimination within the community for political and self-preservation reasons.
Ivor G Williams
Pambula
Writing letters works
Have you noticed that the potholes in Gipps St outside the Bega District News have been filled in by the Bega Valley Shire's Bega Town Team?
And the gaping hole in the court house corner has also been capped by Paul's Town Team as well?
It goes to show that the pen is still mightier than whingeing!
Thank you BVSC general manager Ms Barnes and the Town Team (and the BDN for its interest).
Ian Dalwood
Kalaru
Absent MP
It is a bit rich for our absent MP Peter Hendy to claim that the previous MP, Mike Kelly, is suffering from “relevance deprivation syndrome” (a joke that was first used in the nineties).
Mike Kelly was an excellent Member, he spent time here, he got to know people, and he set up various projects which helped this area.
Peter Hendy on the other hand has been absent.
The community down here is suffering from “MP Deprivation Syndrome”.
We have a weird and dangerous government that will cause great hardship to the majority of this community.
And Mr Hendy supports the government policies that will damage this community. We voted in a dud MP.
Keith Bashford
Eden
Lower speed limit
Shocking footage of two young girls being hit by a car in a neighbourhood in Penrith this week is yet another reason why we should consider lowering the speed limit from 50kmh to 40kmh on suburban streets in NSW.
Reducing the speed limit will not only reduce the risk of a child being hit by a car, but it will also serve as a reminder to drivers to take greater care when driving through the suburbs.
According to Transport for NSW, if a pedestrian is hit by a car travelling at 50kmh, it is twice as likely to cause a fatality as the same vehicle going 10kmh slower.
Young children have limited judgement, making it hard for them to know where or when it is safe to cross the road.
They cannot gauge the speed of oncoming traffic and can be impulsive and lose concentration easily.
Lowering the speed limit will give drivers more time to react.
Driving a bit slower in a suburban area seems a small price to pay, so let’s do all we can as motorists to reduce the risk.
Genevieve Henderson
Slater and Gordon
