I would like to particularly thank Bega GP Dr Catherine Marks, general surgeon Dr Penelope Lacavalerie and anaesthetist Dr Duncan McKinnon for their superb skills, kindness and compassion.

Knowing a lot more now about this rare condition, I realise that the initial surgery is the critical one. I don't doubt that it saved my partner's life. The Head of ICU at the Sydney hospital told me, “The team in Bega did a stellar job”. We will always be so grateful. We are incredibly fortunate to have such experienced and competent medical professionals in the Bega Valley. 

My wife and I would like to commend the hospital and staff at the new South East Regional Hospital. Our daughter recently underwent surgery there and we could not be happier with the level of service and care that was provided. Both the staff and facilities were well above anything you would expect to find in the Bega Valley. 

From the moment we walked in and went to the admissions desk the staff were open and welcoming. This carried right through to the nurses, doctors and specialist (and cafe staff) we dealt with while there. They not only helped put us at ease, but also our daughter before her operation which was very comforting as a parent.

Every time you hear or read the news there is nothing but negative feedback about the hospital. The hospital is brand new and like anything it is going to have some teething problems. It is a huge improvement on what we had and yes it will take some time to fully staff it and to acquire the level of funding needed to use it at its full potential. 

The staff there are doing an amazing job with what they have and without it we would have had to go to Canberra for the surgery. This would have involved not only the travel up and back but also accommodation, meals and a lot of extra stress.

Once again well done, thank you and keep up the exceptional work.

Seems to me that solar has become the cheapest, quietest, least intrusive option for power generation, compared to both the recent local wind and hydro proposals for Steeples Flat and Brown Mountain. How quiet is a constantly running pumping station or turbine nearby, when you've become accustomed to a quiet nights' sleep, or have serious tinnitus issues?

And how long before the best brains in the world succeed in producing a battery that renders the hydro idea obsolete?

I wonder if any of your correspondents who don't want chemicals in their drinking water are aware that all town water in developed countries (and I include the Bega Valley) has added chlorine.

Try drinking a cupful of bleach and I guarantee your rotten teeth will be the least of your worries.

The reader who said that we've survived for thousands of years without fluoride needs to know that as little as 150 years ago if you lived beyond 40 you'd be lucky to have a tooth in your head.

Here's what I know about fluoride – when it's added to drinking water it's at the rate of three parts per million. Your average toothpaste contains between 19 and 23 parts per million. Source: Dr Karl on TripleJ, when a dentist in Queensland rang in to say that in Queensland, where fluoride isn't added to the water, the rate of tooth decay is three times what it is in NSW.

Bring on the naysayers.