Contemptuous
I was absolutely appalled to see pony rides being conducted by the woman convicted of cruelty to horses at Candelo Markets last weekend.
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According to news reports she was ordered to surrender all horses in her care within 28 days, as of May 27.
July 5 is more than 28 days from the handing down of her judgement.
Her appearance at the market is blatant contempt for the law.
Why were they there?
Why was she allowed to earn the cash from the pony rides?
Why was she purchasing horse food at the end of the market, if she didn't have horses in her care?
I believe she claimed the horses weren't hers, but that does not discount the above facts.
If they weren't hers then I ask the Candelo Market committee, who is the insured?
They don't let anyone attend the market without insurance.
Who will pay if a child falls off the very tall part-Clydesdale?
As a horse owner my concern is also for the three horses used that day.
They were loaded onto the float with saddles on.
After a tedious day walking back and forth, they should have been offered some relief and had the saddles removed as soon as the work was done.
The local police were called on the day and interviewed the woman, but she was still allowed to continue.
My final question - is the RSPCA or the law going to do something about this?
Name supplied
Quaama
Poor decisions
Following on from my disbelief about the $3million Tathra Ring Road proposal, the Pambula Aquatic Centre is now complaining about ageing infrastructure causing a drop in water temperature of 1-2 degrees - it's still over 25C - and the Merimbula airport runway, resealed last year, needs further attention.
The aquatic centre, which runs at a loss, was only recently built and the runway's problems stem from resealing it in winter.
But it gets better - they want to "refix" the runway in winter!
Who's driving these poor decisions?
I'm all for sound infrastructure, but get it right.
John Cafe
Bega
Noise complaint
The flight training school near Bega should not be approved due to noise, adverse health effects and environmental impacts.
Norm Boyle states there are no property developers in his group, but they plan to develop the airfield and provide housing for students.
Most airports also allow other shops and businesses to develop on airfield land.
He also stated students will only fly for 40 hours during the three-month course.
Multiply that by 360 students at capacity.
You may think the creation of new jobs and forecast of mega export dollars sounds beneficial, but please listen to my experience of living near a flight training airport in Adelaide.
There are over 300 students (mainly from Asia) and the noise was often horrendous even though I lived several kilometres from the airport.
Most of the training involves three or four aircraft flying at 1000 feet around the same area in circuits.
Touch and go training also creates noise problems as they repeatedly practice take off and landings.
When I moved to Adelaide in 2002 I knew there was a secondary airport nearby.
After visiting the suburb several times there did not seem to be a major problem as flight training numbers had reduced in 2001.
This changed the following year when they started training students from Taiwan.
We have experienced over 16 hours of almost non-stop flight training per day including noisy helicopters.
Most days we had high levels of aircraft noise both day and night.
It was a very stressful time for my family and my husband had a nervous breakdown.
Trainees buzzed over our home every 40 seconds most of the day.
In 2006 there were over 600 noise complaints.
Noise monitoring was done, but they did not include the noisiest aircraft nor most of the trainees because they turned their transponders off.
There is no permanent noise monitor near Parafield airport.
After many years of complaints to AirServices, CASA, airport management, council, federal and local politicians and even the ombudsman, my health also was affected and I was forced to move.
They are still encouraging more Chinese students to train at Parafield despite 25 years of noise problems.
Their head office is in Hong Kong so tax is minimised and most profits go back to China.
I have visited Bega and nearby towns and really enjoyed the tranquillity and stunning Sapphire coastline.
I hoped to retire there, but not if there was a flight training school in the area.
Aircraft noise will also devalue your property.
Once this flight training school starts it will be difficult to reduce noise and pollution problems.
I hope the Bega Council does not approve a development application for the flight training school.
Perhaps you could organise a petition to present to council to show your objection.
Don't leave it for one or two people - it needs the support of most of the Bega area.
Amber Young
Brisbane