Great work
The committee and members of Bega Valley Arts and Craft Society (BVACS) congratulates Scott Baker and Angie McKechnie of Bega Valley Shire Council for the very successful "it's never too late to make it" Seniors' Expo held recently at the Bega town hall - and trust there will be another next year.
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Well done, A+.
Wendy Neville, Candelo.
Ominous sign
It would be reassuring to know the recent fish kill in Wallagoot Lake was a freak event (BDN, 15/2).
Unfortunately, as there is no regular or real-time monitoring of water quality anywhere on the South Coast, the kill could well be a sign of what the future holds for other coastal lakes and lagoons.
The explanation about the incident a "...combination of low oxygen levels, high water temperature and changes to the salinity caused by recent rainfall", is problematic. If an inflow of polluted fresh water was part of the cause, it is reasonable to expect this water to be on top of the briny water, given the latter is denser and fresh water floats on salt water.
The anecdotal evidence of an algal bloom, prior to the kill, would explain a reduction in oxygen levels. However, the source of the nutrients leading to the bloom, in a largely forested catchment, has not been explained.
What we do know is that forests in the catchment and the rest of the South Coast generally are declining. With this decline comes other negative environmental outcomes, including pollutants that reduce the number of beneficial biota in fresh water streams. Such a reduction would increase nutrient availability and the potential for algal blooms.
None of these issues have been considered with the renewal of the Regional Forest Agreements, so it is unrealistic to think that management aimed at improving the environment is likely or possible.
Robert Bertram, Bermagui
Roads in decline
Last month, the NRMA’s Funding Local Roads report found that the regional and local roads network in NSW is in a state of decline. These are the roads people use every day to go to work, to go shopping, and to take their children to school.
NSW Labor leader Michael Daley announced that a Labor government in NSW will boost investment in council administered roads in rural and regional communities by $900million.
The NRMA says that this level of funding will bring all local and regional roads rated by councils as being very poor and poor up to a satisfactory level.
Labor will also maintain the existing $542million fixing regional roads program, bringing total investment in local roads in rural and regional NSW to over $1.4billion.
The NRMA revealed that the local roads infrastructure backlog under the NSW Liberals and Nationals has soared almost 30 per cent since 2014-15.
The Liberals and Nationals have spent eight long years cheating regional and rural NSW out of almost half the infrastructure spending they were promised, and instead have focused on mega toll roads and stadiums in Sydney.
Peter Primrose, Shadow Minister for Regional Roads
Mug punters
How much do punters know about the industry that takes their money? The racing industry seems to think Australians are mug punters – gullible and easily swindled.
Punters should legally be able to access essential veterinary information about injuries, bleeding or other issues, otherwise it is probably fair to say you are being denied all the facts necessary to make a reasonable bet. But here's a much better bet - don't put your hard-earned cash into cruelty: stay away from tracks and betting venues.
Mimi Bekhechi, PETA Australia
