What is council thinking?
At a time when the cost of improving the levee banks protecting Central Wagga and North Wagga cannot be met, council is contemplating the development of a major entertainment facility (harness racing to be exact) on a designated flood plain in North Wagga.
By major, I mean one that will require huge amounts of fill to be brought in to ensure that the proposed, privately-owned infrastructure will hopefully remain out of harm’s way.
What about the residents of Central Wagga who were evacuated during the last flood event?
Will they receive assistance to flood-proof their property?
Has council considered their liability to residents and to the developers? I for one doubt it.
If I were living in Central Wagga, I would be very concerned about the development council is currently considering and start asking questions as to how such a development can even be considered on a floodplain.
Ben Stodart
Wagga
Come clean on landfill
I HAVE noticed that if Wagga residents have a problem with any of their councillors or council decisions, they air their grievances in The Daily Advertiser.
And almost on every occasion the councillors/council will respond with a letter.
They are to be commended for their openness.
Not so with our Gundagai councillors.
Over the years, they have been asked a number of pertinent questions in our local newspaper that our residents are entitled to know the answers to but unfortunately, they will not respond.
For example, despite being queried on a number of occasions about what is being dumped in our backyard at the Burra Road landfill, not one word in response has been forthcoming from any of our eight councillors.
Is it possible that the reason for their reticence is that there are extremely toxic substances being dumped there?
Substances that may well be catastrophic to our environment in the years to come?
Due to their lack of candour with the community, this naturally suggests to some residents that our councillors may have something to hide.
This brings me to Peter Mahoney’s opinion piece (Gundagai Independent, October 8) which may shed some light on the mystery as to council’s reluctance to provide answers.
According to Mr Mahoney’s logic, if anyone is wrongfully accused of something they should “walk tall, walk proud, hold your head up high, and answer all the media’s questions and proclaim loudly to anybody that cares to listen – not guilty”.
If council is not trying to cover up something, why then can’t they follow Mr Mahoney’s logic instead of bunkering down and saying nothing.
And finally, another very important question that must be raised is can our council be trusted to do the right thing and consult with the townspeople over the unwanted Syrian refugees that they are contemplating resettling here? If the Burra Road landfill issue is anything to go on, then the answer must be definitely not.
Geoff Field
Gundagai
Park a hidden gem
As someone who regularly visits Lockhart and stays in the Lockhart Caravan Park, I was surprised to read L M Coady’s recent letter – “Locked out of Lockhart”. Having stayed at the park many times, I have always enjoyed the warm welcome and found it very easy to contact the park manager, whose number is on the entry sign and the park information board.
