The ego has landed
HAVING read Graham Burmeister’s letter of June 28 (“Out of left field”), it is apparent that he has fully recovered from his badly bruised ego and is now on the warpath again.
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Part of his advice to me was that I should go to the Gundagai Local Court the next time it sits.
Unfortunately, I never made it.
However, below is the list of cases that were dealt with by the court on June 20 and mentioned in the local paper.
A 20-year-old Gundagai man was given an 18-month bond for punching a victim over an argument; a 37-year-old Gundagai man pleaded guilty to drug driving after testing positive to having cannabis in his system; a 59-year-old Gundagai man was placed on a 12-month good behaviour bond for kicking the victim in she shins; a 45-year-old Gundagai man was placed on a good behaviour bond for shoving the victim to the ground during an argument.
It must be noted that all the persons mentioned were of Australian appearance. I don’t recall saying in my earlier letter that all Australians are a bunch of lily-whites and are incapable of any wrong-doing.
And it would be remiss of me not to thank Mr Burmeister for another history lesson. This time he takes us back to January 15, 1840, and mentions the passengers of the good ship Crusader.
Having a knowledge of psychology, I am fully aware that the strain of having a badly bruised ego like Mr Burmeister has suffered usually takes years to fully recover from but, apparently, he had the resilience to recovered in a matter of months. That is a remarkable achievement in itself.
I have carefully penned this letter with restraint, being mindful that it will only take a simple misplaced word to send him around the bend – again.
The last thing that I want to see is Mr Burmeister being led away escorted by men in white coats.
Geoff Field
Gundagai
Rail trail’s a shining light
ON READING the article “Rail trail project off the beaten track” (DA, June 17), a sense of deja vu descended over me.
As a visitor to your fine town and a regular rider of rail trails in Victoria, I strongly commend your local group for planning a rail trail from Wagga to Ladysmith.
In Victoria, we are very fortunate to have a good number of rail trails, all of which are used well and, contrary to what councillor Alan Brown suggests, are not all adjacent to roadsides.
When the Port Fairy-Warnambool rail trail was being planned about 10 years ago, the same type of uninformed views expressed by Councillor McLaren and Brown were frequently heard in our community.
At the time, I must admit I was sceptical of the figure of 22,000 users per annum being suggested by consultants.
In spite of strong opposition, this trail was built.
It has now been fully operational for the past five years and attracts a combined figure in excess of 60,000 users per year.
The trail is used by commuters, rail trail junkies, overnight visitors who come to ride the trail, cycling and walking groups, joggers, pet walkers etc.
It is one of those attractions that keep interstate and international visitors in our region for at least one extra night.
One feature of the trail is that some 25km of it passes through farmland and is not adjacent to a roadway.
Visitors, particularly families from Melbourne, appreciate the fact they can ride so close to the farm animals.
I wish Lisa Glastonbury and her committee every success in the their efforts to develop this trail and will personally return to Wagga to see Councillor McLaren walk naked down Baylis Street when the trail is complete.