Closure knee-jerk reaction
During inquiries to Port Stephens Council, regarding the closure of the easement on the headland off Ocean Avenue to the rocky shore at Birubi Point, I was advised that the reason for the closure was instigated by police as they were constantly being called out to complaints of unruly behaviour inside a vacant property adjacent to the easement.
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If that is the case would you not think that the onus should be on the owner to either inhabit the property or demolish it - rather than take a knee-jerk reaction of closing the area and inconveniencing the broader community?
James Page
Anna Bay
Maternity services needed
Highlighted once again is the gross inadequacy of the Tomaree Peninsula to provide basic maternity services for those low risk pregnant women.
In an article in the Examiner [Ambos arrive in nick of time, Aug 11] Tim Case was forced to help his wife deliver their second child on the side of the road at Salt Ash. I strongly feel this needs to be avoided. The hospital needs to urgently upgrade its maternity services. Husbands should not be left to deliver their children. I am one of several midwives living in the Bay who would love to see maternity services here and believe it is highly overdue. There are many other mothers I know of who have had unnecessary inductions just because of the distance they need to travel or have a history of quick labours.
Jane Casement
Anna Bay
Building no benefit to all
Thanks, Robert Bull [Examiner, letters, August 11], for so clearly outlining how one group of blokes will benefit from a huge sacrifice by the community of public open space and trees for a building which will dominate and obscure the beauty of Boomerang Park. I am appalled that a small, exclusive group has managed to gain council support to alienate so much of the park and at a financial cost to us all of around $600,000.
Cherylle Stone
Soldiers Point
Subbies often lose out
Not paying sub-contractors is nothing new in the building industry.
Developers often choose the cheaper option from the larger building companies against local companies who then have tender against each other, often reducing the conditions of local labour and introducing pyramid contracting. The answer is support local companies, local labour and local apprenticeships.
Gerry Mohan
Shoal Bay
NBN not up to speed
There are problems with the NBN.
If you are on a copper line the you get what can be called digital ADSL2 at ADSL2 speeds instead of super-fast digital fibre optic. Poorer quality tier 1 and tier 2 NBN is the same base price as broadband mobile phone data and faster speeds are "not available" or cost a lot more.
The old copper system had its own power independent from the grid which could be helpful in a blackout but added operation costs. The power for fibre optic is provided by the customer but companies saving on electricity are not lowering plan costs. Now in a blackout it is no longer possible to use your phone unless you have a large battery. The internal battery is too small. You can use a car battery for power on a blackout but companies will only tell you about buying their expensive external battery. Companies are dividing the data from the voice to charge for two plans on two lines. Others offer a single line voice on data plans. If you approach a kiosk in the mall and sign a contract then there is no cooling off period.
Jon Sherwin
Nelson Bay.