Embrace smart parking
I have to disagree with Mr Harding (Port Stephens Examiner, December 26) in regard to paid parking.
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Nelson Bay and surrounds are growing fast and at the current growth rate we will run out of parking in the near future for residents, let alone visitors who now come all year round.
I have recently seen the problem firsthand in that crowded island, the UK. They have had to install smart parking in most towns and it works.
According to its manufacturer, Smart Parking allows motorists to find a car park easier and simpler.
We may as well bite the bullet and get used to it, otherwise we may end up fighting for parking slots.
I appreciate it's another nail in the quality of life but a small price to pay for the advantages of becoming like those two larger towns up the coast.
George Allen, Nelson Bay
Where's the parking plan?
We are surprised that the council is about to spend monies on an electronic parking control system without consultation with its constituents.
We were informed that we needed a Special Rate Variation (SRV) as funds were low. Yet here we have an unpriced and wholly unnecessary project just because the council thinks it is a good idea.
No costs or project plan has been established or put forward for comments and approval.
We had a three-storey parking station which was demolished due to disrepair, only to have it replaced by a single flat area. So we lost two thirds of parking spaces.
In addition, council has been renting two parking lots in Nelson Bay. What were the costs and how long will we be paying for them?
We need to have council do proper cost analysis benefits for its projects and have proper timelines and project delivery time frames and weekly reviews, as would any other business.
Council and the mayor are here to represent us, not do what they want with no consultation and approvals.
Bryan Martin, Nelson Bay
Council meeting legalities
So, it has been established that the mayor of Port Stephens, Ryan Palmer, acted illegally when he took action to expel Councillor Giacomo Arnott from a recent council meeting.
Logically then, it follows that all of the councillors who voted to have Cr Arnott expelled from the meeting also acted illegally.
Is this what the Port Stephens Council has become?
At the very least, Cr Arnott should receive unreserved, individual, public apologies from the mayor and all of the councillors who voted to have him expelled from the meeting.
If the mayor can't control a council meeting using legal methods then perhaps politics is not his best career choice.
Grant Kennett, Corlette
Respect to over 60 brigade
Being over 60 and a member of the "best practice brigade", I ask our council: "Why are people continually asking for footpaths, so they can go from A to B safely and comfortably?"
Guess I'm just an 'old so-and-so' in considering safety and convenience(s) in construction or 'enhancement' projects.
The most basic of recreational activities for all ages is walking, maybe push bikes and scooters.
In Karuah, we have only been waiting 20-plus years for pedestrian safety. "Somethings are on the list for a long time", as a council officer informed me in correspondence, regarding improvements to pedestrian safety in our neck of the woods that has pedestrians at 'high risk to their safety'.
Sometimes it's experience, not age, that counts.