A current analysis which I am involved with using data on 3,360 patients with colorectal cancer treated by bowel resection at Concord Hospital between January 1, 1995 and December 31, 2019 showed the following age distribution 21-40 years: 2.3 per cent; 41-50 years: 6 per cent; 51-60 years: 16.5 per cent; 61-70 years: 25.4 per cent, 71-80 years: 30.4 per cent and 81-99 years: 19.3 per cent.

The finding that 8.3 per cent of patients in this large study were 50 years of age or under is a timely reminder that, as we are about to begin Bowel Cancer Awareness Month, this disease is not only common but should always be on the diagnostic radar irrespective of the patient's age.

If I had a dollar for every time parking has been a news item in the Examiner since moving here in 1976, I would be the proverbial rich woman.

Whether you like the Shoal Bay Parklets (Examiner, May 13) is a matter of personal taste.

The real issue for our council is how to provide car parking to meet the needs of visitors and locals alike, allowing them both to enjoy the amazing environment of the Peninsula.

Removing five car parks and replacing them with parklets is, however not one. Nor is letting developers of high-rise buildings and retirement villages make huge profits without contributing to community infrastructure.

We will have sufficient parking to meet resident needs when the council not only makes developers contribute to community assets, but insists they meet council consent conditions of their development.

Failure to meet consent conditions, including those for parking seems to have little or no consequence for developers.

Take Soldiers Point Marina. The facility contains three restaurants, members lounge, marina office, boat sales office and beauty parlour, all of which have specific parking requirements that, under the provisions of LEP2013 and DCP2014, total 71 spaces. To my knowledge, only about 30 have ever been provided. Twenty-one of these, rarely used by boat owners, are inaccessible to the public because of a boom gate.

Then there is the mess that lack of parking around the Sailing Club and Bannisters has turned our recreational space into.

This belies belief in the council's transparency.

There is no doubt the site of Tomaree Lodge (Examiner, May 20) will be a popular destination to visitors to our piece of paradise and it is vital that the community retains ownership of this place for our use and enjoyment. May I suggest that with respect to plans for its use, the historic 15-hectare Jezzine Barracks in Townsville, that has been preserved as a record of its importance, is a good case for the Lodge to follow. In 2007, the Barracks was placed in a community trust.

The preservation of the Barracks is a tribute to that city's citizens and shows their profound appreciation of their heritage. Any visitor to Townsville cannot help but visit this place. The Lodge, as an historical piece of our headland, should be destined to allow us to appreciate the Indigenous, military and government use of this unique place at Port Stephens.

Every time I walk to Fort Tomaree, my breath is taken away with the vistas towards Yacaaba and and the abrupt changes in tidal power as boats seek sanctuary from the ocean as they enter the headlands. Let us enjoy this unique piece of our heritage for many generations to come.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content: