Sacred site should be registered
A Port Stephens Council spokesperson confirmed to the Examiner ('Wanda Wetland woes', NEWS, July 15) that Wanda Wetlands was identified as a sacred Women's site in the Mambo Wanda Wetlands Plan of Management (POM) adopted by the council on February 28, 2006.
If however, the council had a real commitment to meeting its obligations in respect of these vital heritage and environmental lands, the funding for its upkeep would be more than $3500, and they would have responded to Ms Carol Ridgeway Bisset's request, in 2012, to identify the area as a Registered Aboriginal Place.
Since its lodgement, both the Mambo Wanda Wetlands (MWW) Landcare Group and the MWW Conservation Group, have written to the council and the Minister for Energy and the Environment in support of this action.
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The council in its reply to correspondence from the both groups advised that they are; 'unable to progress a claim for an Aboriginal Place within Mambo or its listing as a Ramsar Wetland without updating the 2006 Plan of Management, and that a funding grant of $80,000 to do this had been requested from The State Government'.
What they have not acknowledged, in my opinion, is information provided (December 15, 2019) from Biodiversity and Conservation Division, Department of Planning, Industry and Environment that a plan of management is not necessary to begin the process of determining an Aboriginal Place.
Given this and the pre-existing 2006 plan of management, why hasn't the process to declare Mambo Wanda Wetlands a registered Aboriginal Place commenced?
Roz Armstrong, Soldiers Point
Solar worth investing in
I would recommend to Garry Nairne, regarding his letter 'Consumer always pays' (Examiner, July 22) that he looks into changing his retailer if his current one is putting up his electricity charges.
My charges for the coming year are going down.
Yes, my solar feed-in tariff will also be going down but my retailer is still paying me more than the NSW Government (IPART) solar feed-in tariff benchmark recommendation.
Retail prices are coming down because of lower wholesale prices due to the increasing amount of low cost renewable generation in the grid.
Les Pinney, Lemon Tree Passage
Time to act on aged care
The aged care industry is in crisis and the continuous bad publicity and lack of funding makes the industry less attractive to existing staff and future employees.
The losers will be the residents who have no one to look after them.
We all be in this position one day.
Without proper funding now for training and remuneration it will be too late.
Please contact your local member to protest the lack of funding.
Gerry Mohan, Shoal Bay
Hosing down the issue
The safest and easiest way to stop mass demonstrations, in my opinion, is to use the fire brigade to drench the demonstrators.
They will soon disperse in this cold and windy weather.
Who has ever seen a mass demonstration on a rainy day?
H.Ortner, Medowie
Thanks to ALDI staff
A big thank you to the ALDI staff at the Salamander Bay Square last Wednesday morning, July 21 for their prompt action attending to an incident concerning a shopper.
I should also acknowledge the politeness of other shoppers while going through checkouts.