The offending section of road prevents vehicles from passing safely with all wheels on the bitumen.

The council seems happy to periodically resurface sections and patch potholes which, in my opinion, are no more than very costly band-aid solutions.

The potholes effectively remain patched for less than a week.

[The council] seemingly fails to plan and complete this section of road. I look forward to receiving a reply from council as we the ratepayers deserve better.

Thank you Casey, Isabella and Ruby for putting up the koala signs around One Mile (Family's bid to save koalas, Examiner, June 23).

They are colourful and easy to see and installed exactly where they should be.

It is a shame the council asked them to be taken down.

If the council had done more to protect the koalas then the local residents wouldn't have to take matters into their own hands. Why hasn't the council put up educational signs so tourists know when the koalas are actually likely to be near the roads, or slowed the speed limits on Gan Gan and Frost Roads during mating season, or even installed some koala tunnels and bridges along the roads that traverse the koala habitat?

Port Stephens Council you could be doing so much more than stopping people who want to help.

It is exciting news for those in the Hunter to hear that Newcastle Airport is to grow and become an international airport and a real asset to our part of Australia.

Sadly, I feel there is a great deal of work to be done. I'm not talking about a mural on the wall or brochures of what to see and do, I am talking about the basics.

On the Monday of the June long weekend the airport was busy, lots of smiling faces anxious to get out for some fun. Unfortunately the smiles turned to frowns as our flight to Brisbane was constantly delayed. The plane needed an engineer to fix a minor problem we were told. I thought the extra delay may have been because of the long weekend and there were less engineers available.

To my horror I found out that Newcastle Airport has no engineers and hasn't had any since well before Covid. So the frowns went to frustration as kids cried and darkness fell. Two hours and 45 minutes we waited for an engineer to drive to Williamtown from the Central Coast.

As the airport started to close down it got worse, cafes closed and the one that was open was quickly running out of food.

Finally the engineer arrived after what must have been an awful drive on the Monday of a long weekend and yes, they were right it was a quick fix and we did manage to get away.

My questions are many, what if hadn't been a quick fix? What if a plane had landed and doors couldn't be opened?

There are dozens of reasons that an engineer should be stationed at Newcastle Airport, in my opinion.

The big question is, who made the decision to get rid of the engineer?

Newcastle Airport Pty Ltd we need an answer, you are owned by the City of Newcastle and Port Stephens Council and I am not only a traveller, I am a rate payer.

The Hunter is a great place to live and a great place to visit and enjoy. Don't let the us down by giving us a second rate airport.

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