WHAT sort of city do we want Newcastle to become? It's a question that should be seriously debated as we imagine the tower-festooned future described by columnist Bradley Perrett ("It's time for 60-storey skyscrapers", Opinion, 29/9).
Unless done very carefully, this sort of development can result in significant downsides. I recommend spending a night in Parramatta's CBD. I recently did so, staying in a serviced apartment in an otherwise residential building near the train station.
As I stood on my 20th-storey balcony, I looked across to three other apartment buildings. Below was a collection of garbage hoppers and soaring above this sad quadrangle was a residential tower. I had to crane my neck to see its top, and at 5pm on a sunny day my apartment, which had no other windows, was miserably dark.
Later I sought the vibrant street life that such urban density was meant to generate. I found the local pizza shop closed and an over-lit convenience store selling snack food. There was almost no-one around.
It doesn't have to be this way, and good planning and architecture can create great urban environments, but I suspect most developers are much more concerned about making money than making nice places.
I am all for, as Perrett says, being more ambitious for Newcastle's city centre, but we should first require greater ambition from its architects and urban planners.
Mark Mathot, Mayfield East
A moving pitch for Supercars
When Hunter Street was like a morgue before all the new development, City of Newcastle did its best to liven up the East End with music festivals, markets and Supercars. I thought it was a job well done.
Whether you are for or against Supercars, it seems clear that it is no longer socially acceptable to lock out the East End residents from their right to enjoy their neighbourhood for four months a year for set up, the event and pack-up.
It is not that the race is wrong, but the location. Google Kooragang and you will see that a suitable race track could be set up there with a small amount of road work that would allow industry to work uninterrupted. It's a track that wouldn't need to be built and dismantled every year. Imagine the camera view of Newcastle and Stockton beach from a helicopter, showcasing Newcastle's inner beauty. For the lovers of Supercars it needs to be kept but, for the Newcastle East residents, it needs to be moved. City of Newcastle, please consider other locations.
David Saddington, Redhead
Innocent caught in the crossfire
THE Hamas attack on Israel was without question a war crime. A blanket response on the Gaza strip population and innocent Palestinians seems equally appalling. The villain here is Hamas, and not ordinary Palestinians. After the last world war the UN divided the then British Palestine area into Jewish and Arab states. This has always been contested by the surrounding Arab states.
The west's interests are coloured by having a strong ally in the area securing passage of the Suez Canal. As Israel has pushed back against the Palestine Liberation Organisation and expanded their footprint in the area, this has benefited Western interests. Areas annexed in the Sinai, West Bank, Gaza and Golan Heights are robustly managed by Israel. Amid all the rhetoric, we should remember the ordinary people displaced from their homes or captive in annexed areas who remain innocent victims.
Paul Duggan, Garden Suburb
Varroa action a shocking waste
BEES are vital to the pollination of flowers, fruit and vegetables. In the last few decades there have been increasing concerns over decreasing numbers of bees, beekeepers and the ages of the keepers that are left.
When the varroa mite emerged in Australia I feared the worst, and the government didn't let me down. They were going to eradicate the bee's from Australia, authorities pledged. That was madness.
Everywhere else in the world that has bees has the varroa mite. If there was any way of eradicating it don't you think they would have done it? Off they went, destroying bees by the hundreds of thousands and wiping out untold numbers of hives and bee-keeping businesses in the process. So now they have admitted what anyone knew - they can't eradicate them - but not before an industry was brought to its knees.
I believe this is all because a government department, with a battalion of highly-paid advisers, couldn't see what was obvious to anyone capable of logical thought.
I feel so sorry for a man in my suburb who has kept bees for probably the past 60 years. Whenever I was in the garden, I used to marvel at the work that a multitude of bees from his hives used to put in around my garden. It's all gone now, no bees to be seen anywhere. Another $150 million of taxpayers' money thrown away.
Jan Phillip Trevillian, Fennel Bay
Boosted bikes fast and loose with safety
SCHOOL'S out and children on their electric bikes are heading home down Memorial Drive, keeping up with the traffic. Travelling at 40kmh, no brake lights, no indicators, zero formal knowledge of the road rules and zero experience on the road; it's so dangerous. Any adult on a petrol-engined bike would have had comprehensive defensive riding training and passed a road rules test. How is it OK to put children in such danger?
John McDonald, The Hill
Full force will come to bear
There's an old saying, don't poke the bear. It warns us not to deliberately upset someone or something that might respond with overwhelming force. Hamas has now poked Israel harder and more viciously than ever before and, unfortunately, calls for Israel to exercise restraint are likely to be ignored for some time to come.
David Stuart, New Lambton
No faith in toothless tigers
WAR: what is it good for? Absolutely nothing. Religion and politics have been the instigating flash point for almost every war the world has experienced, all these politicians who are supporting the Israel and Ukraine conflicts need to come up with a solution, not a we've-got-your-back mentality. The UN and similar bodies are toothless tigers.
Graeme Kime, Cameron Park
Nobody enjoys oppression
BULLIES can't take it when the tables are turned.
Julie Robinson, Cardiff
Revved up over race reports
ONLY twice this year have we been given a story about what is happening in motor sports, such as Supercars. We did get something in March when they were in Newcastle, and recently some reports from the weekend race in Bathurst. There have been races held all over Australia, but there are no updates. I hope the start of soccer doesn't push car racing results from the paper.
Mark Creek, Adamstown
Harder to hear the new sounds
GOOD point, Dash Horne ("Older music still off the charts", Letters, 2/10), although there is some new music I do like. My main gripe about Bar on the Hill taking music inside because of low ticket sales is that I couldn't sit on my back deck and listen to see if I actually liked it. I don't complain about music in the suburbs.
