Lake Burrumbeet deserving of better treatment
With regard to the foreshore around Lake Burrumbeet, which I presume is crown land like other lakes in Victoria. Usually the local council has responsibility for upkeep of roads, the maintenance of infrastructure, and the control of declared noxious weeds. Signage indicates that the City of Ballarat is responsible for all of these, but unfortunately, has done nothing or very little to comply. People who enjoy Lake Burrumbeet's foreshore should ask their councillor representatives to ensure that their staff take early action.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Oliver Guthrie, Alfredton
A growing city will bring parking and housing issues
With the proposed relocation of 600 public sector employees to the area around the civic hall, I can only see absolute traffic chaos with hundreds of additional cars in and around this area at start work and knock off times. Traffic in this area is bad enough now, let alone adding another 600 odd cars. The other problem I see will be the increase in house prices due to this sudden influx of new residents. Not a good look for our struggling first home buyers. It's a great idea to shift people out of Melbourne, but there are many struggling Victorian country towns throughout the state that could all take a few each without putting additional pressures on Ballarat, and would most certainly cost millions less.
Keith Pitman, Alfredton.
Railway plan not in Ballarat’s long term transport interests
The redevelopment of the railway station precinct is a critically important project which will determine how well Ballarat operates as a city in the long term. A key aspect of an effective mass transit system is a well-designed central transport hub, capable of meeting the demands of the population as the city grows. To support the concentration of businesses, institutions, services and cultural activities in the CBD requires a highly efficient central transport; a hub capable of moving thousands of people to and from the CBD each day. Moreover, this same central transport hub serves as a clearing-house for thousands of people in transit to outlying parts of the city and to towns and cities elsewhere.
Think of the role of Southern Cross Station in Melbourne. While Ballarat Station may never need to service such a large city or population, its role as a piece of city infrastructure is the same - and will become more and more important as the city grows.
Do we see these sorts of considerations in the current plans for the Railway Precinct? This simple answer is 'No'. The State government, and our local members, Pulford, Howard and Knight, are not focussed on these crucial issues. They intend to sell off a substantial proportion of the site to private interests for unnecessary commercial development. They intend to use the railway station land as a short term 'cash cow', with no consideration for Ballarat's long term needs.
The State Government and our sitting MP's are about to sell us short and betray the long-term interests of the community and the City. And what the Ballarat City Council? Council appears not to understand how cities function, nor how to plan for future growth. Certainly it is failing to represent the community's interests in the face of State Government plans which will seriously compromise the city's future.
Jonathan Halls, Millbrook
MOre to debate
In May, the Australian Medical Association issues a statement that Australian law, which defines marriage in traditional fashion, "has significant psychosocial and psychological health consequences for LGBTIQ-identifying Australians…" Is that the best the reasoning powers of our medical fraternity can manage on the subject?
Arnold Jago, Nichols Point