The conversation quickly turned to the no smoking rules.

They were confused on where they could smoke and were worried they my get a fine if they had a smoke either while walking around or while having a coffee, as the tables had No Smoking on them in the out door area.

They wanted a coffee and a sit down but moved on out of the mall after our chat.

Then another gentleman sat down with us, again a stranger, and wanted to know where he could have a smoke with his coffee.

I explained what I understood about the rules but he mentioned the article in The Courier the other day, where the council seemed confused about the rule in the Mall. 

It was beautiful in the sun today, sitting in the mall and being approached by strangers who wanted to enjoy what the mall has to offer, but felt they could not due to the smoking saga, was quite disturbing.

The mall needs all the support it can get.

The shops are suffering as the big shopping complexes take over.

The council need to support the mall and not let it slip into the abyss, like so many malls around the country.

Ballarat city centre has so much to offer to visitors and locals alike. Out door areas need to be untilised and a coffee and a smoke in an outdoor area is legal at this point.

Come on Ballarat City Council let people enjoy the mall and help the businesses continue to survive.

Large shopping centres do not suit everyone all the time.

Promoting and supporting the mall, especially during the warmer months, surely has to be a good thing for Ballarat.

So lets sort out where people can legally smoke, have a coffee and shop (spend money) all in one place... Bridge Street Mall 

Shane and Christine Malone, Brown Hill

It is difficult to reconcile the engagement of the local Christian churches in the equal marriage issue with their complete indifference to the daily adverts for sex workers in the local paper. Surely the latter constitutes a real and present threat to traditional marriage, whereas the loving and fond exchange of vows by two people of the same gender does not. 

We live in a progressive state where sex work is subject to oversight and some control rather than illegally conducted under a cloak of secrecy, but nevertheless do we assume that the church leaders are providing outreach to these sex workers given the parallel concerns of the exploitation of these mostly young women, the corrupting effect of commercial sex work and the easy access to their phone numbers.

Pat Hockey , Clunes

It is said that no-one knows either the day or the hour when one will cease to draw breath. No longer. With the likely passage of Victoria's proposed voluntary (medically assisted) dying legislation, some of us will, in fact, be able to set both the day and the hour of our death.

When we are facing a terminal illness and suffering unbearable pain. And, not before time.

 Michael J Gamble, Belmont

Witnessing the welfare cycle, as opposed to reporting it as if it is "news", is one of those chalk or cheese quandaries. For more than 30 years this retired government schools' teacher was privy to the spiritually debilitating effect of the welfare morass upon too many of my students. The word "suffocating" is not strong enough. Hope and motivation seldom were evident among the welfare students, giving the lie to  the claim that "it is easy for Australians to escape their upbringing" . I grew up in poverty. Escape was almost impossible.

Michael McNeill, Bendigo