I refer to the editorial in the Sunday Canberra Times on May 23 and would like the opportunity to correct some misperceptions.
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The ACT Heritage Register includes a wide range of places that the ACT Heritage Council has determined should be protected and conserved for future generations.
Built heritage in the ACT encompasses the 19th-century pastoral history of the area, as well as many 20th-century places and objects that tell our important and unique story as the nation's capital.
It is important that we recognise and protect these places and objects into the future, and keep the stories they tell of who we are and the past that has helped shape us.
Recently the council has made a range of decisions on the registration of public housing. The council decided not to register a number of public housing precincts that had been nominated to the ACT Heritage Register, including the Red Hill Public Housing Precinct, the Allawah and Bega Courts on the edge of the city centre, Kanangra Court in Reid and the Northbourne Flats in Braddon and Turner. The council also recently decided to register a sample of the Northbourne Housing Precinct in Dickson and Lyneham rather than the entire housing precinct. It is this decision that the National Trust (ACT) sought to appeal in the ACT Administrative and Civil Appeals Tribunal with the Trust arguing that the entire precinct should be registered.
Heritage registration does not prevent changes to places. The ACT Heritage Council aims to manage change at heritage places by allowing development in such a way that the heritage significance of a place is conserved.
David Flannery, ACT Heritage Council chairman
Safety forgotten
The article "Builders call for mandatory skills program to cut down mistakes" by Matthew Raggatt (CT, May 17) made very interesting reading, with little to question if it is implemented.
One glaring thing though – not one word about safety.
Geoff Barker, Flynn
Metro in wonderland
Capital Metro is sounding more and more like the characters in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland's "A Mad Tea-Party", with every announcement the Minister, Simon Corbell, makes. It now appears that a preferred consortium is to be chosen for the light rail, a contract signed, and construction commenced before the project's procurement process is finalised ("Light rail to receive $50 million budget boost" SCT, May 24, p3). According to the Minister, the construction is to commence next year but it is to take the next four years to finalise the "project's complex procurement process". Something is seriously wrong with this entire project.
Murray Upton, Belconnen
Do the maths on rail
"Another $50m for light rail", The Sunday Canberra Times (May 24) reports that the budget on June 2 will provide another $51.8 million for light preliminaries. Capital Metro is currently spending $30 million of budgeted funds. Therefore, almost $82 million is now planned to be spent before any construct and operate contract. Silly me! My independent estimate had the figure at only $60 million through to 2018-19. Readers should note that this $82 million is on top of the $783 million capital cost and $22.2 million annual subsidy (Government Business Case figures) and the interest burden on the $783 million over 20 years (ignored in the Business Case and by Government). Do your own sums and see if this wasteful project makes economic sense!
M. Silex, Erindale
Take the middle ground
A child's perception of the world is very black and white, full of only stick-figure characters. It is only with the wisdom of age and experience that one comes to realise that the world is never truly black or truly white: there are always nuances and shades of grey – and people and situations are always complex and complicated.
Unfortunately, the alluring simplicity of this childlike perception of the world is difficult for some people to let go of, but it causes the proliferation of the "false dichotomy" and the consequential blindness to the multitude of options in the middle ground, most of which are fairer and more reasonable than those at either of the extremes.
And so it is with Bob McDonald (Letters, 24/5), who would have us believe that the only alternative to "stop the boats" is to allow Australia to "inundated" by welfare-slurping ne'er-do-wells, who want nothing more than to drain this country dry. With a bit of thought, and a bit of heart, Australia can (and should) come up with short and long-term plans to help fix this problem. Other countries already have, and are implementing them: why can't we?
Mark Raymond, Manton, NSW
School shows the way
Congratulations to the staff of Campbell High School on becoming wonderful role models for their pupils by promoting the benefits of an active lifestyle (CT, May 24, p2).
Congratulations also to Tony Stubbs, the CEO of the Heart Foundation, for his earlier call for a national conversation on this critical issue.
The science is in on the benefits of exercise and the verdict is absolutely unequivocal. Exercise is good for you and the lack of exercise is bad. If a pharmaceutical company could bottle the benefits, then their shareholders would be millionaires in no time flat.
Fortunately for us, the only investment we need to make is in finding the time to move about. Perhaps the simplicity of this prescription causes us to devalue its worth? Whatever the reason, we need more teachers stepping up to model the behaviours that our children should adopt. We need more parents supporting the teachers by pushing their children outside and into physical activity.
The initiative adopted by the staff at Campbell High School is low tech, low budget, easily scalable yet extremely effective. Opportunities to be active are all around us. Here's hoping that others will join the conversation and in doing so, make a real difference to their community.
Philip Winkworth, Campbell
Email: letters.editor@canberratimes.com.au. Send from the message field, not as an attached file. Fax: 6280 2282. Mail: Letters to the Editor, The Canberra Times, PO Box 7155, Canberra Mail Centre, ACT 2610.
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