Over the three years of the 44th Parliament, this committee managed to discuss Canberra for less than five hours.

It completely failed to inquire into the most significant changes to the planning of the National Capital since self-government – Amendment 86 to the National Capital Plan – which effectively hands control of the ACT to local development interests of the type documented in your recent expose "Potential conflicts a developing issue in our small city" (June 25, p1).

Amendment 86 was approved by the Minister for Territories on the last sitting day of the House of Representatives without any parliamentary scrutiny.

In characteristic fashion, the National Capital Authority had dismissed most if not all concerns raised in the 139 submissions it had received through its public consultation process.

Instead the executive rode roughshod over the legislature, as happened with the so-called "Griffin Legacy" amendments to the National Capital Plan in 2006. On that occasion, the Parliamentary Joint Standing Committee on the National Capital woke up to what had happened to it and convened a remarkable round table for expert opinion and community views to be canvassed. In the 45th Parliament, the new committee should do the same.

James Weirick, McMahons Point, NSW

Recent trends in South Australia highlight the need to generate reliable energy from wind and solar. The good news is we have a solution that does not require a technical breakthrough or excessive cost.

Canberra's own Professor Andrew Blakers has been investigating the viability of pumped hydro electricity storage. The concept is extremely simple, and the costs well understood. It consists of little more than a pair of oversized farm dams, with a generator connected to the grid.

When electricity is abundant and cheap, water is pumped to the upper dam. When the price is high, water flows back down, generating both electricity and profit for the producer. Water goes around and around between the two reservoirs, and there is no need to dam any river. All basic stuff which has been used around the world for many years.

Australia's coal power stations are approaching the end of life, and their replacement cannot be justified for either economic or environmental reasons. The transition to fully renewable electricity is not nearly as difficult or as expensive as it may seem. Even better, Professor Blaker's analysis shows that it can be without additional cost to consumer.

Rod Taylor, Giralang

John Thistleton ("Market forces gather, but producers confident of strong growth", July 28, p3) mentions that farmers' markets here may be suffering from a trend in America where people increasingly attend markets to socialise rather than buy. Socialisation is an important function of markets, especially In regional areas, where the local market is a major focus for a community.

Market stallholders also consistently state that the market social environment itself is an important reason for their involvement. The evidence from numerous markets around Australia points to the increase in community engagement consequent on the establishment of the local market. In Murrumbateman, for example, our village market has made great strides in bringing our community together at our fortnightly market.

The rise of farmers' markets reflects a trend for many consumers towards the twin goals "freshness" and "local" and away from the large, impersonal and global characterised by the supermarket. That's got to be a good thing.

John Thorn, chairman, Murrumbateman Village Market

The Manuka Oval light towers are ugly and grotesque and they are just portents of what is to come. The foreboding presence of those light towers have desecrated one of Canberra's most precious heritage environments.

We have so few historical places in Canberra, so why can we not preserve this soulful, cherished enclave of Manuka with its two old churches and bell towers, the "picture" theatre, village-style shopping centre, the surrounding heritage homes, streetscapes and trees, the swimming pool and beautiful Telopea Park?

Over time Manuka has developed into a very special social centre with all the above amenities. Manuka Oval was designed as a village oval to complement the surrounding landscape and buildings in keeping with W. B. Griffin's plan of "A Vision Splendid".

Sports stadiums do not belong in the middle of old suburbia. The towers stand like six steel monuments to the greedy regime of property development, symbolically dwarfing the two church towers. As for the proposed crass development of stadium, units, hotel and car parks, can it!

Frances Dowling, Narrabundah

Perception, as is often said, is everything. However, as someone who is neither friend nor associate of Justice Brian Martin but one who has known him professionally and, unexpectedly, as a witness, his ethical falling on his sword for reasons associated entirely with febrile perceptions, misguided or otherwise, is to be respected, but equally to be deplored.

He would have brought to the inquiry an eminence, impartiality and independence — and, importantly, an insider's knowledge of the particular, perhaps peculiar, environment of the NT few others could. Nevertheless, I suspect that this new inquiry, with or without Martin — as with those inquiries which preceded it — will make no appreciable difference to the lamentably serial circumstances which have ignited this latest (forced) foray into the state of "indigenous affairs" in the NT, and arguably elsewhere in Australia.

A. Whiddett, Yarralumla

To encourage the use of light rail, the ACT government is swamping the Northbourne Avenue corridor with apartment complexes. They are ignoring their responsibilities and shying away from alleviating major ramifications that are occurring, especially in Forbes Street, Turner where road usage has intensified dramatically.

The Environment and Planning Directorate continues to approve developments with exits and accesses into this street. Several complaints have been lodged regarding the excessive volume of traffic causing safety risks, especially during peak hours, but there has been no attempt to remedy the dilemma of drivers having to give way to oncoming vehicles.

Blocking right of way by allowing parking on both sides of the road has led to drivers breaking the law by having to use high beam as a safety precaution. The David Street/Wattle Street/Macarthur Avenue intersection is a black spot that has caused several major accidents and with the completion of Mantra near Forbes Street this serious problem will escalate.

The onus is on the government to carry out rectifications to reduce the impact on the transportation network in this narrow, badly lit street and protect the safety of the community as a whole by thinking seriously about clamping down on development.

Cal Walters, Turner

I would like to demonstrate to Denis Robinson (Letters, August 2) that the prospects for Northbourne Avenue and the tram are dismal.

When stating that bus-ways were a more cost effective solution to the Northbourne Avenue traffic predictions, Infrastructure Australia noted: "The congestion causes delays to both cars and buses with between 12 and 15 minutes additional travel time in the morning peak compared to the middle of the day. During morning peak periods Northbourne Avenue carries approximately 3,000 vehicles per hour over three lanes with frequent traffic lights."

The population growth figures quoted by the ACT government in its business case for light rail predict an additional 35,000 residents in Gungahlin and 13,000 in North Canberra by 2031, leading to a potential doubling of AM peak traffic demand on Northbourne Avenue (6000 vehicles per hour or about 7200 persons per hour). The business case states that the light rail will carry 5193 passengers in the AM peak (two hour period) in 2031, so how will the other 9207 people travel?

If it is by other vehicles on Northbourne Avenue, that will constitute an increased demand of 800 vehicles per hour over the existing near saturated conditions. If that is the situation with light rail in 2031, what will happen in 2040? The problem is that a street level tram system cannot grow in capacity to meet big growth in demand, and the existing services just get slower.

A. Smith, Farrer

G. Papadopoulos, B. Hatch and J. McKerral (Letters, July 27) are wide of the mark in their criticisms of renewable electricity. In South Australia, both the average wholesale price and the frequency of price spikes are declining.

SA is only weakly connected to the eastern states with long power lines of relatively low capacity. The recent short price spike there was directly caused by an outage of the interconnector to Victoria.

SA will soon obtain half of its electricity from local wind and photovoltaics, and this diversification of its power supply explains the improvement in its electricity system.

In hindsight the decision of the ACT government to source 100 per cent of its electricity from wind and PV is inspired.

The price of gas is rising due to a shortage caused by massive exports to Asia from Queensland's new LNG terminals. In response the wholesale price of electricity is also rising, to a level similar to the unsubsidised price that the ACT government is contracting from new wind and PV farms. This means that we are obtaining carbon-free electricity at approximately zero additional cost compared with electricity from coal and gas, and we have additionally eliminated the risk of future price rises from carbon pricing. The ACT has the lowest retail electricity price of any state, and this is very likely to continue.

The low and falling cost of PV and wind means that they now comprise half of new generation capacity installed worldwide each year, and virtually all new generation capacity installed in Australia.

Professor Andrew Blakers, Australian Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics, ANU

Negative gearing never became a big issue during the recent elections as Labor's measures to combat this tax-avoidance pathway, by confining it to new homes, was limited by a "grandfather" clause.

The clause allowed the continuation of arranged losses by investors on residential properties to offset the tax on their income derived from other, more profitable sources.

Negative gearing is dividing the nation. Billions of dollars are lost to the government, annually, by this crude tax-avoidance measure, First home buyers are outbid at auctions by investors encouraged by conservative governments to buy established homes for rental purposes , This enables governments to reduce public housing stock, adding to the long waiting time for potential tenants , many of whom cannot afford the rent sought in the rental market.

Like an episode from past class-divided societies, wealth inheritance of property is growing rapidly, encouraged by governments pandering to a voter base of privileged tax avoiders.

We must not let the Australia dream of home ownership be destroyed.

Keith McEwan, Bonython

The Canberra Times wants to hear from you in short bursts. Email views in 50 words or fewer to letters.editor@canberratimes.com.au

HYPOCRISY ON RUDD

The blatant hypocrisy of (some) federal ALP parliamentarians condemning the government for not supporting Kevin Rudd for the UN Secretary-General's position is breathtaking.

Graeme Rankin, Holder

SPEAKING CHINESE

One cannot but think that Malcolm Turnbull has not supported Kevin Rudd's nomination for the UN's Secretary job because Kevin speaks Chinese.

John Rodriguez, Florey

EARN YOUR PAY

Could someone tell me what Brendan Smyth will be doing to earn $300,000 a year?

Deidre Woodger, Weston

CHRISTIAN LOVE

Christians will seek to love and accept all people. To celebrate and advocate for gender diversity however, is at odds with the greatest commandment for the Christian, which is to love God, and seek to find an identity in Jesus, rather than in a gender or sexual expression.

Arthur Connor, Weston

TEACHINGS OF ISLAM

The atrocities being conducted in the name of Islam and Jihad have no link with the real teachings of Islam. I am surprised how so-called Islamic State terrorists can justify their actions of brutality against innocent people and children.

Usman Mahmood, South Bowenfels, NSW

PROBLEM AT SOURCE

Have any of those having apoplectic fits over the Four Corners story ever worked in a detention or correctional centre? Instead of passing judgment on those who have to deal with the end product, more attention should be given to addressing the problem at its source.

Owen Reid, Dunlop

REFUGEE SHAME

I hope that the badly-needed NT royal commission will be followed by an equally needed one into the refugee detention system that so shames Australia.

John Dargavel, Florey

PUBLIC CONCERN

Pity that Dyson Heydon did not show the same sensitivities to public concern about perceived bias as Bryan Martin obviously has.

Ian De Landelles, Murrays Beach, NSW

SIGNS OF SPRING

Recently, I was swooped by the first magpie of spring. What's next? Blowflies in August?

Philip Winkworth, Campbell

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