Like Jon Stanhope, Victorian Premier John Brumby accepts no responsibility or accountability, either for himself or his fire chiefs, for faults revealed in the handling of the Black Saturday fires, particularly in relation to warnings and communications.

History is bound to repeat itself as it did after Ash Wednesday.

A state of denial by our politicians and senior bureaucrats means that we are little safer than we were in 2003, hard lessons are yet to be learned and appropriate measures still to be introduced in their totality.

I, for one, have little faith in our leaders' ability to handle the next big fire and will not be relying upon them to keep my neighbourhood safe from harm, to issue early and accurate warnings or to accept the assistance offered by other states, authorities and local brigades in an emergency.

Ric Hingee, Duffy

Lost heritage

In regard to the ACT Heritage Council's refusal of heritage status for the Kingston Old Bus Depot, The Canberra Times (''Market makeover: moves to demolish bus depot'', August 18, p1) reports the Government has explicitly suggested there be builder or developer experience on the council and Jon Stanhope said he was comfortable with the make-up of the nine-person Heritage Council, which includes developer Josip Zivko.

I wonder what made the Government comfortable with Zivko's inclusion?

Perhaps his heritage credentials regarding the attempted eviction of the Symonston caravan park tenants?

Whatever. As a geologist, I can recognise what makes for a goldmine and what constitutes a shaft.

Chris Klootwijk, Macarthur

In the article ''Market makeover: moves to demolish bus depot'' (August 17, p1) it is mentioned the bus depot is not heritage listed, and I am guessing it won't be now as it is worth too much money to the developers. There are many factors to consider with this proposal including further encroachment to the lake and allowing development to destroy our lake foreshore.