The peace in Bonython, due to the Project Wing drones not having operated for a few days, is palpable. It is a tonic for the spirit.

We are truly grateful for it. We hope the Barr ACT government reflects on its willingness to cause such grief to its Bonython constituents over the past several months.

Neighbours who are friends have been yelling at each other because of conflict over the drones, or are now not talking to each other.

People (remember this includes vulnerable people, unwell people, elderly people, children and babies) have been getting woken up from sleep in their bedrooms.

Our beautiful birds and other wildlife have been frightened away and we miss them.

We are reflecting on the fact that documents obtained under FOI ("Risk Management – The use of delivery drones in the ACT – Project Wing", conducted by the the ACT Insurance Authority) reveal that the Barr government identified all the potential serious negative impacts of the Project Wing Bonython drone trial, but went ahead with it anyway.

These impacts are now well-documented and have led to the setting up of a government inquiry – actively not supported by either the Barr government or Project Wing by the way.

In fact, when these very serious issues arose as a result of the actual "trial", the Barr government deflected and abrogated responsibility for addressing them, distanced itself from the "trial" and trivialised and even mocked the concerns of/serious impacts on the Bonython residents who have been the "subjects" of the "trial" against their will.

We are also reflecting on the fact that these documents reveal some regulatory anomalies in the Project Wing drone operations. As for goodwill in relation to the Project Wing Bonython drone delivery trial, that will take some work.

Robyn McIntyre, Bonython

Recently Shane Carmody, CEO and Director of Aviation Safety CASA, stated "we are not responsible for privacy or aviation impacts on general amenity".

Then why does the CASA reporting form include the option of reporting a drone taking photos "of me or other people", a drone being noisy, or a drone flying too near an airport – and a number of other reporting options?

If Mr Carmody is correct in saying they are not CASA repsonsibilities, then why is CASA is encouraging people to report on these matters?

The problem is – if not CASA then who?

Someone must take responsibiity and CASA is the obvious agency.

If they are regulating drone flights then they should be responsible for the whole gamut of problems and responsibilities that go with drones.

Nev Sheather, Bonython

Paul Lands (Letters, December 17) is wrong.

Kangaroos are slow breeders.

Females bear only one young a year.

Each joey takes 18 months to wean, so females will often have both an at-foot young and a pouch joey at the same time a year apart in age.

Their infant mortality rate is about 70 per cent.

Females do not breed until they are about two, males until they are about five.

Kangaroos do not breed at all unless there is green feed available.

When humans desist from artificially reducing their populations, they stabilise and remain stable, in equilibrium with their environment.

F. Seymour, Queanbeyan, NSW

Chief Minister, it appears the new proposed route for the second stage of the light rail to Woden is all too hard and costly.

Abandon this folly and move forward. The money we (ratepayers) save could be spent on additional ACT Policing resources to combat the many complaints and possible rise in criminal activity due to your proposed legislative changes in regard to individuals growing four marijuana plants in the 2019 period.

What a joke.

Nothing wrong with being progressive, but surely commonsense should prevail.

J. Bodsworth, Phillip

On Saturday afternoon the newly built part of Marketplace Gungahlin was evacuated through the emergency evacuation alarm.

The Centre was emptied out and we stood and waited and waited.

With both the police and fire brigade one block away and no response after almost 30 minutes I called 000.

They tried five police phone numbers with no response, they then tried the fire brigade and they said the alarm was not showing up at the station (disaster).

They did arrive within five to 10 minutes after my call.

Was this a fault? What risk management strategies are used by Marketplace for potential emergencies?

If this was a genuine emergency there may have been many dead and injured shoppers followed by a review of procedures to ensure it doesn't happen again.

Who answers to the shoppers of Gungahlin for this and any future debacles? Is this typical Canberra complacency?

B. O'Shaughnessy, Canberra

The year ended rather well. There was some progress on the climate change front.

And, we saw very little of Peter Dutton on television after his failed party coup attempt to takeover from PM Malcolm Turnbull. We have to be grateful for whatever progress we made in the old year and hope for more in the new year.

Rajend Naidu, Sydney, NSW

I'm sorry to hear illness has struck Pru Goward's family.

She has been a tireless worker for women and the community and will be missed. Definitely one of our most capable politicians.

M. Moore, Bonython

We are being pestered by multiple daily telephone calls purporting to be from Telstra with various alarming messages which we ignore.

Ringing Telstra we find that they have a scam and unwelcome calls department who have unlisted our number and blocked calls from all overseas countries except three that we nominated, but the annoying calls continue.

Each time a different Australian number appears to be the originator of the call.

Telstra say that the perpetrators can bypass the usual phone routes and there is nothing Telstra can do about it.

This is not good enough.

Surely this practice is illegal and these people can be stopped.

The annoyance is one thing, the fact that some people believe these scammers and trust them with data that leads to financial loss is outrageous.

Bea Duncan, Barton

Cameron Gordon ("Canberra rapidly showing potential to develop into our own version of Los Angeles", December 18, p18) identifies the need for the conscious adjustment of policies for Canberra to develop as a liveable city.

In this quest Canberra is fortunate to have the legacy of the Griffins' "city in the landscape" and the NCDC's planning based on detailed assessment of alternative land use arrangements.

The NCDC's legacy includes the new towns, each with a town centre with major employment and facilities; a supporting centres hierarchy; the provision of local schools and integrated pedestrian and cycle networks and the facilitation of cross-town movement by peripheral parkways and an inter-town public transport route linking the town centres.

Since the early 1990s the difficulties of dispersing employment, demographic change, greater environmental awareness and gradually changing housing preferences have been recognised and a people-to-the-jobs policy adopted to complement the jobs-to-the-people strategy.

Despite sometimes genuine efforts, Canberra has become a more congested and less affordable city.

Unfortunately the recently released Planning Strategy does not provide a sound basis for future development as it fails to analyse the merits of alternative residential and employment strategies; or housing preferences or demonstrate why the massively expensive light rail is the appropriate technology for inter-town public transport.

Unless an authentic metropolitan assessment is undertaken, Canberra will continue its descent into mediocrity and will be far from an exemplar of a liveable, financially, socially and environmentally sustainable 21st century city.

Mike Quirk, Garran

Jonathon Miller (Letters, December 17) is correct in highlighting how the impact of Australia's rapid population growth on our natural environment is ignored.

Instead the focus is on cities and their infrastructure. Our population growth has a significant ecological footprint. Cities expand, consuming green spaces, agricultural land, and wildlife habitat, to satisfy our insatiable needs and consumption.

Growth comes before all else. The proposal to raise Warragamba Dam wall for flood mitigation will enable development of downstream floodplains north-west of Sydney, allowing an additional 134,000 people to live on the Nepean flood plain. The proposal will flood the Lower Kowmung Gorge and a section of the Coxs River, part of the Kanangra-Boyd Wilderness.

Canberra's Cotter Dam has been enlarged to provide "a safe, secure and sustainable water supply" for the ACT and region, "allowing us to deal with frequent, longer and more severe droughts without having to endure high-level water restrictions for extended periods" (Icon). This is foolishly irresponsible and erroneously optimistic.

We should be conserving water and using it wisely.

Water levels in large-capacity dams drop during prolonged and severe drought. Ask the inhabitants of western NSW and central Queensland.

Resilience and innovation fade in the face of extreme water shortages.

Are we to keep growing our population based on dubious claims of ensuring future prosperity?

Who wants to live in a dying natural environment? The disappearance of the Anasazi may have been due to drought and famine.

Don't think it can't happen to us.

Judy Kelly, Aranda

I am surprised at the vigour with which various cyclists have attacked my recent suggestions that would improve the safety of cyclists and reduce road rage against them.

The fact, as Byam Wright (Letters, December 13) has stated, that the present law allows a vehicle to cross a double white line to pass a bicycle provided it is safe to do so does not help much as places with double white lines are, by definition, places where it is not safe to cross at any time, due to curves, the crest of a hill etc.

As for comments from others, most recently Warwick Brady (Letters, December 17) who don't want to ride on the sealed shoulder because of glass and other litter there, they should direct that complaint to this government, which makes a great fuss about the use of bicycles, and which should make a much more serious effort to keep them clear.

In any case, the sealed shoulders don't have smashed glass over most of their length and cyclists have no excuse for not using them unless there is rubbish on them. Being discourteous by riding in the vehicular lane and blocking the traffic when there is a sealed shoulder to ride on won't help anyway, especially the cyclists.

After all, they are the ones who will lose their lives if hit by a car.

Stan Marks, Hawker

The ACT government has flagged the possibility of reducing the speed limit on most residential streets to 40km/h, as well as increasing parking fees.

The government will have a real struggle on its hands if it wants Canberra drivers to abide by a widespread 40km/h speed limit.

It seems to be difficult enough to get drivers to abide by the existing 50 and 60km/h speed limits.

As for parking, I noted yesterday afternoon (December 18) that there were numerous tradesmen's vehicles parked on the median strip in Melbourne Avenue, unadorned by small brown envelopes.

This is the same area where 173 parking fines were recently issued to people attending a fete at the girls' grammar school.

If the government is going to play tough, it should at least be consistent.

Douglas Mackenzie, Deakin

Before the government and its supporters get even more excited, could somebody tell them a budget is just a forecast. Given federal budgets are rarely accurate we should take forecasts of a surplus in 2020 with a degree of healthy scepticism.

Phil Teece, Sunshine Bay, NSW

ANDREW WILL BE MISSED

Christina Rowe (Letters, December 20) might have said about her life partner Andrew that two of his great passions were rugby league and cricket. He refereed the first and was an accomplished cricket umpire. That explains his informative letters on both sports, especially about officials. One suspects he much preferred standing in local cricket matches than charging about a footy field. Vale.

James Mahoney, McKellar

AN HONEST WIN

Now that the Australian cricket team is winning honestly why should we bring back the three cheats?

D. Fitzgerald, Box Hill, Vic

POLITICAL POSTURING

There has been a flood of letters objecting to the Prime Minister's choice for the next governor-general. They all rely on generic objections to his earlier career and are pathetic political posturing. It would not matter to these writers who the PM chose; the attack is against the Coalition and is simply part of the ALP electioneering propaganda.

Michael Lane, St Ives, Sydney

GO FOR GILLARD

Julia Gillard for Governor-General. Absolutely? While not every decision she made as PM was good policy or sound politics, in the recent unstable era she stands head and shoulders above most of the recent incumbents, including in the way that she has conducted herself since leaving office.

Jeff Hart, Kingston

ONE VOTE LOST

Andrew Barr's comment that a Labor victory in the federal election is required to keep him in politics has just cost Labor my vote in next year's federal election.

Peter Maher, Gilmore

IT'S TIME TO GO, ANDREW

Andrew Barr says he'll stay in ACT politics if federal Labor wins in 2019. Might I suggest to Andrew that "It's Time" now to step down while on top rather than being dumped in 2020?

G. Rankin, Holder

SOUND REASONING

So Barr would stay in politics if federal Labor wins the next election. ("Barr says federal Labor win would keep him in politics", December 20, p.5). What better reason do we need to vote Liberal in the next poll.

Wal Pywell, Wanniassa

INCOMPETENCE PAYS

The greatest failing of our democracy is that any incompetent and amoral idiot can join a political party, suck up to the right people in the right way, get preselected and then elected to high office and even score a ministry. How come politics has no objective selection criteria?

Peter Sesterka, Hawker

POLITICIANS ANONYMOUS

The acting PM is Michael who? Where do they find these people?

N. Ellis, Belconnen

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