COLUMNIST Paul Costigan (“Bishop moves to checkmate his neighbours”, CN, August 30) will need to wave a magic wand if he expects the Anglican bishop to take his media advice and talk directly to his neighbours rather than through a planning consultant.

The fact is, there has been no Anglican bishop in Canberra-Goulburn since May and there won’t be one until next year. The assistant bishop has also moved to Bendigo to become the Bishop of Bendigo.

Soon-to-retire assistant bishop Trevor Edwards is a very caring man who has been doing a magnificent job as acting bishop in the face of a heavier workload. However, he is not Superman and must delegate as much as possible to the most qualified people which, in the case of the retirement village, is the planning consultant.

I agree that the choice of two-storey townhouses is not wise. As the retirees age many will no longer be able to handle stairs and will be forced to move into assisted living accommodation earlier than if they were living in a single-storey townhouse.

Rewa Bate, Coombs

Where’s the vision thing?

THERE must be many long-term residents of Canberra who agree with Vi Evans (Letters, CN, August 30) and her call to be rid of the Barr government after their disastrous sell out to the developers.

What, if any, is the government’s so-called vision for Canberra? The inner city is a mess with a cacophony of high-rise, cheap, cement block flats that would be happy in any eastern-block country. The lack of character, architectural eye-pleasing design, not to mention overcrowding, is clearly evident in Barr’s lacklustre and ruinous “development” of the bush capital. Time for a change in government for the ACT.

Gabriele Tonkin, via email