IS BURT (the Braddon United Retailers and Traders) really serious about making the roundabouts in Braddon “celebrated icons” of adversity, challenges and triumphs (“Seven Days”, CN November 22)?

It was bad enough that the Chief Minister spent a fortune of public money on rainbowing the other roundabout to promote the “Yes” vote for gay marriage without any consultation with the public and no democracy for the “No” voters, but now BURT wants more public money spent decorating the rest.

Please BURT if you want to do something so nonsensical, pay for it yourselves and stop giving Barr silly ideas, he has enough of them without your help.

Given, as you say, the rainbow roundabout is “the butt of jokes of the rest of the country” then how can you believe more of the same will receive a better response? Wouldn’t it be better to simply delete the rainbow roundabout and cease being seen to be so stupid?

Vi Evans, via email

Praise for park memorial

RECENTLY I “discovered“ the SIEVX memorial dedicated to those who lost their lives attempting to arrive in Australia. I was competing in the Australian Disc Golf Competition at Weston Park.

After my round I went back, wandered around the bollards and pondered. The two stories; the memorial and the tragedy, deserve more recognition. Well done the people of Canberra. SIEVX is now etched in my mind as it will be in all park users, walkers, bikers, picnic goers, nature lovers and now the frisbee golf community.

Terry Bohan, Geelong, Victoria

Listen to the scientists

MATTHEW Cossey’s response (CN, November 15) to a letter by Cedric Bryant cannot go unchallenged as it paints a rosy picture about the chemical glyphosate.

There is a significant body of evidence that suggests there are significant questions regarding the impact of glyphosate on human health. There is an enormous amount of credible literature on concerns regarding glyphosate.

NZ scientists suggested that there is “sufficient evidence” of carcinogenicity in experimental animals. The Netherlands has banned non-commercial use of glyphosate. The fact that there is a growing body of scientific evidence regarding glyphosate should be of concern to us all. Chronic kidney disease in several countries has been linked to glyphosate, hard water and nephrotoxic metals.

We live in a world where scientific evidence is given scant respect and even called “crap”. It is time to listen to scientists and make decisions based on good scientific evidence.

To say that glyphosate is a safe chemical is bending the facts a long way.

Asoka Wijeratne, via email

Traffic misery of the inner north

“GRUMPY” reader Nasis Ellis (“Manuka’s becoming a no-go zone”, CN, November 29) is spot on about the traffic and parking burdens being imposed on suburban streets and their existing residents, as the ACT government and developers place yet more large blocks of high-rise, multi-unit buildings on sites that back on to streets designed in the 1950s-60s for traffic belonging to mainly single-level dwellings.

The deleterious future impacts on all inhabitants along these streets seem to be waved aside, if not ignored.

For example, in Dickson a major high-rise residential complex facing Northbourne Avenue will force all vehicles from its massive underground carpark to use a house-lined street at its rear for entering and leaving the complex.

This cunning “solution” that prevents use of Northbourne, so assisting traffic flow there, is expected to be replicated for other major complexes planned for the edges of the inner-north suburbs that abut the Northbourne/City Gateway boulevard precinct.

Locals recognise that, despite the light rail’s existence, they and many new residents in close proximity to it will still need to use private transport often, to travel more conveniently to particular far-off or multiple destinations throughout the day or night.

Already residents are having to express their concerns formally about high volumes of such backstreet traffic creating new “rat runs” along similarly older-style suburban streets in adjacent suburbs, all the way to Civic, as drivers avoid doubling back towards an intersection on Northbourne to join the congested, six-lane traffic fray there.

Such a traffic management approach is an easy “win-win” for the developers and ACT government, at least until the next election, but not for residents and the character and physical amenity of their surroundings.

Sue Dyer, Downer

Drive the money train

THE Federal Government still doesn’t seem to understand that voters aren’t really interested in slowing growth of government expenditure and getting the Budget back into balance and keeping it there.

These are opaque subjects not easily politically digested by the average Aussie. The Libs must get on the money train and take it around Australia. If things don’t change Labor will be driving the train when it reaches the terminus next May.

Colliss Parrett, Barton