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Canberra Today 25°/28° | Friday, March 29, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Letters / Where are the Libs on standing up for planning?

IN a column published on citynews.com.au (“Labor’s mess, but where do the Libs stand on planning?”), Paul Costigan listed some of the urban planning and development matters that continue to cause community concern, unrest and disappointment across Canberra.

quillHe invites our ACT Liberal MLAs and Liberal candidates for the ACT October 2020 election to provide considered responses on them.

While he acknowledges that preparation of the Liberals’ positions on such matters may take some time, the current Liberal MLAs should be more than aware by now of what he has highlighted and have the ability to indicate, in the near future at least, what they will commit to doing throughout this year and next to help address “Labor’s mess” at the parliamentary and community levels.

Committing to getting up to speed on the contents of ACT Planning Strategy and the City and Gateway Urban Design Framework and their ongoing implementation would not go astray either, given the ways in which the ACT government seems to be focusing on parts of these two key documents quite selectively, in order to drive particular development and renewal projects across Canberra, with far less regard to meeting associated locational and environmental needs as identified in those planning documents.

Our city’s image, liveability, sustainability and future well-being deserve more attention and public discourse from the ACT opposition.

Sue Dyer, Downer

Legalised, but drug emergencies rise

IRRESPECTIVE of columnist Michael Moore having had his pound of religious flesh from Guilia Jones, MLA, shadow police minister (Clerical power finally comes a cropper”, CN, March 28), I know he wants to help protect Canberrans, especially our kids, from drug dangers.

So, I would ask him to let the community know of the following: A study released on March 26 in the “Annals of Internal Medicine” has found that the rise in marijuana use in Colorado since the state legalised the drug has led to increased emergency room visits.

The study found that 9973 marijuana-related emergency room visits occurred from 2012-2016, more than triple the number that occurred prior to legalisation. Additionally, the study found that 10.7 per cent of visits at University of Colorado Health were due to the ingestion of high-potency marijuana edibles. Dr. Kevin Sabet, former senior drug policy adviser to the Obama administration said: “Evidence continues to build the case that marijuana legalisation results in harmful impacts on public health and safety”.

Colliss Parrett, Barton

Double standards fade slowly

INTERESTING article on Anthony Pesec, who seems to understand the ACT residents’ frustration with the main political parties (“Time to plug in some energy policy, says aspiring senator”, CN March 28).

However, the article doesn’t tell us anything about his marital status. Yes, not that important. But, I mention it because had it been a woman standing as a Senate candidate her being “mother of three” or whatever would no doubt have headed the piece.

Double standards take a long time to die.

Vivian Munoz, Holt

Thank you, Weston Creek

SHOPPERS at Weston Creek’s Cooleman Court generously donated just shy of $4000 to a Christchurch tragedy appeal conducted by members of the Rotary Club of Canberra Weston Creek.

The Rotarians’ bucket collection, from 9am to 3pm, outside the centre’s three major entrances was well received by the public.
All proceeds will be used by Rotary in Christchurch in support of and in consultation with the local Muslim community.
On hearing of the Weston Creek appeal, a Christchurch Rotarian responded: “Wow, that is amazing… What a wonderful gesture on behalf of your club and on behalf of your community. Thank you so much from everyone in NZ.”

Catherine Ross, president

Building over playing fields

PLANNING Minister Mr Mick Gentleman plans to bend over to a developer around Kippax Fair who is going to tear up and build on some of the greenest, smoothest playing fields in the ACT and replace them with totally inadequate and under-facilitated ovals in the area that have less than half the capacity of the grounds to be destroyed.

And there’s the great effort of scaling the car park back to five storeys from the six-storey apartment development, good job.

Michael Attwell, Dunlop

Coming clean on Rabbie’s gal

I HAVE just read the letter about the cleaning of the statue of Bellona at the War Memorial (“First lady gets a wax and polish”, CN, March 21).

I well remember the lady in front of the Albert Hall and its contemporary, the statue of Robert Burns in National Circuit.

My mother told me that going past in the bus one day, aged about 5, I said: “Look Mummy, there’s Robbie Burns’ lady”. I think they must have been the only two statues that I knew of many years ago.

Joan Pratt, Mawson

 

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