Community needs a say in what goes on | Letters to the editor

This group was called the King George Avenue Heritage Working Group.

The councillors supporting this action spoke proudly of the efficiency that would be achieved through this disbandment.

This working group was originally called an action group, because of what they had achieved for the Avenue starting in 2010, when a developer wanted to knock down a lot of the oak trees so he had a nice wide driveway to his new subdivision.

This action group immediately organised 17,000 signatures, a community hall meeting of hundreds of people, an avenue rally, letters of support from prominent politicians, The National Trust, Namoi catchment Authority, Rotary, RSL, Australian Garden History Society and many others.

Then began the monster task of State Heritage Listing which absorbed all our energy for months only to be knocked back by Heritage NSW.

Not to give up the action group, started again, enriching the story of the Avenue with more history and personally sitting with the Minister.

The Avenue was eventually Heritage listed in 2014, four years after we started.

At the same time, this action group planted 60 replacement oak trees, trimmed the remaining, provided watering and also during the 14yrs has had daily litter collection on the Avenue. which happens to this day.

Another interesting coincidence is the Working Group has a strong relationship with Heritage NSW, which is questioning the TRC preference for a road width, white concrete pathway which will damage the old oak tree roots. So TRC disbands the Working Group.

While we accept having a representative on the TRC Heritage Committee, we are reopening our original King George Ave Action Group and expanding it to allow the public to participate.

I ask my fellow citizens 'is Tamworth Regional Council's agenda of reducing community organisations acceptable or not?'

David McKinnon, Spokesperson for KGA Working Group

Our group campaigning to ban duck shooting in Victoria was delighted to see the letter by Simone Marshall, Timbumburi [NDL 8 June] noting Victoria's duck shooting season continues when so much natural grassland and natural habitat has been lost - a loss even greater in Victoria.

Birdlife must be encouraged everywhere and Victorian duck and quail shooting re-evaluated on Simone's logic which we have opportunely repeated across the length and breath of Victoria.

Malcolm Cameron, Camberwell, VIC

The Coalition's lack of ambition on reaching even a modest climate target by 2030 makes no sense. It takes a narrow view of the economic effects of the energy transition and says nothing of what climate change is already costing us.

Economically this amounts to over $7 billion annually on recovery costs, plus many millions of dollars for disaster planning. That is not to mention the cost in human life and livelihoods. Yet a recent analysis by the International Energy Agency clearly shows that the shift to renewables will ease the cost of living, not exacerbate it.

Dutton's stance in the face of increasing climate disasters is negative and defeatist.

Anne O'Hara, Wanniassa

The Coalition leader seems to be basing his extremely surprising new plans to deal with human induced climate change at least partly on his well heralded belief that the Labor party cannot meet their 43 percent greenhouse gas emissions reduction target by 2030.

Labor climate Minister Chris Bowen is making it very clear that Australia will meet its targeted reduction by 2030.

Surely it would be timely now for the Labor Party ,in an effort to introduce some confidence and balance into this topsy-turvy situation, to produce facts and figures supporting their expressed confidence that the 2030 target, is and will be, achievable.

Brian Measday, Kingswood, SA