The Illawarra Mercury (January 12, 2016) shows the street almost deserted whilst achieve photos from 1985 (prior to the mall) show the number of people on one side of the street, far exceeds the total number of people in the mall today.

Also gone is the night time culture and parades.

The demise of businesses at the eastern end of the Mall should not come as a surprise to WCC staff.

It is reported the Chamber of Commerce and GPT recommended Crown Street be opened to traffic and to develop an evening culture to revitalise the shopping in the street.

Further a world-recognised urban planner invited by WCC, just after the current council was elected to address a public forum on the future of the direction of the city, was asked his opinion on the crown street mall.

The planner responded the mall needs to be returned to a road. 

With support for the mall to be opened to traffic by key stakeholders and an expert urban planner, why was that option not put to the people?

​Ian Young, East Corrimal

In an enthusiastic speech delivered on the final sitting day of parliament by Prime Minister Turnbull, regarding the national output for the September quarter, he revealed that GDP had improved by 0.9 percent driven by improved export figures.

He failed to inform members that the real disposable income, which is a broader measure of change in well-being fell by one percent for the 12 months which means that Australians are worse off (on average) than they were 12 months ago.

In fact, real net national disposable income per capita has declined for the last six successive quarters.

This suggests that Australia is caught up in a ``national income recession’’.

Regarding personalities of party leaders, it is an unfortunate fact that many Australians are obsessed with reality television shows and treat politics as a game.

Don Kelly, Kanahooka

Recent media revelations the NSW Government is spending $2 million recruiting executives is just another chapter in the long list of atrocities being perpetrated on our once effective TAFE system by the Baird government.

TAFE has for a number of years been sacking teaching staff and hiring marketing people and advertising consultants to allow them to “compete” in the brave new “vocational market”.  

Noticed the increase in costly mainstream media advertisements for vocational training for both TAFE and private providers?  

This is taxpayers’ money being wasted on high-priced marketing that could be better spent actually providing an education to the young (and not so young) people of our state.

Tony Heathwood, Kiama Downs

What the average person fails to recognise is ABC journalists are public servants – celebrities in their own right and most likely unionists.

Today there’s no transparency in conservative politics, even prime ministers will say one thing and do the opposite.  

Unrestrained by corporate policy, ABC journalists will seek the truth and in doing so uncover, much to the chagrin, of the government and conservative voters the electoral deception, and lop-sided financial favours meted out to the wealthy and big end of town.

The problem here is not the ABC journalists – the problem is the government.

John Macleod, Berry