We were in daily contact with her through Skype, a very efficient (and free) service.

Perhaps our tech savvy prime minister could acquaint his ministers with its use so that there is no need for face-to-face meetings, thus eliminating unnecessary and distracting travel expenses?

William Bielefeldt, Kembla Grange

Thank you Mr Turnbull, thank you Ms Ley, thank you Ms Bishop and thank you Mr Hunt, collectively you have “killed” off any reasonable hope we had for a second term in government.

Ley, Bishop and Hunt have been dining out on previous taxpayer funds while a reclusive Mr Turnbull has gone into the foetal position hoping the ubiquitous three's travel rorts will go away.

D J Preece, Balgownie

Skydive the Beach is one of Wollongong’s success stories.

Although many assumed that “Green” stands for the environment, the fact is that “Green” is the colour of envy.

The Greenies are against all businesses as a matter of principle.

They are envious of people who work hard to make money and they criticise by saying “why should that business be allowed to use a public park?”.

The answers include that council charges the business fees to use the park which benefits the whole community and Illawarra tourism benefits from Skydive which helps our local economy.

It is a great sight to see the colourful parachutes landing at Stuart Park.

It is fantastic that this successful business is based in Wollongong.

Mrs Lyn Read, Figtree

The Illawarra Mercury article of December 22, has a director of Skydive complaining that the people of Wollongong are somehow in opposition to them, and the latest article (January 13) portrays recent action as aiming to frustrate their company.

I attended the IHAP meeting of December 20 and I can state that this most assuredly is not the case.

There is no opposition to the company, the opposition is to their desire, as a private for profit enterprise, to build and have exclusive use of public land, land that belongs to, and should be able to be freely used by the whole of the Wollongong community.

Currently, a large area of the park, known as the village green, is off limits to the public when this business is operating.

Stuart Park is the only park in the North Wollongong locale and is popular with tourists and locals.

There is large growth in the population of North Wollongong due to increased building development, and there is no land available for other green space in this dense urban area.  

Statistics presented to the meeting showed that for each skydiver landing in Stuart Park, the company returns 40 cents to Wollongong ratepayers, despite paying St Kilda Council, where they also operate, $27 for each jumper landing.

During the IHAP meeting, several options for Skydive to use alternative locations were presented by respondents, including Dalton Park where they also already operate, clearly indicating that the goal is to find a mutually beneficial solution for all parties.

The emotive arguments around whether Wollongong support this business are a distraction from the issue at hand. Once given, the land cannot be returned, and a precedent is set for generations to come.

Jackie Brizga, Wollongong