NOT MAKING SENSE
Wollongong City Council in its submissions to the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal claimed that the infrastructure costs associated with the development of West Dapto amounted to approximately 68,000.00 per residential site.
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This compared to the Section 94 contributions recovered by the council of $30,000.00 per site.
According to the council's submission, the council was suffering a loss of about $38,000.00 for every residential site released. To date, the council has allowed the release of about 1,000 residential sites.
According to the council’s submission, the council is sitting on an unfunded liability/loss of $38m. Does the council include the liability in its financial records?
In 2016, the Council voted in favour of releasing some additional land at Darkes Forrest. The business case for releasing the land was that it involved no additional cost to Council.
How can this be reconciled with Council's claim that it is losing $38,000.00 for every residential site released. To quote our Minister for Finance: "Wibble Wobble, Wibble Wobble, jelly on the plate".
John Bisley, Wollongong
MAKING A PASS
In the March 14 Illawarra Mercury, I would like to make comment on Macquarie Pass made by Brad, Adam, Robyn and Chris.
Firstly as a Bus Driver I have had to use Macquarie Pass in 24 seater buses and 50–60 seater buses. The worst offending traffic is motorcycles.
I have been on the pass and motorcycles have overtaken me over double lines and around blind corners then when hit they feel they have done nothing wrong it is us to blame.
Buses and most truck drivers are professional and do the right thing, same as most “P” Plate Drivers do the right thing but a minority bring discredit to the others.
It is no motorist fault that we have a substandard Pass. All of us and our employers pay very high rates to the State Government for good roads. So put the blame where it belongs. A few years ago a good friend of mine Colin Hollis MHR tried his best for an alternate road up to the highlands.
Chris makes comments about reading the road rules to keep updated but the rules have a lot of holes in them. I took a bus to Sydney on a charter a few years ago, dropping my passengers off then needing a toilet stop I pulled into a Sydney back street bus stop, my bus had metropolitan number plates.
Went to the toilet when I came back I had a parking ticket. I studied my book from the RTA and no mention of this. I wrote to the Infringement Department only to find I had breached a 1939 act. I could not obtain these rules from the RTA only a Government Printing Office. It went to Court and was squashed.
Finally Robyn mentions a maximum of 90km/h. She is wrong, heavy vehicles can travel at 100 km/h provided they have speed limiters.
Richard Cannan, Warilla
THE WRONG PITCH
The recent test match series in India was good to watch with dominant home side advantage like we have seen in the past.
Since pitch monitoring become a formal thing since 2006, seven pitches have been reported as unfit or worse. Five of them were in India.
Pitch preparation in India is a very sinister business. Curators, if you call them that, can do what they like.
Yes I do understand that all pitches are judged solely on how they play between bat and ball, but having spinners open the bowling in a test match and not having seamers bowl at all, that to me is not a test match as far as I am concerned.
The pitches in India and all of Asia are far from being model pitches they are not and will never be test match standard pitches .
Matty Ryan, Fairy Meadow
