Judy Whitlam, Scarborough

Long ago, in 1957, I bought my first Motor Bike for 35 pound, an ex Army BSA. still painted in camouflage. I was 17 at the time.

I used to ride some Sundays to Hyde Park in Sydney just to listen to the soap box speakers that were always there.

The topics were mainly Anti War, Politics and religion.

A lot of the speakers views were very extreme, and there were always some hecklers. The Speakers corner was originated in 1872, and it was all the do about free speech.

These days I read with pleasure the opinion section in the Mercury, and occasional contribute to it.

What should not happen in this free speech opinion section are letters that are abusive, and words like Malicious, illiterate and immature  should be avoided.(Mercury 14/4)

You can think that some  radical and extreme letters are written by a Fruit loop, but don’t mention  it in your letters.

We can voice opinions all day long, without being nasty.

John Pronk, Wollongong

Local governments are taking action on global warming.

Instead of building prisons on vacant land they are building solar energy plants. It is at the local level that a culture is determined.

Replacing dirty coal by clean renewable energy involves the community who support the urgent need to save the world for future generations. Action from below trumps inaction from above.

The economic advantage is it employs unused space to install solar panels. The house roof tops and high rise buildings become the new energy source. A council plan is needed.

Community involvement is needed to shape a future that the new technology is rapidly changing.  

Reg Wilding, Wollongong

Let's see if I've got this right.

We've been told the new cricket broadcast deal will provide better coverage of the game.

No one day international game will be shown on free to air TV,nor will any T20 internationals and there will be 16 BBL games shown only on Pay TV.

This equates to the same raw deal given to followers of the Supercars series, few live free to air races.

If this is a better deal, then as that old saying goes, I'm a monkey's uncle.     

Keith Norris, Bellambi

I must be getting cynical in my old age. I have come to understand that if the Government announces something out of the blue such as a new jail for Kembla Grange, especially as a surprise to all stakeholders, they must have a hidden agenda.

The answer appears to be in the report from Paul Scully, reported in Mercury, 13 April, in which he said “Transport for NSW has said there would be no stockpile and the spoil would only be sent down to Port Kembla if there was a development that would use it”.

So the Kembla Grange site seems to be that “development” as the land is flood prone and the spoil would be used to raise the ground above flood level.

As for a site for a jail in the Illawarra, both Shellharbour and Kiama would have more suitable sites, especially around Dunmore, than Kembla Grange which is a designated industrial site for future growth of the Illawarra and especially the growth in West Dapto.

Ian Young, East Corrimal