Letters to the editor

The argument seems to be that because the public uses the public parks and the occasional dingy goes up their canal the council should keep supporting them. I take supporting them to mean that once the monies collected by the special levy each year are spent, the council, that is, other ratepayers are liable to pick up the rest of the bill. In effect the council is taking on unlimited liability.

This would be akin to your retaining wall collapsing onto the public footpath and you pay some of the costs and and the other ratepayers of Redlands pick up the balance. Your argument would be that as some members of the public walk on the public footpath the council should help pay in the fixing of the wall. Try that with the council and see how far you get.

I thought that maybe we could look to the Gold Coast council, home of the canal, to see how they deal with the problem of maintenance of canal walls. They state that waterfront living offers many benefits for those who own waterfront property. With the benefits comes responsibilities and waterfront land owners have full responsibility for the upkeep of revetment walls that benefit their property.  

What a novel idea. Problem solved.

- G. Hay, Thorneside

I HAVE no alternative but to respond to the fiction written by a person under the name of G. Cowan (RCB, May 23). This person certainly has an axe to grind with Raby Bay or is it just jealously?

To state that the land purchasers should have been aware of possible problems with the canal walls is nothing less than ridiculous. Raby Bay was presented in glossy style as a unique high class and expensive development. No one less than an engineer would have considered or suspected any potential canal wall problems. Obviously if they had concerns they would not have purchased the property.

I have always questioned what incentive there was for the council to approve sub-standard construction and then allow the developer to quickly vacate supposedly leaving little in a fund for compensation. The engineers employed by the developer and council would have to have been totally incompetent. However the ultimate approval was that of the council and as such they have to accept responsibility. I have little doubt the appropriate court would agree.

We have been charged excessive rates and levies over many years. The rates calculation on artificially inflated figures caused by limited supply on the market. I would have little doubt some people have been forced to sell up as they cannot afford the excessive charges. Personally as a self-funded retiree I have better things to spend it on.

Raby Bay is no doubt highly beneficial to the council and the general area. We have been excessively overcharged over a long period and it is about time council accepted some responsibility for their initial errors resulting in the current problems and cost.

- J. French, Cleveland

I AM absolutely disgusted with the federal government. They come out telling us all about the wonderful things they are going to do for the country with millions of dollars being wasted, especially the $48 million on a statue and at the same time forgetting about our hospitals, schools, aged and the homeless.

I am fortunate I have a home of my own but now this is becoming harder. Like every widow or widower I recently fronted up to Centerlink to sort out my affairs, only to be told that my weekly pension income has gone from $674.20 to $393.05, that is $281.15 less per week. What they don’t seem to understand is that the only thing that changes is the weekly grocery bill. The rates, house insurance and upkeep, car insurance and upkeep with the disgusting price of petrol, power and telephone keep on going up and our pension keeps on going down.

They really do live in a world of their own and have absolutely no idea of what or how their decisions affect the people of the country. Wouldn’t it be lovely to have a government who is really in touch with the people?

 - B. Geary, Birkdale

THE Queensland State Emergency Service or SES would need to handle an emergency evacuation from Rocky Road boat ramp, not the local council. Why is it a council problem? If the SES need a ramp SES should ask for it. 

- R. Pendry, Cleveland

SO THE recent budget has been set. Everybody gets less again really but they can apparently spend over $40 million plus on a statue of Captain Cook just because he was a white pom who apparently found Australia. Australia wasn't lost in the first place like it is now. Please spare me.

- K. Geary, Thornlands

THE cost of water to ratepayers is set to increase. As a pensioner living alone in a townhouse, I live with as little waste as possible, and that includes the water I use. Although every unit has its own water metre, as is the case in most complexes, only the boundary metre is read and the charge divided equally, regardless of how many people live in each unit. Is this fair?

- M. Dakin, Cleveland

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