DEAR News Of The Area,

CONGRATULATIONS to Bruce Fidge (NOTA letters 10/2) for his informed insider’s account of the decades long struggle to save the harbour foreshores from extensive urban development.

It was recognised by government forty years ago that substantial development east of the railway line was not feasible without an overpass replacing the railway level crossing to cope with increased traffic.

The present State Government and its local agent Gurmesh Singh now dismiss this concern out of hand in their determination to urbanise that precious parcel of railway land to the maximum regardless of any and all negative impacts on the city.

Apparently the prospect of the entire Jetty area becoming a traffic tangled nightmare no longer troubles our elected representative in his eagerness to implement this Government’s Sydney-hatched grand planning strategy.

Bruce points out that the government has been putting up these development proposals for forty years in the face of entrenched community and Council opposition.

The only difference this time round is that they think the use of industrial grade spin, hype and cunningly engineered polling can convince us that this is what we really want.

Let’s hope that the only poll that really matters proves them wrong yet again.

Regards,
Frank SCAHILL,
Coffs Habour.