THE Belmont Desalination Plant, first mooted in 2017, was approved in 2021 ("A water crisis waiting to happen", Newcastle Herald 25/10). According to the latest edition of the magazine Bioscience, 2023 is predicted to be the earth's hottest year in 100,000 years.
You would expect that with increased temperature, warmer sea surfaces would evaporate more water and we would experience more rain. Maybe overall. But not in this neck of the woods according to climate modelling. Apparently we will get less rainfall.
If the Belmont desal plant starts, I'd expect it will produce expensive water. Hunter Water will require a decent return on its $87 million investment. If this is the case, it might be time to invest in new or larger household water tanks and systems to use grey water on lawns and gardens. We may all go back to the future.
Geoff Black, Caves Beach
'Invisible losses' are adding up
AS a retired special steel metallurgist with 52 years of experience, I noted the unintended irony in a recent article ("PM's push to 'forge ahead' with AUKUS", Newcastle Herald 23/10). With the impending closure of steelmaking at Comsteel/Molycop, who in Australia will make the special submarine-quality steel used to make the hundreds of forged parts in a submarine? BlueScope can make the plate steel for the hull, but they don't make ingots that can be forged into hundreds of intricate shapes.
Comsteel made the special steel for forgings used in the Collins Class subs and had already proven capability to make the steel required for the abandoned French submarine project. These are very complex alloy steel grades with stringent metallurgical requirements.
This is one of the many "invisible losses" with a significant knock on effect that occur when sovereign capability is shut down and Australian jobs are exported.
So where will the thousands of submarine forgings worth millions of dollars come from...China? Probably not; but certainly not from Australian defence-capable businesses.
Glenn Sullivan, New Lambton
'Perfect storm' past Supercars
I MUST commend Neil Slater's letter as it was succinct and without the hysteria. His view was more matter-of-fact than I have read from other business owners. So much has been made of the loss of business during the race but I think the effects of the tram development, the COVID epidemic along with the strategy of development being controlled outside of Newcastle provided a perfect storm that residents have attributed solely to Supercars. Would I be correct in saying that the businesses that now choose to locate in the East End do so because of lower rent in the many vacant buildings or because their clientele comes from the nearby residents?
Surely there could have been other ways to compensate both the residents and business for the interruption, such as City of Newcastle offering lower or no rates fees for that time.
The many complaints from the people of the inner city have seemingly come from the eyes of those that feel very entitled.
As I've stated, I do certainly understand the opposition to the race but it seems that once again the squeaky gate gets oiled.
If you took the time to watch the coverage of the race and to hear the commentary about Newcastle, one could not be more impressed. Yes, it was great publicity for our beautiful town and the broader Hunter Valley, but unfortunately this cannot be easily quantified for those that seem to think that is the only valid measurement.
For those that advocated having the race elsewhere, you have shown a lack of understanding why Newcastle was so well liked by the racing fraternity; precisely because it was a street race, not a circuit race. The race is so much like the Gold Coast race, the Adelaide race, the Melbourne race and the hybrid of Townsville. And lets not forget Monaco. Gone forever, maybe?
Please remember, you residents do live on a peninsula and access at any time is difficult to coordinate, control and develop.
Sue Perkins, Adamstown Heights
Race started to grate, even for fans
IN reply to Robert Dillon ("See ya, Supercars ... or hopefully not", Herald 21/10) and as a fan of motorsport and an attendee of three Newcastle Supercars races, I totally agree with the three issues Robert had with the race. From the very first race I believe it was obvious that the closed race precinct was a Supercars money grab at the expense of Newcastle, not just in monetary terms.
I enjoyed the experience, especially as the first race was exciting (my team won). However by the time of race three, to cut off the east end in our warm months showed an absolute disregard for the people and businesses of Newcastle.
I thought Mr Dillon was way off earlier this year with his criticism of the art gallery upgrade over sports ground improvements. But, yes, Newcastle should never have spent money on Supercars over these much-needed improvements. You don't need a beach in the background to make a good race track, and it wasn't a good track anyway. The hairpin corner was too tight for the drivers to take on the challenge, so no real drama eventuated. The Hunter Valley would make a great location for the race in the future, not the city.
Walo Buhlmann, Garden Suburb
Why did our councils weigh in on Voice?
IN defence of the Lake Macquarie City Council's support for the Voice campaign, mayor Kay Fraser stated that for her "it was doing what I thought was right, what I thought was right for the nation, what I thought was right for First Nations people". Well, Cr Fraser, I and I am sure many others do not care what you thought was right and it is not right to spend taxpayers money on your righteous thinking. I do not remember seeing a survey seeking community endorsement for council's support of the Voice. Stick to rates, roads and rubbish.
John Cooper, Charlestown
How high 'yes' support dwindled
HERE is something for the 'no' campaign to ponder. When the referendum was announced, 'yes' support was above 70 per cent. It was only after the Liberal Party decided not to support the 'yes' vote that things changed. The doomsayers emerged with all their crap about what may happen. Some predictions were so bizarre I will not mention them, yet the Liberal Party did nothing to discredit these claims and only threw fuel on the flames to support these lunatics. The very sad part of this saga was that intelligent people believed the lies.
Darryl Tuckwell, Eleebana
Forget vote, there's lots to do
IN my opinion it seems like some people only want to hear some Indigenous voices. John Arnold recently asked why the people Ms Jacinta Nampijimpa Price represents voted 'yes' to the Voice. It's simple: being desperate and clutching at straws, they bought the hype that the Voice would magically solve all their problems. If you genuinely care about those who need help, you'd get behind Ms Price's call for an audit into why the money meant to be help her people isn't reaching remote communities, and a royal commission into child abuse.
Dave McTaggart, Edgeworth
Referendum would have helped
THE irony is astounding. Now that the Voice is dead, John Cooper ("Aftermath of vote should end tokenism", Letters, 24/10), demands real action in remote disadvantaged Indigenous communities, not tokenism. We just had a referendum which if successful would have given those communities, those that actually live the problems he expresses and with an accurate knowledge of what might work for them in a cost effective way, a direct say in government policy. He just voted to prevent that.
