Water Should Be There For Asking
Illawarra Mercury
Saturday May 24, 2003
I'M trying to work out whether our pubs and clubs are socially irresponsible or just plain greedy.
I have read with some amazement the practice of some clubs and pubs in Sydney limiting the supply of water to customers so as to encourage more alcohol consumption. I hadn't heard of this practice in the Wollongong area - but then I am not much of a pub/club patron.
However, there was a function that I attended recently at a leagues club in Wollongong. At the end of the night I was standing near a downstairs bar talking with some friends and I thought I might have a glass of water. The young barman was standing around, far from busy, waiting for a customer.
When I asked for a glass of water he simply said: ``No mate, you can buy a bottle of water for $3". I immediately thought of the goings on in Sydney clubs, so I suggested that this club should be reported. To which he responded: ``big whoop".
On reflection it was a very silly thing for me to say, after all, who would I report it to, the Minister for Social Irresponsibility?
Maybe, when all is said and done, I am simply showing my age - are politeness and free water part of a bygone era?
-PATRICK WILSON,
Woonona.
Levy a no-no
I WISH to take this opportunity to express my complete disagreement with Wollongong Council and their decision to impose an environmental levy.
This levy should be funded out of the rates that are already paid to the council, instead of being an additional cost.
I have been a ratepayer of Wollongong Council for more than 50 years and I am very disappointed and disillusioned by the decisions that are made by Wollongong council on how to distribute these funds throughout this region.
Wollongong and its council have become little more than a ratepayer-funded money machine, which is not spending the funds where they should be spent.
All the council needs to do is look around and listen to the people who elected you to be there. Our roads are in a terrible state. Crime is on the increase. People are not feeling safe in their homes. Our older community, which comprises a high percentage of the Wollongong City Council area, feel they are not safe after dark on our own streets.
So instead of spending the money which is already raised by the council on these pressing issues, you are now ``proposing" which will no doubt be implemented, an additional request for funds, for environmental issues.
Get real, Wollongong City Council. Open your eyes to the much more pressing issues of this area.
-B BOYS,
Mt Ousley.
Priorities, please
THE present debate about the proposed environmental levy condemns all of the citizens of Wollongong to global shame.
Firstly, the managers and officers have proposed that the priority of the environment be placed below that of many of the non-essential services that the council provides.
Secondly, the mayor endorses the proposal while at the same time he beats the environmental drum.
Finally, we the voters, are responsible for the councillors who represent us and if the councillors decide the environment should have a low priority in the allocation of resources, then we are all condemned.
Can there be no finer art than God's creation? Is there no greater tourist attraction than a healthy and clean environment? Is not a sustainable environment the greatest task for the future of our youth?
Yet the empire that the council has become does not agree. They have stated that if the ratepayers do not agree to the levy, then they will not carry out important environmental work. They will not reallocate resources from other areas that depend on the environment for their ongoing existence.
That extra funding claimed to be generated by the environmental projects is not dependent upon the levy, but the priority of the allocation of resources.
The loss of the extra funding would be a reflection upon the integrity of the elected councillors to insist the environment be given its proper priority, and no other reason.
-JOHN MONTGOMERY,
Figtree.
Double whammy
I AM going through the process of buying a motor vehicle.
I have been given a price which also attracts GST. As repugnant as the GST is when I go to the RTA to effect the transfer of title they apply the transfer duty to the whole amount - in other words a tax on a tax. Seems to me the politicians have really stuck it up all Australians with the ``Get Stuffed Tax".
We were all sold a pup and I hope Meg Lees can sleep at night. Can someone explain if a tax on a tax as I described is legal?
The ATO says so, but I would like to hear from our esteemed parliamentarians and have them explain this double whammy.
-THEO FEROS,
Figtree.
Food for thought
IT is now reported that over 60 per cent of Australian adults are overweight.
As we are all made aware everytime these statistics make news, obesity is responsible for a number of important health issues, not the least of which are heart disease and diabetes. The reasons for the ever increasing waistlines are many - my concerns involve in particular the convenience food industry.
We are all responsible for the choices we make, and no-one forces us to eat anything. However, the continuing trend towards ``upsizing" fast food meals and giving you more fat for your dollar, must be having an effect on the growing obesity levels.
I don't think it is unreasonable to conclude that fast food is hurting us. Again, we are each responsible for what we put into our mouths and those of our children, but surely it is time for the fast food industry to look at some healthier alternatives?
In an age where convenience is paramount, and health awareness is ever increasing, the potential market for healthy, convenient food choices must be huge. How much longer do we have to wait?
-CATHERINE LEE,
Personal Fitness Trainer,
Gwynneville.
Right channels
WILL the loss of many thousands of tourist dollars to small businesses and damage to the marine life in Lake Illawarra justify the nine months we had to wait to open the entrance?
When the rain stops and the flood waters recede, we will soon see if the cost to the community was worth the wait.
Many of us believe that the 40m wide and 4m deep channel will not be there as promised, and the lake entrance will again close as the ocean brings back the sand.
I believe that the lake entrance review panel is right. The only way to keep the entrance open is to replace the sand on South Warilla Beach - not to keep placing it back in the entrance.
-BOB PARSONS,
Lake Illawarra.
© 2003 Illawarra Mercury