I CAN’T help but wonder why people appear to no longer be aware of the need to wear light coloured clothing at night when they are out and about.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
A couple of Sunday nights ago we were coming home from church along Prince Street about 6pm, in the dark, when four people crossed the road in front of us.
Three were wearing dark clothing and the fourth, who was in light clothing, was obscured behind the fellow she was with.
Trying to miss them, my husband hit the median strip and we blew two tyres.
On Sunday night I was coming along the same street, again in the dark, when I caught sight of a person on a pushbike with no lights, only a reflector, and in dark clothing.
Fortunately, I saw him in time and was able to avoid him but was concerned whether a vehicle coming in the other direction would have been able to.
Weren’t people taught about the need to be seen?
Mary Grocott
QUESTIONS FOR COUNCIL ABOUT AIRPORT PLANS
TONY Mileto’s letter on May 8 ‘Ratepayers Want Answers About Airport Plans’ raises serious concerns about Orange City Council’s abilities to plan and follow planning approval processes effectively and to cooperate with its surrounding region.
For residents of Spring Hill, Huntley and Springside the concerns raised are exemplified by the actions of council regarding the proposed rezoning for industry near the airport within a recognised environmentally-sensitive water catchment and aquifer area.
With a council election due in September those residents, and indeed all Orange residents and ratepayers, deserve some explanations on the following:
- Why has council spent over $12 million on purchasing land proposed for industry near Orange airport when it has not received approval of the proposed rezoning from the Department of Planning?
- Why did council not commission a proper site-specific water study for the proposed industrial zone given the water catchment significance of the locality and the importance of water security in the region?
- Why did council make only token efforts to consult with all potentially affected residents, token efforts which were clearly not in the spirit of council’s own Community Engagement Strategic Policy? Residents deserved individual and early contact about such a major proposed change of zoning.
- Why has council planned and spent money for another industrial area when existing industrial land in both Orange and the wider region cannot be filled?
- Why has council not followed due process for the proposed industrial rezoning by failing to initiate a review of the Blayney-Cabonne-Orange Regional Planning Strategy as required by the Department of Planning?
If council aspires to a responsible regional role councillors need to make sure council takes a regional perspective.
Then council must follow due processes properly and communicate and consult in a timely, fair and sincere manner with its own community, the region’s communities and other councils.
If council did this it might engender trust, which it is clearly not doing at present, the ultimate illustration of this being its failure to achieve a merger with the other councils.
