Use Maria Island expertise

MARIA Island on Tasmania’s East Coast is an outstanding tourism icon in its current natural environs and I totally agree on this occasion with “Greens question use of consultants instead of Parks ”( Mercury, October 22).

It again beggars belief why the government would not use and act on the expertise of the Parks and Wildlife Service who have intimate knowledge of this beautiful island but instead commission the services of a consultancy firm. Park rangers would be a far better option in the decision making process on the future of Maria than highly paid consultants who most likely have no background or knowledge of this island paradise. I am and always have been an advocate for development in Tasmania but any plans for “commercialising” Maria Island would be totally inappropriate. One can only trust our government will make the right decisions and be fully transparent in the decision making process on how Maria is managed for future generations.

Chris Davey Lindisfarne

GOOD LIFE ON HIGH

HYPOTHETICAL: After a ride up kunanyi/Mt Wellington by cable car I’ll go outside to experience the wind and the cold, the spectacular view through thefreshairand/orclouds.

I’ll glimpse the alpine tundra or explore the snow, then go back inside for a coffee or, if the day dictates, something stronger. I’ll welcome information about the well-adapted flora and fauna, the spectacular geology, and the Aboriginal heritage. Other times I’ ll just relax and enjoy special occasion celebration sat the Pinnacle Centre.

Julie Lawless Kingston

COMMERCIAL SUGGESTION

WHY is the government outsourcing the management plan review for Maria Island to a commercial landscape architecture firm? DPIPWE Parks Service’s core business is producing impartial management plans for management of reserves, and is accountable to the government and public (“Use our island experts,” Mercury, October 22). Using a commercial architectural firm suggests building and commercial development are the intended objective. After all, if your only tool is a hammer, every problem is a nail.

Elizabeth Osborne North Hobart

PLANNING GAPS

THE New Norfolk High Street Development Plan PDF is a fascinating read and credit to the cartographer. Two things strike me. Please first fill the many vacant shops, the rest is just window dressing. Second, the terminus of the sports and community precinct northern walk connection should be at the Peter Hudson statue outside( or just inside the gates of) the revamped Boyer Oval, providing a sense of pilgrim age to walker sand aficionados alike.

The new Bridgewater Bridge plan is an equally slick product, great animation, but as well as deleting the heritage bridge and railway line it wipes out the Commandant’s Cottage and Convict Watch House. What price a few minutes off your trip north? ColinHutchison NewNorfolk

GIVE AWAY WELLINGTON

BEFORE hiring another external consultant to identify better use and potential sale of council assets to address a “forecast $12 million budget black hole” (Mercury, October 22), why not divest or sell landlord status over Wellington Park to the state government for $1? Think of the park management savings. Also, why not explore a consultant-free option to “provide a better return for ratepayers”, such as dismiss the Melbourne-based consultant firm engaged to assess the cableway DA proposal? Realistically, keeping that process going, through repeated requests for further refinement to the DA information provided by MW CC, is an obvious open cheque for these consultants.

D. Thompson Campania

CHAMBROAD, BUT NOT FLAG

ALDERMAN Brendan B lo me ley is not the only member of Clarence City Council to have used the term “icon” in relation to the Shandong Cham broad proposal for Kangaroo Bay (Talking Point, October 17). A quick glance at a few dictionaries gives a definition of icon as “representative symbol”. It’s interesting therefore to see while six aldermen vigorously supported this symbol of foreign investment and wealth, many rejected the motion to permanently fly the Aboriginal flag, a symbol of respect and deep connection to the land, its people and its traditions. There are icons and icons, it seems.

Jenny Rayner Montagu Bay

CHOPPER BEFORE DRILLING

IN “Flight check on eagle nest” (Mercury, October 23) the government says it used a helicopter to check the eagle nest adjacent to the Brushy Rivulet reserve, the site slated for the Northern prison, the same day drilling works had begun. Wouldn’t it have been smarter to check the nest before any drilling had begun, particularly given a resident witnessed a wedge-tailed eagle circling above the helicopter?

Why haven’t the findings been revealed? You’d think the government would be quick to report if there were no eggs or chicks in the nest. And this doesn’ t even begin to discuss the trucks churning the site into a quagmire.

Martin Hamilton Westbury