LetteroftheWeek

Have strong opinions, write in an engaging way? You could win our Letter of the Week, and with it a book from our friends and sponsors, the publishers HarperCollins. This month’s book prize is Cross her Heart by Sarah Pinborough. Some secrets are worth dying for – the mind-blowing thriller from the author of the bestselling Behind Her Eyes.

Rules: Best letter competition runs untill January 19 next year. Entries close each Thursday at 5pm. The winner is selected by 2pm each Friday. Book of the month valued up to $49. Entrants agree to the Competition Terms and Conditions located at www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au/ entertainment/competitions, and our privacy policy. Entrants consent to their information being shared with HarperCollins for the express purpose of delivering prizes.

IN his column this week Assistant Editor Keith Woods makes some compelling arguments for choosing Broadbeach rather than The Spit for an offshore cruise ship terminal (‘Spit is the wrong place for a cruise ship terminal’, GCB, 23/5/18). The shops, the restaurants, the Star Casino are all at Broadbeach. The public transport is at Broadbeach. If we must have a cruise ship terminal, why not at Broadbeach?

Keith shows an appreciation of the beauty and idyllic nature of The Spit. Save Our Broadwater shares his belief that The Spit needs no further embellishment but we are taking part in the master planning process to listen to what other members of the community envision for its future. As Keith says this process is likely to be tedious, tiresome and dreary at times but we believe at the end of it we will have community agreement about a future direction.

What is alarming to us are Tom Tate’s comments that he will wait out the master planning process because when the LNP get back into government he will be able to put his cruise ship terminal there. Already Tate and the LNP are signaling that they are not interested in a community driven plan to manage and protect this valuable public space. We can only conclude that if the LNP were ever reelected that it would be game on again to see which developers get there first.

JUDY SPENCE, SAVE OUR BROADWATER

KEITH WOODS’ column in Wednesday’s Bulletin was another great, common sense article (‘Spit is the wrong place for a cruise ship terminal’, GCB, 23/5/18).

I have taken an active interest in the Spit and its beauty. We use it by water and land.

I had not thought of such a great idea of (if they have to) building the CST right where it should be – very close to the action – and as you say within walking distance for many cruise ship passengers.

Other than the Surfies (and after

all they have many klm of straight beach to choose from on this beautiful coastline) there should be little objection … a park that could accommodate a small terminal, room for a bus station …. Ready to go.

ALAN BELL

WHY does a city want to be labelled one of the most expensive in which to live? Beats me, but that seems what some Gold Coasters want. (‘Renters told to quit city’, GCB, 24/5/18).

High rents are the result of inflated property valuations. There’s far too much greed controlling the market. Vendors, real estate agents, councils and developers want property prices to continue to rise well out of the reach of the average person. Cashed up overseas buyers should never have been allowed to purchase on the Glitter Strip, or elsewhere for that matter.

With a median rental now $500 a week, what chance do many tenants have? Many have jobs on the Coast; others have rented here for many years. To uproot and move elsewhere is difficult.

Why are there very few cheap rentals for those struggling? The government and council should be building unit blocks to accommodate

these people instead of approving new developments where units start at $500,000.

Disgusting to say the least!

KEN JOHNSTON, ROCHEDALE SOUTH

FOLLOWING another brilliant Broadbeach Blues weekend, I was walking through the beachside park when I noticed a number of black plastic ties spread randomly amongst the grass. They had apparently been cut off something and a more detailed inspection revealed hundreds of them throughout the park, concentrated in certain areas.

I recalled that the spread roughly followed the location of temporary fencing put up around the park to separate various areas. If these ties were being used to help secure temporary fencing why were they just being cut off, discarded and being left for ... what?

Would the next rains wash them down the storm water drains? Or would the mowers chop them into a million pieces first?

That got me thinking about all the other places around Broadbeach where temporary fencing may be in use – events, building sites, roadworks. And what about the rest of the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia?

There must be millions, perhaps billions of these things clogging up our environment.

It didn’t take me long to locate several other sites nearby where these ties were in use and I became really concerned. How difficult would it be to collect these ties as they are cut off?

Come on organisers, regulators, Council, can’t we make the proper collection and disposal of these plastic ties an integral part of the conditions of their use?

TONY HAY, BROADBEACH

I NOTICED in a recent article that our Premier has sent a formal invitation to Obama to visit our Great Barrier Reef and “experience its natural beauty” and connect the millennials to the loving wonder.

Our Premier states she believes the Obamas “Have the Insta-power to inspire a global social movement to protect the Reef”.

What a guy he is. He was gifted the Noble Peace prize after being in office for 12 days. He did nothing towards world peace except kick the can down the road for the next president to sort out Iraq, Iran, Syria, Afghanistan and North Korea.

So we are going to pay the first class air fares and first class accommodation for the Obamas plus a $500,000 to one million speaking fee and don’t forget the cost of security.

Yep, might as well ask Prince Harry and new bride to come under the same deal.

While we are at it call Hillary and get her back and we can hear her speak at $495.00 PER SEAT.

What a waste of tax payer’s money. It’s a joke.

TOMMY T, UPPER COOMERA

INSTEAD of continually complaining about rare animals and birds on proposed mine sites the greens should do something constructive and rid Australia of feral cats who kill millions of native animals and birds nightly.

ROD WATSON, SURFERS PARADISE