Townsville can be grown carefully to million mark
I REFER to the suggestion that Townsville could become one of a number of regional centres to reach a population of one million in the future.
Of course this suggestion has been instantly derided by the glass-halfempty brigade who picture a larger version of the poorly-planned Townsville we have today.
However, it’s becoming obvious that Brisbane, Sydney and
Melbourne can no longer absorb the lion’s share of Australia’s population increases. Therefore, it makes sense for regional centres to seize the opportunity to transform themselves into the cities of tomorrow.
Townsville has the land to do this easily and we already know we have a great climate. What’s needed is to create a masterplan similar to Canberra’s together with a commitment to invest in infrastructure. Sort out the water and energy requirements and we’re halfway there.
Creating satellite CBDS in areas such as Rangewood/black River and Toonpan/woodstock with government, retail and business precincts, commercial and industrial zones and neighbourhood-focused residential areas with public transport corridors to link everything together is all doable. Springfield near Brisbane is a great example of what can be done with good planning.
Townsville could be standing at something of a crossroads at the moment: keep expanding with no real sense of direction or grasp the opportunity to make something special for future generations.
I only hope all levels of government see the merit of the idea and commit to it. Our own Phil Thompson strikes me as the sort of pollie who could get the necessary parties to the table to make things happen. I await developments with great interest.
ROLEY DUNN, North Ward.
JUST FOLLOW THE RULES
I NEED to say that if people in
NSW and other states did what was asked of them we would not have the problems that we have.
Everyone in North Queensland does what is asked of them and we are OK, the same as NT and WA. BRIDGET COLLINS, Black River.
WE MUST BE ON ALERT
THE world as we know it seems to be on the brink of extinction and it is not because of climate change, but from China and President ‘not my fault’ Biden, who has handed over $83bn of war equipment of planes, rockets, helicopters and arms plus the population of Afghanistan to the Taliban.
Now we have Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, and China joining up to fight the free world.
China has just announced that
they have developed the world’s most advanced wind tunnel, that is capable of simulating speeds 30 times that of sound.
This tunnel is three times that of NASA’S most advanced tunnel – this is vital for the development of hypersonic nuclear missiles that can be launched into space.
This new wind tunnel uses chemical explosions to generate high-speed air flows.
This creates shockwaves, temperatures and pressures similar to those experienced by high-velocity aircraft.
This puts China 20 to 30 years ahead of the West.
Is this the next generation noninvasive weapon, to kill the enemy but to inflict minimum damage to infrastructure?
One would think these world issues would have catastrophic farreaching effects on the world’s population before Australia’s perceived contribution to climate change.
When are we going to join the dots on what is the real threat to the world population?
Under the Paris Agreement contributions/money are made to a climate change fund and then redirected to developing countries and China is one of them.
What impact on climate change will this have or is it that we are just not interested.
Enough of the nonsense, it’s time for some commonsense, when is the world and the climate change cult going to look further than their navel
and look at the real world of the big money big business and the United Nations and who is running it.
We in Australia are comfortable in our part of the world but there are powers out there that want to control the world weather it be for religion, economic, political motives and we as Australians should be on alert. SANDRA CHESNEY,
Jensen.
SCIENCE PROVES THE CASE
THANK you to Sandra Chesney for a history lesson from the 1880s (“Check the records” TB, 25/8).
I think perhaps it is now time for a science lesson from the 2020s.
Hundreds of scientific ‘expert newbies on the block’ recently published the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report that incorporates over 14,000 scientific papers.
The overarching conclusions from this extensive report are that climate change is undoubtedly the result of human activity, and that the world is warming with disastrous consequences. Australia, for example, has already warmed about 1.4C since 1910. We have also experienced firsthand the devastation caused by bushfires and floods that are fuelled by this climate change.
Along with increasing frequency of extreme weather events, a warming world threatens many global securities such as housing, food, and water.
No one is trying to destroy the economy. Many are, however, pushing to shift the economy toward renewable processes and industries that will allow a high standard of living for all future generations.
Unfortunately, the projections for a warming world are dire.
The world is not ending but we who live on it will struggle to survive unless we change our ways.
AMY HILLER,
Kew.
MISSED THEIR VOCATIONS
SANDRA Chesney and Debra Gibson have missed their vocations. (TB 25/8). At the earliest possibility they both need to send their resumes off to the CSIRO, NASA and the federal Industry, Science, Energy and Resources Department.
GLENN WHITE,
Kelso.
ALP WOULD ROLL OVER
A REPLY to John Mellon’s criticism about my so-called rant.
My “rant” was against the Chinese leader and nothing I said was untrue. The truth is, that the ALP is as weak as wee-wee, and would without doubt roll over and give them their way in this land, and we’d be a damn sight worse off today if the ALP were in power here.
Regarding, “who sold the Port of Darwin to China?” – Yes, you are correct, a bad mistake absolutely and punishment should have followed.
Unfortunately, and this is said with all sincerity, at the present time, trade with China is a necessity, I’m sad to say.
COLIN BAKER, Pentland.