Precedent set for developments

I am responding to the article (Gaz 9/8) re: “Court unit development approved despite concerns”.

I found some of the councillors’ reasoning and arguments for the approval of the development concerning.

To use Drouin as an example, there are many unit developments around the township of Drouin with many being located close to the main part of town, many of which have been in Drouin for decades. Aesthetically, for the most part, these developments suit the position they are located.

These unit developments, being close to town, may require only a one car household instead of two as they are within walking distance of the town’s amenities and transport options. Also, the streets they are located on have easy access to off street parking and may also be located in the wider streets of town.

This particular example of a three unit development in a small court, with other one house residences alongside it I’m sure would have a greater impact to those residences than in other locations of the town.

I have no skin in this game, but I found the comments by councillors too flippant of the objectors’ concerns. I think the comment of big vacant blocks next to single low density housing as potential unit development land in the township, have the potential to alarm current and potential residents of what they thought moving and living in Drouin offered.

To another councillor issuing a warning to residents of Drouin that this is the way it’s going to be - developers would be rubbing their hands together right now and snapping up empty vacant blocks all over town..

From this precedent, it seems some councillors potentially are going to back more of these developments.

I appreciate a councillor showing concern for the spread of development of the township into the rural agricultural area of which this area and shire more broadly, is renowned for.

It is fertile, verdant, productive land for growing food for this area and our country. This shire has some of the most valuable farmland, in terms of land value and growing food anywhere. It should be very important to all of us that we keep this fertile, verdant land for the purpose that it’s suited for and that is growing food. It is not a finite resource.

So, on the other hand, I find it sometimes confounding the residential development and growth that has already been established in this area, especially over the last decade, when part of the argument was to protect the outlying agricultural land. Many many tracks of this farmland has now gone to housing.

I hope the councillors are sincere in keeping what’s left of our agricultural land in the protection and safekeeping of the local farmers..

Finally councillors, I sincerely hope that you are a long way down the road of improving the dismal and appalling road infrastructure around Drouin.

It has not changed that much since my childhood and I am now in my 50s. So that’s a population that has gone from 3500 to approximately 19,000 over my lifetime. It is a desperate situation and I know you’ll say you need funding from the State Government, but for goodness sake, get it sorted, or slow down the developments until that issue can be improved. One of the biggest issues being the crossing between north and south of the township.

So while we are still free to say our piece, here’s mine.

Marita Pandolfo, Lardner

Stellar career

Carolyn Turner’s retirement as editor marks the end of a working lifetime with Warragul Regional Newspapers, publishers of the Gazette, in itself something of an achievement in these times of leapfrogging careers.

As a frequent writer of letters to the editor, I appreciated Carolyn’s indulgence in almost always publishing mine, and rarely exercising her editorial prerogative despite their often exceeding the preferred word limit. Sometimes, too, there were email exchanges about a submitted letter.

On one such occasion, I wanted to correct the headline over a letter published the previous week. “OK, but I think you’re splitting straws”, she said. A little later: “Couldn’t even get the phrase right: splitting hairs!” Despite pre-publication pressures, Carolyn took the time to round off an inconsequential conversation; I suppose ‘clutching at straws’ and ‘splitting hairs’ had overlapped in her busy mind.

Another time, I cheekily complained about a missing exclamation mark in a published letter. “I routinely delete all exclamation marks”, she replied, “otherwise, the letters’ page would be peppered with them.” Lesson learned.

Beyond the letters, I admire the way in which the Gazette has maintained its rightful place as ‘the heartbeat of the community’, with an eclectic mix of local news, human-interest stories and regular features, which has been recognised in many Country Newspapers’ awards, for which Carolyn and her team deserve warm congratulations.

Finally came the pandemic, which caused the demise of many regional papers, and which, at its early nadir, saw the Trader close and the Gazette reduced to a slim edition of 44 pages. Now they run to even 100 pages, reflecting recovery of advertising content, and the sterling efforts of all the paper’s staff, not least editor Carolyn Turner.

John Hart, Warragul

Enormous debt

Our district owes Carolyn Turner an enormous debt.

Leading and working with a great team at The Gazette, Carolyn can retire in the knowledge she has made a significant contribution to community life in our area.

Her article on August 9 details the great history and growth of the paper including a sample of key events, together with her own start and progression, being appointed editor in 1993. The longest serving non family editor by a country mile, what a great career.

In that time there has been a significant increase in population with associated growing pains, her approach to balance competing interests in a fair and even manner is a credit to Carolyn.

Our “local” is a valuable source of information in so many ways – first class reporting with up to date stories on what is happening in our area, special features, zone promotions, a touch of history, information on agriculture, always something for kids, contributions from community groups, arts and culture, and sports coverage the equal of any regional paper in the state.

The many awards attest to the high standard of work at The Gazette – editorial, layout, printing and distribution.

A great feature of our “local” is the advertising support from local businesses. Reporting staff presenting quality and topical articles is a factor in businesses advertising locally.

Carolyn’s mentoring has positioned Yvette Brand to continue the quality reporting we read weekly in our “local”.

All the best in retirement.

Don McLean, Warragul

Dedicated service

Members of Baw Baw Ratepayers Association wish to acknowledge and convey appreciation and best wishes to Carolyn Turner for her support over the 29 years of service and reporting of our community.

This level of service is an example of her commitment, dedication and appreciation for this local area.

Discussion at the last association meeting on Tuesday August 9 also centred on the importance and value of regional newspapers, as well as the challenge involved in the provision of a newspaper geared around the Baw Baw Shire and West Gippsland areas.

Carolyn’s efforts and those of her team during the COVID period to keep the Gazette published must be applauded also.

Carolyn has always been supportive, fair and objective, and she always endeavoured to provide a balanced view.

Again, our very best wishes to Carolyn and we extend every good wish for good health, happiness and many adventures in her retirement - a new chapter in her life.

Congratulations must also be extended to Yvette Brand on her appointment as editor. The Ratepayers Association look forward to working with Yvette in the years ahead.

Kerry Elliott, secretary

Apology and correction

Greg Tuck (Gaz 9/8) owes me no apology at all regarding the source of his Victorian COVID statistics. I had no difficulty in sourcing the ABC story by Sian Johnson which he referenced.

However, the original data concerning COVID death rates and vaccination status are not as easily extracted from the Victorian Government website as they apparently are from the corresponding NSW website.

I say ‘apparently’ because it is now my turn to apologise to your readers, including Mr Tuck. The eight weeks of NSW data ending July 16 last which I referenced earlier (2/8) can now be extended to the 10 weeks ending July 30 last and they all convey the same impression in their headline summaries, ie, that only two of the 1108 COVID deaths during that period were unvaccinated, suggesting that the unvaccinated are now under-represented among the COVID fatalities by a factor of 26.

Puzzled by this, I had earlier used the feedback mechanisms on both the ABC and NSW Health websites to seek an explanation of the apparent discrepancy between the Victorian and NSW data.

Having received no reply a week later, I telephoned the NSW Department of Health and eventually discovered that I had been misled by the terminology used in their summaries. Their classification of “eligible for a third dose” actually includes, contrary to common intuition, the unvaccinated and single-dose vaccinated.

The gentleman with whom I spoke thanked me for my feedback and indicated that steps would be taken to correct the false impression conveyed in the summaries.

Thus, it turns out that the unvaccinated (zero, one or unknown doses) are more than three times over-represented in NSW COVID deaths relative to their presence in the general population, that is, 16 per cent relative to five per cent. This does not seem to be significantly different from the situation in Victoria, contrary to my earlier mistaken impression gleaned from the misleading NSW summary headings.

Brian Chapman, Drouin