What are the pros and cons of demolishing towers?
To send a letter Ageemail letters@theage.com.au. Please include your home address and phone number. No attachments, please include your letter in the body of the email. See here for our rules and tips for getting your letter published.
demolition costs
I reread the issues of demolition and renovation of public housing towers (“Age Housing Towers Will Be Demolished”, 30/1). However, I have not seen the daily reality of what these massive demolition projects deeply rooted in neighborhoods actually entail. Perhaps we half-dream of a miraculous process in which the old disappears and the new emerges.
But the truth is that I live a few hundred yards from the current demolition of the two towers at the corner of Nicholson and Elgin streets in Carlton. Since the middle of last year, they have been drilled and hammered, brick by brick, behind the black sack-like covering, from 7.30 in the morning until late in the afternoon, including on Saturdays. Truckloads of waste taking truckloads of waste to God knows where. The constant noise of machinery forms the background of the neighborhood’s day. And I don’t even live particularly close by. It seems that the work will be completed towards the middle of this year.
At least the Nicholson Towers are being replaced by entirely public apartments, but those who used them as homes are long gone.
The impacts of the government’s residential tower renovation project on people, the environment and the neighborhood are huge.
Experts tell us again and again that there are alternatives. Let’s start listening before it’s too late.
Josephine Ben-Tovim, Carlton
Libs, listen to Menzies
Peter Hartcher (Commentary, 31/1) describes the difficult political situation of the Liberal Party. It has long puzzled me as to why its advocates did not reuse the “Forgotten People” speeches made by party founder Robert Menzies on wartime radio in 1943. In the midst of World War II, as an opposition leader, he spoke of “home” as “the basis of sanity and sobriety, the indispensable condition of continuity whose health determines the health of society as a whole.” Menzies’s words, if used by a capable, modern conservative politician, could still resonate with the priorities of many today’s aspiring families, as recent polls show. But Anthony Albanese has already gone one step ahead in copying Menzies’ strategy of raising the concerns of ordinary people. Why are members of the Liberal Party so brave?
Jon McMillan, Mornington
Designing partitions
Speaking about the visit of Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Anthony Albanese said, “We have a lot of divisions.” How ironic. What could be more divisive here than Herzog?
Reg Murray, Glen Iris
Flaming hatreds
As another 80-year-old, I applaud your correspondent’s views (“No to Herzog’s visit”, 31/1), as this visit will further fuel Islamophobia and antisemitism in Australia. I’m not Jewish, just a concerned Australian.
Adrian Jones, Mount Eliza
extreme similarity
Waleed Aly is successful in explaining how neo-Nazis and jihadist terrorists organize themselves with “leaderless” tactics when carrying out their evil actions (Commentary, 30/1). But this does not explain their purpose; So one is political and the other is religious. Although it is difficult to distinguish between the two, their different purposes are well known.
Neo-Nazis see this as a fight to protect themselves from imaginary enemies based on hatred, especially Jews, while jihadists see it as a fight against infidels, especially Jews, for whom they will die happily to receive their reward in the afterlife. That is, although they use similar tactics, which could be coincidence, they are acting for completely different purposes. In fact, the only thing they have in common is their hatred of Jews.
Henry Herzog, St Kilda East
The way of our elders
At the moment, the debate about recognizing a tennis star in bronze medal is simple. Are they Australian? We are not here to get to know foreign dignitaries, we are not here to get to know foreign corporate bigwigs. We are here to recognize Australia’s excellence. For Los Angeles, let us follow a stellar path by visiting the champions, recognizing their achievements on our shores.
Tom Stafford, Wheelers Hill
five sets for women
Women were not allowed to compete in the Olympic marathon until 1984 because they were considered too frail and weak to undertake such a grueling event. Since then, women have participated in ultramarathons, often beating their male competitors. They definitely proved how durable they are. So why are women treated as the weaker sex in professional tennis and required to play no more than three sets per match?
Of course, no one still believes that they are too weak to endure five sets like the men. A side benefit of allowing female tennis players to play five sets is that no one can criticize them for receiving the winner’s purse equal to the men’s, even though they only have to put in 60 percent of the men’s effort. It’s time for women to show their power.
Bill Wiglesworth, Castlemaine
final stages of life
Your correspondent (Letter, 27/1) notes that “society has yet to discuss the advantages/disadvantages of older people continuing to ‘exist’ until their bodies finally give out.”
He beautifully observes how multiple medical and surgical interventions have prolonged the physical health of many people into old age. He also notes that residual mental deterioration often precedes eventual physical decline, which can have a compounding and complex negative impact on quality of life.
This issue is truly an “elephant in the room” situation that needs to be examined realistically and compassionately.
Millions of Baby Boomers are moving into this final stage of life. The hospital and aged care sectors are already very costly and under great pressure.
It can be heartbreaking to see or experience the final stages of a long life as an ordeal to be endured. Many people directly involved in the care of the frail elderly will understand this.
Katherine McDonald, Surrey Hills
not responsible
Your correspondent (Letters, 30/1) notes that the council is not doing a good enough job maintaining the Canterbury Road median strip. Maroondah City Council is not the authority responsible for major roads, including Canterbury Road. While the council looks after local and non-arterial roads, the state government’s Department of Transport and Planning manages and maintains all 15 arterial roads in Maroondah.
We understand this can be confusing for the community and we share their frustration when these median strips become unsafe or unsightly. The municipality supports the government for the repair and maintenance of unsafe and ugly main roads and median strips managed by DTP. This includes writings to the minister for roads and road safety calling for the urgent need for regular and ongoing carriageway maintenance to address safety risks, fire hazards and amenity impacts. The Council is also calling on DTP to allocate the necessary resources to ensure adequate maintenance of major roads and median strips in Maroondah.
Cr Linda Hancock, Mayor, Maroondah City Council
That Boss
Well done Bruce Springsteen – an anthem to the madness the world has had to endure under this US administration.
Rosey Leeming, Pigeon Ponds
Not a ship but a submarine
While the Alan Moir cartoon (31/1) is a great analogy for the Liberal Party at the moment, I think a submarine with a revolving screen door could also be quite representative.
Shaun Dunford, Mt Gambier, SA
