RE. RATES WASTED (Weekly, March 19)
■ In “Your Voice”, Ron King made reference to Hobsons Bay mayor’s program and also asks the question “what is a governance program for secondary schools?”.
I suggest that Mr King ask the appropriate people before expressing the opinion that “We should sack the lot of them for such rubbish”.
Any intelligent person asking a question would first understand the matter and then criticise if it is appropriate.
Mr King also noted other things he did not approve of; I suspect he does not understand them either.
GEORGE SAID, SEAHOLME
RE. TRUCK TRAFFIC SLEEP-IN PROTEST IS PREMIER’S WAKE-UP CALL (Weekly, March 19)
■ To complain about noise is really silly. Melbourne is a growing city and of course there are more cars and trucks. Be thankful you have a home as there are people who need to sleep on the street and not by choice.
MARK VIA ONLINE
■ This level of noise pollution actually has fairly serious health implications, Mark.
On Francis Street in Yarraville noise levels from trucks are double the World Health Organisation guidelines.
And Moore Street in Footscray has more night-time truck traffic than Francis Street.
Hardly a “silly” issue.
NARELLE VIA ONLINE
■ The toll for a truck on the Bolte Bridge is about $5 each way.
When the truck is earning about $50 per hour and must use the Bolte twice, that brings the income down to $40.
Out of that running costs and driver’s wages must be taken [so] it is not good business sense for trucks to use the Bolte Bridge.
[But] if trucks were given an exemption from tolls there is no reason why trucks wouldn’t use [the bridge].
If you want to protest about trucks using Moore Street, then protest to the government and offer them an alternative.
DARBY VIA ONLINE
■ For goodness’ sake, Neil [Chambers, Victorian Transport Association chief executive], a half-hour protest blocking one street is hardly going to have a major impact on the trucking industry.
And as for the Maribyrnong community, I think there are a lot of people that will put up with a bit of inconvenience on one morning if it means they no longer have to put up with hundreds of trucks thundering through their neighbourhood night in night out.
As for building stakeholder relationships, has it ever occurred to you that what the residents want would be good for the trucking industry too?
Perhaps if you stopped moaning about the community and stood beside them in their call for proper infrastructure for the freight industry, they wouldn’t need to block roads to get the government to pay attention.
GETREALNEIL VIA ONLINE
■ Great to see people taking action. The situation on Moore Street is ridiculous. Trucks should be using CityLink to access the port.
BILL VIA ONLINE
