Letters to the editor

To brand a motion from the Legislative Council to the Legislative Assembly for Minister Jacinta Allen to appear before at a hearing of the Joint Party Committee on the regional rail problems as quote by Geoff Howard, "a political stunt". 'I won't be giving impetus to the Liberal's cheap political antics,' end quote ( The Courier 12th Feb.) is a matter of deep concern.

Minister Allen must attend the hearing so that the commuters on our regional rail network can receive answers to their frustration , inconvenience and continued delays whilst commuting to and from their employment.

If Sharon Knight and Geoff Howard are not interested in looking after their constituents in their electorates they should step down and retire from being our local representatives in State Parliament and let someone else be elected to look after the voters in the Ballarat region. We certainly deserve better.

Paul Jenkins, Alfredton.

I applaud the Victorian Architect for their recommendation to speed up the Participatory Design Process... but let's not be too hasty. We don't not want a Civic Hall that can not cater for the performers and community events that would use it.

Yes, all indications point to the City needing to extend the Library to cater for its needs into the future but let's not forget the reason why the Civic Hall site was chosen for the building of the library in the first place. A number of sites were considered and The Civic Hall Site was chosen for its association with the people. It would be folly to destroy any part of the functionality of the Civic Hall in favour of the library extension. Both can work in harmony and enhance their future potential together as was the original intention when the Library was erected in the 1990's. We may need investment onto the site but anything that goes on the site or inside the hall should be sympathetic to its heritage and provide for a functional and economically viable venue.

The budget for Stage 1 implementation of the Hall needs to be reigned in and the money spent on the necessary maintenance and restoration to comply with occupational Health and Safety standards.

The community just wants to see it open and an injection of life into that part of the CBD. 

Judith Buchanan, Sebastopol

I took my two boys age five and six with a group of friends and their kids to the Monster Trucks event held at Bray Raceway on Saturday night. The kids had been jumping out of their skins all week in anticipation. Unfortunately it didn't take long for this excitement to turn into mass-disappointment for all.

For starters the way the event had been set-up, unless you were prepared to put the kids up on your shoulders for the supposed 3hr spectacular, the kids could not see the action other than those kids crowded along the arena front fence. This however was not the main issue.

The biggest let down was the amateur and lacklustre show itself which genuinely felt like a bunch of petrol heads had decided to get together for a bit of spontaneous circle work, a large part of which appeared to be their own young kids riding around on their Pee Wee 50's and mini-bikes. The Monster Trucks themselves did a few jump's over the odd car here or there, but nothing that caused any excitement in the crowd. After spending $150 on tickets and food for the three of us, like many others in the crowd, we left early from pure boredom and very disappointed. I suggest the organisers  at least integrate some form of 'structure' into the Show. 

Jarrod Edward, Yendon