It is disturbing and distressing to read in Saturday's Courier (July 4) that the 'powers that be' in Ballarat look with eagerness to the 'growth' of Ballarat in having a projected population of 190,000 within the next 20 years.
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Why must there be growth? Growth in the human population is destroying this planet.
One only needs to view the documentary that recently screened on SBS ('7.7 billion and counting') to see the devastation to our planet that continued human growth is inflicting.
The world is overpopulated, Australia is overpopulated, Melbourne is over-populated - and Ballarat is becoming increasingly over-populated.
The destruction and decimation to the environment, flora and fauna has become irrevocable.
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Since the COVID-19 restrictions have been partially lifted the traffic problems in Ballarat have returned. An extra 80,000 people (30,000 new building lots and, presumably, at least another 30,000 cars on our roads) over the next 20 years may be 'growth', but it is a negative and not a positive.
It is for these reasons that my wife and I have decided to leave Ballarat and seek the peace and quiet of a country town, close to nature.
Ian Anderson, Ballarat.
There are mathematical parallels with the COVID-19 pandemic and the population density issues that Melbourne is currently experiencing.
There are critical lessons that leaders need to heed quickly. It is folly to think that you can manage exponential growth with tools that can only ever be deployed linearly.
Inevitably, at some point, it's going to bite you in the bum. It's not rocket science.
At a growth rate of 2.5% per year, a Melbourne population of 5 million grows by an extra 28% in a decade, 64% in two decades and doubles inside three decades.
In area, Melbourne occupies less than 1% of the state of Victoria and yet holds more than 80% of its population. Viruses thrive on those numbers.
Someone soon needs to get very serious about encouraging people out to the country.
That's done by incentive - better and faster rail and road, policies which incentivise retired people and others to consider relocating, improved infrastructure, and more government jobs into the major country centres.
The COVID-19 pandemic is a watershed moment for all policy makers across Australia.
For Victorians in particular, there is more trouble on the way if planners continue with the essentially reactive paradigm of building more and more lanes, tunnels and freeways in an already choking capital.
They must eventually lose.
Ed Staples, Winter Valley.
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