Minmi plan not the housing nation needs

The developer, Winten Group, has a similar development already underway at Marsden Park in Western Sydney. It is a dreadful aggregation of grey 'McMansions', black roofs, tiny blocks and virtually no space separating the houses. Even looking at the development on Google Maps is enough to make you despair for the families who will live there.

This is not the housing supply that Australia needs. We need much more housing, but it needs more variety. We need to avoid urban sprawl with houses that are too big, too expensive and that are cut off from public transport, shops, recreation space, and community assets like public swimming pools. And we need trees.

The property industry needs to lift its game, and governments at all levels need to act.

Over a month ago, my niece was involved in an accident which was not her fault. Doing the right thing, she contacted NRMA. The damage to the rear quarter panel didn't seem that bad, but was written off. She was offered a $75 rebate on a hire car (once again not her fault). What a pathetic company. Considering the NRMA is the most expensive insurance company around shows how much they don't care.

My niece is trying to further her career. She works part time in Newcastle as well as travelling for nursing training. Due to the time she works, it makes travel very hard and has to get lifts to and from her job and training. NRMA has a lot of explaining to do. They promote themselves as the best, but this issue shows a very different picture. Considering that the cost of living at the moment, $75 rebate is a spit in the face since she is on a low wage she would be out of pocket making it pointless to work.

Congratulations to a company that leaves people high and dry. I wonder how much their CEOs are getting paid? They can't even look after a young lady to further her career.

Maybe one day she will be taking care of you when she's a nurse, and I bet she won't turn her back on you when you're in need of help.

I like the idea of a high-speed bullet train from Broadmeadow to Sydney especially if fares were reasonably priced. But was this an April Fool's joke? At a current price of $21.6billion, the rail link is unlikely to happen any time soon. Politicians have been promising a high-speed rail for yonks. I would like Tim Parker, the boss of the NSW High Speed Rail Authority (HSRA), to explain exactly how we have "a once-in-a-generation" opportunity "to get it right" ("Rail boss broad-minded", Herald 1/4).

Is Mr Parker's job to seriously map out the high-speed rail link, or merely to talk up the possibility of the rail link and thus win Novocastrians' votes? Nevertheless, I was interested in Parker's assertion that it is now cheaper to tunnel under Newcastle, as it has been for some time in Sydney, rather than acquire expensive real estate on the surface. Ah, the marvels of technology.

What do we think is in the engineering report on Lambton Park War Memorial Swimming Centre that the City of Newcastle don't want made public? ("Council's reasons for keeping pools report secret rejected", Herald, 2/4).

It cannot be the crumbling concrete falling off the diving platforms, the cracked and missing tiles in the pools, or the rusting steel in the concrete slabs, as these are evident to everyone that visits the pool. Perhaps it is the evidence of decades of neglect or maybe something even worse? The public and the pool using community have every right to know the simple facts about the state of our assets. This information should be readily available to everyone.

We love Lambton pool.

Greg Hunt ("Activists missed main target", Letters, 2/4), points out that climate activists should focus on China and not locally because their emissions are 29 times ours. What he neglected to say is that their population is over 50 times ours. With Australia's per capita emissions almost double that of China's, what he is effectively saying is that China should not aspire to the same standard of living that we enjoy. Yes, we should encourage China to minimise their emissions, but we can't ignore our situation, especially when our per capita emissions are among the highest in the world.

In Merewether's Morgan Street, there is a block of units, with all of them being rental tenants who decide every few weeks they will have a cleanout. So they start dumping on the footpath, the passing traffic sees the pile increase, and then choose to add to it. It gets so out of control that I am now watching a group of people, employed by the council, I assume, to take it away. Why don't we have some deterrent and start fining people for dumping? They won't be hard to find.

Instead of forbidding political donations from individuals, corporations, or unions, I believe the solution is transparency. During election campaigns, politicians should be required to wear clothing emblazoned with the logos and names of those paying to influence them. The greater the 'donation' the larger the logo. Let the public know who they are really voting for. Lobbyists should be required to dress in this manner whenever they enter government buildings to ply their trade.

I am aware, Neil Allen ("SA beats the German example", Letters, 28/3), that France normally exports nuclear energy to a number of European countries, including Germany, but not sure how "copiously". In 2022 however, France experienced major nuclear problems. Thirty out of 56 reactors were out of service for extended periods during their summer. France was a net energy importer for the first time in 42 years.

We don't have a housing supply problem, we have a human over-breeding population explosion. In every other species, starvation always ensues. What's next, as we have no credible leadership in sight anywhere? Just look at the state of Earth. Oh dear, human intelligence?

I find it astounding that a publicly funded university such as UNSW can find the money to donate a sizeable amount to a highly divisive political campaign such as the Voice referendum. Perhaps the University of Newcastle would like to take the opportunity to publicly state that they did not donate to either side in the voice referendum?