Your Letters

Newcastle Herald

Monday January 2, 2006

GR

Who benefits from fees

WITH the proposed imposition by NIB of its annual increase in premiums, it may be opportune for members to reflect on the extreme cost of maintaining NIB's operation.

In doing so, members should ask NIB's chief executive officer some pointed questions, such as what proportion of their premiums go towards maintaining NIB's corporate hospitality facilities at various sporting stadiums around the state, do NIB's executive actually entertain people who may be of some benefit to the organisation, or are the facilities strictly for the benefit of NIB senior executive, and how much money could be saved if there were no such facilities?

Other issues that may be of interest to members are the frequency, location and cost of "staff seminar/bonding/retreat/brainstorming sessions".

Why cannot these sessions be conducted at NIB's Newcastle headquarters, which houses all the requirements needed for these activities?

But perhaps the most sensitive issue of all is that of executive benefits.

After NIB management has successfully negotiated yet another round of premium increases, there is little doubt that they will then set about arranging their own "performance-related bonuses", which they will announce to members as being the result of increasing profitability.

We all know where that increase comes from. The vicious cycle of increases in members' premiums of course.

NIB is a community-based organisation, and its profits should be recycled for the benefit of its members.

Its already well-paid executives should perhaps realise that there are limits to how much their customers will tolerate.

John Smeaton

Maryville

December 30

Honeysuckle interest

GREG Crone's opinion column ("Where the best and brightest can walk the walk" Herald 29/12) was in reality an advertorial for the work of his firm, which are architects for much of Honeysuckle's recent (the Boardwalk, Lee Wharf) and proposed (HQo) developments.

His comments should be read in the context of his vested interest. He may regard his work as world class. I believe a large proportion of the community regard it as largely out of scale, too dense, too tall and a lost opportunity to produce new developments that respect their setting.

Instead we have a massive visual barrier that divides the harbourfront from the CBD.

Honeysuckle will be the role model for future developments on the Royal Newcastle Hospital site.

Cr Keith Parsons, Newcastle

December 30

Think small on air-conditioning

WHY don't the administrators of the John Hunter Hospital arrange for the purchase of some air-conditioners that can be installed into each ward, just as one might do it for a house?

The cost of doing this is miniscule compared with the millions of dollars mentioned in letters and articles in The Herald.

I can hear the objections: the noise, establishing a precedent etc, but I would imagine a split-system air-conditioner for each ward needing cooling would be quiet and it would provide an immediate solution to what I think is an urgent matter.

Having many small air-conditioning units would provide a buffer between the hospital's need and the possible breakdown of a huge system, and the danger of legionnaire's disease would be non-existent except for the existing partial system.

I am always puzzled at the methods of big bureaucracies in dealing with matters such as the cooling problem for the hospital. Having many coolers automatically introduces reliability along with minimum cost and the ability to quickly cope with breakdowns should they occur.

I believe that without sufficient cooling the effectiveness of the hospital is compromised and, considering our climate, delay in dealing with the problem intolerable.

Lionel W. Doolan

New Lambton

December 30

Tate judged on casting vote

SOME years ago when John Tate was first elected Lord Mayor people who knew I had an interest in local government asked me how I thought he would go. My reply was we can only wait and see and judge at the end of his term.

We will now be able to say that he used his casting vote to allow support in principle for a 26-storey building to be built that is way outside the height code for development in Newcastle.

Is this the same man who stood beside the people in the 1980s and 1990s, led by Joy Bond and the combined residents' groups to prevent a 34-storey tower being built on the Telstra site?

Shame, John, shame.

Fae Elsley

Hamilton South, December 26

Damning review of rail closure

CONCERNING Professor Graham Currie's damning review of the proposed Newcastle City rail closure ("Rail decision way off track", Herald 22/12), you may quibble with some details, but the key points are clear.

The Government's anti-rail reports greatly underestimated the delay and inconvenience of forcing users to change to a bus at Broadmeadow. Thus they underestimated the likely loss of patronage, with implications for traffic congestion and parking demand as former train users take cars instead.

The economic impacts report, which former Transport Minister Michael Costa used to justify closing the line, was seriously flawed and its conclusions are invalid.

The proposed closure is inconsistent with broader planning policies to encourage use of public transport in cities.

These points come from Professor Currie's analysis of the documents and are not affected by who he did or did not meet in Newcastle, which seems to be the only point that Lord Mayor John Tate can find to criticise him on.

Geoff Dawson

Narrabundah, December 30

Letter of the week

Each week the letter judged the best, most succinct and interesting will win two tickets to a Hunter Pirates game at the Newcastle Entertainment Centre, courtesy of The Herald. The winner will be announced each Saturday on this page.

© 2006 Newcastle Herald

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