Forty-one years on residents along the route have had to put up with ever increasing numbers of heavy vehicles, motorists bypassing Newstead and the city, excessive noise, dust that settles on cars and residences, vibration, increased vehicle emissions and ongoing pavement damage. The Launceston City Council ignores legitimate complaints of residents with frivolous reasons why solutions cannot be found and implemented.   Will it take a petition of residents to stir an obstinate council into action?

REGRETTABLY there have been significant delays in acting on water and sewage. While the Treasurer, Peter Gutwein, has criticised the local councils and TasWater with respect to the delays, it is important that we monitor progress with the delivery of water and sewerage upgrades that we are now being told that a takeover by the state government of TasWater will deliver the necessary upgrades within a shorter timeframe, in this case five years.

I have consistently argued for the significant capital investment required to deliver the Launceston sewerage improvement plan. At the last federal election, Labor matched rhetoric with a funding commitment of $75 million. 

The editorial correctly places the ball in the court of the federal government, which must now come to the party, hopefully as part of a revised City Deal to deliver the necessary funding to ensure that the sewerage improvement plan is delivered and Launceston's aged combined stormwater and sewerage system receives appropriate attention. I have, in recent months, spoken in parliament on the importance of the sewerage improvement plan. It is important to understand that the ratepayers of Tasmania should not be required to exclusively bear the burden of the capital outlays required to deliver the necessary improvement.

Launceston residents should be concerned that the City of Launceston is continuing a push to make its annual meeting of council a voluntary event (The Examiner, March 12) post the legislative council rejecting this proposal. Employees of the City of Launceston, both elected and unelected, should be held directly accountable for funds spent, decisions made and the future policy direction of Launceston.

While few residents attend the meeting, it is a cornerstone of civic governance to allow this to occur and information from that meeting distributed throughout the preceding 12 months. Given issues relating to aldermen attendance at the City of Launceston, residents must know when their representatives show up to work for them.

THERE’S no doubt there are many saddened to learn of the death of the cartoon series Footrot Flats creator (New Zealand's) Murray Ball.  Mr Ball's cartoon drew on the foibles of the characters such as a Border Collie simply called the 'Dog' along and his owner 'Wal" Footrot, with much humour coming from making fun of the daily struggles of farming life, which farmers themselves could identify with, let alone the rest of us. We say, Murray Ball, you put many a daily smile on our dials, thanks for the legacy.