Fruit and vegetable waste
AFTER watching War on Waste on the ABC, I now understand the true meaning of the word obscene. It relates to the cosmetic standards that the two large supermarket companies apply to our fruit and vegetables. These draconian rules then force our growers to toss out tons of food because some of it is growing to nature’s rules. A message to supermarkets from the public should be that we don’t need absolute perfection, just perfectly edible food. Nature isn’t perfect so why try to force it, when all that happens is that prices are forced up simply because of the waste generated by these practices.
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Ron Baines, Kings Meadows.
Seaport bridge
IN REGARDS to the letter “Missed Opportunities” by Jim Dickenson (The Examiner, May 24), I sincerely hope that your proposal for a Bailey Bridge as access to the North Bank from Seaport was tongue in cheek. My first thought when I saw the council proposed design for the bridge was that the design engineer opened his "book on bridge design" directly to Bailey Bridges - trusty, basic and cheap. The development of the North Bank is deserving of an access facility with more aesthetic appeal than the very basic bridge proposed.
If from an engineering principle it must be a trussed structure at least exercise a little imagination and explore the suitability of a design utilising a Bowstring truss or Lenticular truss design that offer some visual appeal. I fully agree with your first letter and concur with the preference for a suspension bridge (based on aesthetics) and dare I suggest that the design be revisited with both an architect and engineer brainstorming ideas to present a structure worthy of inclusion in the North Bank development.
Alan Roberts, Riverside.
North-East Railway
THE federal government under the National Stronger Regions Fund has allocated a $1.47 million grant to the Dorset Council with matching funding to be found from Dorset ratepayers of $1.47 million to create a cycle path (under the guise of a rail trail). This is from Coldwater Creek near Launceston to Scottsdale. There was no community consultation before this grant was submitted, just letters written to affected landowners. The grant proposed is to rip up an existing heritage railway line that has been assessed by qualified professionals to be 95 per cent ready for use. This asset is estimated to be valued at $40 million and it can be used productively for our community. To replace this existing infrastructure with a cycle path will be in the order of $5 million.
Tourist/Heritage rail operations in Australia have turned communities around. They have created training opportunities and jobs for people out of work, as well as giving volunteers ownership and pride in an asset. They use private industry pledges and donated money to create heritage rail experiences. These heritage railways encompass the whole community - the elderly, people with disabilities, children and tourists. The rail proponents have pledges to the value of $1.4 million and 51 volunteers qualified in all aspects of railway maintenance and reconstruction. This Heritage Railway would be the longest in Australia. It will create economic development and job opportunities. This would be a huge addition to existing tourist attractions.
Wendy McLennan, Bridport.
University Inveresk
WITH regards to the map in The Examiner (May 23) showing the expected sea level incursion into the Inveresk precinct. This means any child born today and lives to my age will see the proposed university’s Inveresk campus underwater. There will be no returning to the present Newnham site. Presumably UTAS, who wants to be alongside the CBD, will then be out in the sticks. Can the promoters come up with a reason to validate this waste of taxpayers’ money?
