Drug rehabilitation
CAN someone please explain the sense of putting a residential drug rehabilitation facility on the main street in the middle of Meander, opposite the Meander Hall and community sports ground? It is not the right place for such a facility, irrespective of who runs it. Teen Challenge supporters ignore this fact with amazing persistence, even though other residential rehabilitation facilities in “peaceful rural settings” in Australia are located well outside towns/villages, or are well removed from other residences.
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Members of the Meander Area Residents and Ratepayers Association Inc live in Meander and care about Meander. When the planning application for Teen Challenge’s proposed drug rehabilitation facility was advertised, there were 49 representations against and 39 representations supporting the facility. Ninety per cent of the 49 against representations were from Meander residents, of the 39 supporting representations, 18 per cent were confirmed as Meander residents, 60 per cent were not Meander residents, and the rest were unknown because no address was provided. Says it all.
Bodhi McSweeney, Meander.
Violence and White Ribbon
I AGREE with George Manifold (June 5) that we need to to get serious about all violent and disrespectful behaviour be it in a domestic or wider setting. However Mr Manifold’s understanding of the White Ribbon campaign is a little narrow.
The White Ribbon campaign is starting to stimulate discussion in the wider community and bringing domestic violence out from behind the closed doors and community silence that has allowed such violence to continue for decades.
White Ribbon does not demonise all men. Ambassadors widely acknowledge that not all men are offend and that violence against women is perpetrated by a very small minority of men, but with too often deadly consequences.
Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that one in six women have experienced intimate partner violence while one in 20 men have had that experience. Statistics from The Australian Institute of Criminology show 75 per cent of victims of intimate partner violence are female.
There clearly is an issue and an inequity based on gender in this matter. While the Pink Ribbon campaign chooses to particularly fight breast cancer so White Ribbon chooses to campaign particularly for women because of those statistics which by the way don’t include the children damaged by these acts of violence. It doesn’t mean that White Ribbon campaigners don’t share concerns about violence in general or that we shoot the blame for ugly and disrespectful behaviour simply based on gender.
Instead of criticising the North Midlands Council for showing some initiative perhaps Mr Manifold would like to attend a White Ribbon meeting or start his own campaign and become an active participant in the discussions about what we as a community can do to stop violence of all types.
Carol Fuller, Launceston.
Mountain bike tourism
IN response to The Examiner (June 20) “Labor back bike tourism’’, it appears the Hodgman Liberal government’s 2017-18 state budget is so good even the Opposition wants to take credit for it. The inexperienced Labor Leader Bec White has added her voice to leading commentators to support the budget and even claims credit for it. You can imagine my surprise when I read that “The Labor government has pledged $1 million to back mountain biking tourism in St Helens”.
Memo to Ms White: thanks for supporting the Liberal’s budget which already includes $1 million funding for mountain bike tourism in St Helens and more in the North East. As they say, imitation is the highest form of flattery and given the failure of Labor to deliver a fully-funded alternative budget, I’m not surprised Ms White wants to try and coast in on Liberal coat-tails.