The renewed levees were designed to protect the city from a one-in-200-year flood based on a 2008 study.

The more accurate 2018 BMT report shows that if there was a one-in-200-year flood now, the levees would be overtopped, and Inveresk would suffer a two-to-five-metre deep flood of hazard class 5 – defined as unsafe for vehicles and people; all buildings vulnerable to structural damage.

These BMT reports should be of serious concern to ratepayers and must give pause to any reconsideration of the UTAS Inveresk Precinct. As the council commissioned the report and has gifted Inveresk public land to UTAS, it is the responsibility of the council to take the initiative in acting publicly on the 2018 BMT report.

If UTAS decides/is allowed to continue with Inveresk there will be an additional $400 million set of assets constructed behind the levees, and there is likely to be pressure from UTAS, to raise and strength the levees – a very expensive undertaking which is the responsibility of the council.

How would the council obtain funds for this? Ideally, there should be a joint announcement in the immediate future from UTAS and the council about the status of the UTAS Inveresk project, in view of the BMT report.

HOORAY at long last we are about to see some movement on the proposed cat management legislation but will it be enough to solve the problems, quite often literally laid at our doorsteps by these furry feline killers? I think not (The Examiner, March 9).

Primary Industries Minister Guy Barnett says “local government was key to cat management” and Latrobe Council has certainly shown the way it can be done but remain the only council to introduce an appropriate bylaw with the remaining 28 councils, apart from Kingborough, extremely reluctant to follow Latrobe's excellent example.

There are some good moves contained in the proposed legislation such as compulsory desexing and microchipping but other than that it contains little to reduce the havoc and destruction wreaked by killer cats amongst native wildlife, especially birds, with absolutely no requirements for cat owners to confine cats to their premises, the compulsory registration of cats and will restrictions on the number of cats permitted on a single property be enough to make a difference?

Do you know what to do if someone has a seizure? Purple Day is on March 26, and this year Epilepsy Action Australia is encouraging Australians to learn the basics of seizure first aid in order to reduce the fear they may experience if someone has a seizure in front of them and needs help.

Epilepsy Action has produced a series of animated videos for both children and adults that your readers can view the at www.epilepsy.org.au under ‘Purple Day’. You can also find out how to get involved in Purple Day activities on the website.

Around 250,000 Australians are currently diagnosed with epilepsy, and approximately 3.5 per cent of the Australian population will experience this neurological disorder at some point in their lifetime.

Knowing how to help someone having a seizure can literally save a person’s life.

Seizure first aid key steps:

On behalf of all Australians living with epilepsy, thank you in advance to your local community for supporting Epilepsy Action Australia this Purple Day.

Your support helps to ensure people living with epilepsy can lead optimal lives.

I’M looking at my birth certificate.

It records the birth names, dates, and birthplaces of my mother and father, and so identifies my biological and ethnic heritage.

It records the date and place of my own birth, and so identifies my existence within human history, and my national and cultural roots. It tells me that I am a male, and so identifies the reproductive role that God and nature have assigned me.

My birth certificate is a precious and accurate record of my fundamental identity, and though I have become more than these things, I will never become less.

The shrill demand that we erase male and female from our children’s birth certificates is an attack on their identity, a creepy abuse of power that Tasmanian parliamentarians have no place in defending.

I HOPE candidates in the looming election do not use ridiculous motherhood statements as I recently heard from one candidate.

To refer to our hospitals as being in crisis is a total overstatement when the experience of most is positive.

Hospitals have difficulty in coping occasionally with demand does not mean they are in crisis.

Similarly to talk of schools missing out is so generalised to be meaningless.

What are they missing out on - teachers, spaces, learning resources?

Most schools are now far better off than ever. There are still steps we can take needs specificity.

So candidates, please do not earn the ire of electors by making ridiculous sweeping statements.