Postponement of the much loved George Street Fiesta
HAVING these much smaller inner city lane-way events as stated in (The Examiner, August 9) can be a positive move towards embracing our forgotten history, but will they contribute towards small business revenues?
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They can be very restrictive to the amount of occupants allowed (occupational health and safety issues) especially in this day and age being most questionable.
They don't contribute to the retail economy nor make a marketing statement that can put the city on the map.
The George Street Fiesta has the potential to grow into a number one marketing event for all businesses across our city in Northern Tasmania.
Many business colleagues agree this city needs several main road PR marketing events, held not on Saturdays causing disrupt and lost of retail revenue but on a Sunday, particularly over a long weekend.
City festivals having major street presence, draw big cash-up crowds and tourists.
Using banners displayed for several weeks hung across main road arteries with re-usable flags strategically used add greatly to punctuating a festival to the masses.
The initial outlay should be paid by a levy on all businesses matched dollar-for-dollar by Cityprom.
Similar festivals held yearly throughout regional Australia are a cash windfall eventually becoming long awaited must-go-to calendar events not only by locals but tourists also. Postponement of this much loved and very popular festival is drawing much criticism. Let's hope the new platform and voice of Cityprom's new initiative strategies will bring in the ringing of many cash registers across town.
Bruce Webb, Launceston.
Legal Aid
THEY cut it here they cut it there the powers that be cut it everywhere.
Now it's the legal aid service meaning that those unfortunate enough to run foul of the law have to represent themselves.
Not being lawyers this could mean they end up in jail, costing the state far more than if they were properly represented.
Our Treasurer may be getting the budget in the black but how exactly.
It seems that money is siphoned off from some agency, put somewhere else or just put straight into treasury coffers so that the government can tell us what a great job they are doing. It's rather like believing that the lemon tree at the bottom of the garden is covered in gold.
Glennis Sleurink, Launceston.
Fake society
IT SEEMS to me, that over time we have become the fake generation.
Fake news - so many biased, unverified reports presented as fact, it's hard to know who and what to believe anymore. Fake gender - persons who are biologically 100 per cent male, legally recognised as women.
Fake meat - to help save the planet. Presumably to encourage us to become vegans by doing away with the meat industry and cattle who pollute the atmosphere with flatulence. However, anyone considering becoming a vegan, should be warned that it can result in severe personality changes that can cause you to illegally invade farms, restaurants and blockade city streets by gluing yourself to the road.
Ian Macpherson, Newstead.
Railway route
REGARDING the railway route from Launceston to Scottsdale, we have recently completed walking the route (a piece at a time) and this is what we found:
There is a wide variety of scenery mostly farmland. Unfriendly dogs are a common encounter. It is easy to get access to walk the rail line at regular crossings.
Several bridges are not safe to cross with the rails hanging out over open space in places with a long drop to the river below. The rails are twisted and bent and the sleepers in very poor shape in places. This is not a track that could be brought back into use with current sleepers.
Some people live in the old railway settlements all along the way even though they are not commercial towns like Lilydale. There is an opportunity for people to service the users of the line whether they are on foot, on bikes or a slow railway.
The route is quite windy and would need to be straightened to go any faster than dead slow. With many steep cuttings and high built-up sections, widening it would be unfeasible. So, could we have a different type of train - a wheeled affair with single cars for one person, and twin cars for two, towed by a driver? To share the road with walkers and riders.
Jan Horton, West Launceston.
North-East line and rail tourism in Tasmania
RAIL tourism is non-existent.
The government have never showed an interest in assisting any of the heritage rail groups, in fact they have placed so many hurdles to prevent access to any lines, used or discussed so it's no surprise there is bias towards a bike track, when heritage groups were operating trains hundreds of people would arrive at small country locations, recall travelling to national parks, Ross or Parratah; the trains were packed particularly if a steam loco was used.
The bicycle lobby has the use of every road in the state including specially built mountain bike tracks and council cycleways, now you want to tear up more of the area's history that is in situ.
If the volunteers of LNER are willing to run tourist trains then stop being selfish and let them. You already have access to the track beyond Scottsdale, no reason an open wagon can't be used on the train to carry bikes and passengers to there.
I am an avid bike rider and have used a lot of the current tracks and cycleways but would love the opportunity to catch a train in Launceston and hop off at Scottsdale station and ride to Derby.
Shane O'Sullivan, Mangalore.