Recently I was on the receiving end of such an act of kindness. My paper shopping bag split in the car park on my way back to the car.

Seeing my plight, a kind woman came to my aid with a spare shopping bag so that I was able to retrieve my shopping and continue to the car. She didn't want the bag back. Thank you, you made my day.

WHEN are the ratepayers going to be asked by councils for their opinions on changing names?

To change the name of a bridge to make amends for the sins of the past achieves nothing but it encourages those who wish to divide us into tribes to look under every rock, seeking to destroy every vestige of white civilisation in this country of ours.

Why is it that those who marched in the Black Lives Matter protests ignore the plight of Aboriginal women and children in remote communities and rural towns?

Where is the outrage for the women who are being murdered and badly beaten via domestic violence or the sexual assaults that are being perpetrated on young Aboriginal children by Aboriginals some being family members? Why is it more important to fight for the change of a bridge name than it is to fight for the welfare of Aboriginal women and children?

It would seem that the Black Lives Matter movement both here and overseas really doesn't care for all black lives or they would do something about these crimes against humanity.

Maybe a change of name to "Only Some Black Lives Matter" would be a more honest name. I watch these people march and scream obscenities about equality, while ignoring those who are really being hurt.

You really are hypocrites. One can hope that the other two councils demand more than window dressing when it comes to Aboriginals here in Australia.

WHEN we moved to Carrick nine years ago, we were assured by Meander Valley Council that it would remain a village.

Through council inefficiency and greed, there are now subdivisions being set up both within the township and at the perimeters.

We have not enough water pressure to water our gardens, the showers are weak.

Many of the newer houses are not even on town water or sewerage, so internal blocks are being sold off for units.

If the council wish to develop Carrick into another Hadspen, then we require the infrastructure such as properly widened roads, footpaths, our roadside ditches need filling in so stormwater can be properly disposed of.

This needs to be a council expense and not grabbed back via rate increases.

We don't have childcare, even the "park" toilet block is locked because the council can't be bothered fixing it.

We can't even get a bus into Launceston even though the route stops a mere 10km in Rutherglen at Hadspen. I see ex Meander Valley councillors have jumped ship to enter state politics.

I hope they intend to serve the greater community better than they have served us.

WHILE I congratulate the government for finally making a stand they once again haven't looked at history.

I worked dredging the river back in the late 1980s when the silt ponds were first filled.

Everyone patted themselves on the back for the silt removal, but within a year those of us who had carried out the work come to the realisation that the weight of silt in the ponds was forcing mud deeper down back into the river and thereby negating all that work.

The silt needs to be removed from the flood plain area altogether if dredging is going to have any real impact other than short term.

THE Premier has promised that a majority Liberal government would spend $4

million on dredging the Tamar River, adding "We're going to fix this. It's not acceptable, the state of the river at the moment".

A 2011 report, one of many, states that the problems with mud and silt buildup in the river began when the Trevallyn Dam was constructed in 1955 and that dredging is not the solution.

In 2019, the Hydro announced the start of a feasibility assessment of pumped hydro development opportunities at North West and West Coast power schemes.

Why won't they consider such a development for the Trevallyn power station?

Pumping water from the Tamar River back to Lake Trevallyn overnight when demand and power prices are low and returning the flow down the South Esk to pre-1955 levels.

The Hydro apparently uses technical, environmental, social and economic factors to make the assessment on the viability of a pumped hydro development.

There are clearly many social and economic benefits to Launceston if the mud and silt buildup could be eliminated, but the Hydro's economic considerations are the costs and benefits in a future electricity market, that is profits for them.

The 2011 report also stated that "If the Trevallyn power station generating project was proposed today, what was done in the 50s would not be accepted".

Perhaps an incoming government could have the guts to tell Hydro to fix the problem they created 66 years ago.