With an eye to heritage, he refurbished the old lower Charles Street engineering buildings as the headquarters for his vehicle distributorship. He saved the historic C H Smith building, converted the decaying dry dock to become Peppers Hotel, built the Seaport apartments and restaurant facilities and provided a marina for public use.

Most recently, he converted the redundant silos to become a leading hotel with significant improvements to the surrounding riverbank. These are all waterfront developments which have become Launceston's main gathering and recreational areas.

He is also 100 per cent correct of course about the barrage.

The upper reaches of sediment is caused by flocculation when the two freshwater rivers meet the saline tide at Launceston. For many reasons, including flood risk, it is important to either remove the sediment or move the flocculation zone closer to the sea for flushing on the ebb tide.

The freshwater reservoir created would hold 80 per cent the volume of Sydney Harbour, strategically adjacent to Bell Bay and farmlands. Fees for a virtually unlimited fresh water supply to industry and agriculture would repay the cost of construction.

WITH an energy crisis on the mainland, I was concerned to read Hydro Tasmania's announcement that "dam storage levels were at 32.7 per cent, due to a dry summer and autumn" and that "energy storages have crossed the prudent storage level", "Tasmanian Parliament's resumption to be delayed" (The Examiner, August 2).

With a steady decline in rainfall over Tasmania's hydropower dam catchments of about 30mm a decade, it's clear that climate change has implications for energy security.

While the decision to export and sell electricity while prices are high, via Basslink, is understandable, it is yet another example of prioritisation of the dollar.

Given the strongest and most reliable winds in Australia are at Tasmania's latitude, offshore wind, with pumped hydro storage, looks like the answer.

WE have rates going up, water rates going up and people living in tents within a short distance of the council chambers and what is our council doing?

It is installing showers for its employees who have decided to cycle to work so that they can have a shower once they arrive. How dare it use our rate money for a select few who have chosen that method of arriving at work.

The money could be better spent trying to accommodate those who have nothing rather than those who have a well-paid job and the money to spend on expensive bikes.

It seems Launceston is one of the worst cities in Australia to ride a bike and, living at Trevallyn, I can guarantee that.

Spend our money wisely please to help everyone, not the privileged few.

WITH the population of Tasmania in 2022 being 526,386 and a new stadium costing about $750,000, and the majority not wanting it, that equates to about $1050 a person.

Being it is supposedly a democracy we live in, shouldn't a project of this magnitude be put to a vote? If it is not, I think it will be at the next election.

BIODIVERSITY in crisis means we are dangerously losing intricate, multi-species plant and animal communities at an alarming rate.

Yet, at the stroke of a pen, state and city planners recently changed zoning on a scarce little pocket of bushland on the Launceston golf course ready to be cleared for a housing subdivision.

In a modern ecological age, rather than simply flattening all life within, the golf club's members could have been justly proud of their commitment since 1934 to share their patch as a legally declared nature reserve.

To be honoured to nurture this little gem. To have the joy of its bird-song and natural beauty on the doorstep.

While Tasmania's State of the Environment report lies unseen under blankets of paper work and politics, treasure like this is destined to be destroyed, whether we care for it or not.

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