Its 'shabby chic' look is purely cosmetic and attributable to a botched paint job done in 1975. And the exterior fits its Gothic Florid architectural style and looks spectacular when lit up.

Just over a decade ago the interior was restored and converted into a modern work and recreation space by the previous owners and it is stunning.

I have been showcasing Chalmers to visitors and locals for almost a decade and people love it just the way it is.

As to Milton Hall, the painting has only just finished so I'm sure its name will be put back on it again soon.

Geoff McLean, Launceston

WHAT a fabulous initiative is the Gather Round. But how come all those grounds do not require a billion dollar roofed stadium to be viable?

Michael Wingrove, Launceston

DUAYNE Pearce (The Examiner, April 3) bells the cat with his comments about the size of modern homes. 4 bedroom, 3 bath, 3 car garage dwellings as typical simply indicates a market hooked on extravagance with various drivers.

Firstly it is little wonder there is a dearth of supply since it takes more labour, materials and cost to build bigger homes. The average home footprint in this country is about 200 square metres.

Bigger homes also implies larger blocks albeit reduced from the 'quarter acre block' of yesteryear, 400 - 500 square metres is the typical size.

By comparison older, inner city lots are more like half that yet can readily take a 100 square metre footprint townhouse/terrace dwelling with rear car access, 3 bedroom (1 down, 2 up) and living space opening to a rear courtyard.

The latter dwelling has clearly evident appeal with premium pricing in older inner suburbs yet is completely absent from new subdivisions as are say local shops with adjacent public green space.

Even more bizarre is the fact that the older, denser suburbs have far more tree cover than the new black roof macburbs with their heat island effect of 5 to 10 degrees celsius encouraging greater use / need of air conditioning.

And governments crap on energy supply sources. How about some rational attention to energy demand to build and run modern housing, let alone the implicit high requirement for travel by car.

The planning rules are obviously a complete joke, focussed on some geometric trivialities and written in simplistic terms.

Mike Seward, Port Fairy VIC

The Don River Railway's ongoing vision to secure funding to redevelop Northern Tasmania into a world-class rail experience is more than extremely inspiring.

It starts in our own backyard with modern facilities, an interactive museum with the signature piece being regular excursions along our stunning Northern Tasmanian coastline, connecting businesses and offering something we can be very proud of.

While their board and management team pursue federal and state funding to develop this in full, great to read all is progressing in the background with plenty of on the ground work underway thanks to earlier state funding.

So much potential for Tasmania to greatly benefit from another sophisticated rail corridor that brings in those elusive tourist dollars.

New State Government, so we've now got to think seriously big for the future of our beautiful state.

Bruce Webb, Launceston

AUSTRALIA is already known as a major exporter of coal and gas and our Federal Government is attempting to approve many more coal and gas mines.

Our country is fast becoming a stand out contributor to human caused climate change.

Is this the reputation that the people of Australia want for their country?

Brian Measday, Kingswood SA