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Your views: on city laneways, skilled migrants, Service SA and Kimba nuclear dump

Today, readers comment on a walking link from the Central Market to Riverbank, skilled migrants versus local unemployment, the shift from counter to online, and a national nuclear waste storage site.

Feb 25, 2020, updated Feb 25, 2020
Image: supplied

Image: supplied

Commenting on the story: City laneway facelift hits roadblock

It was interesting to read about the program for completion of the Riverbank to Market Laneway project. 

Working in the city is always challenging, with the level of construction activity coupled with major services upgrades making programming complex.

Waiting for the completion of the U-City and Her Majesty’s Theatre projects before the Pitt St upgrade starts makes perfect sense. 

There is also a new hotel mooted on Bentham St which may justify delaying work to that section of the route. 

It is disappointing when newly refurbished streets become building sites shortly after construction, so let’s hope that by delaying these sections this will not occur.

It is also disappointing that services providers are only required to replace existing pavement surfaces with bitumen, leaving our streets covered in uneven black scabs.

On a positive note, the Bank St and Topham Mall North works have been very successful and add greatly to the amenity of the area.

They have largely escaped damage from further works, although it would be fantastic to have the temporary yellow access cover that has been in place for over a year removed from Topham Mall and the Currie St and Hindley St footpaths finished. 

Some patching has finally occurred at the Currie St interface, which removed many of the trip hazards, but the excellent work that has been done is still compromised by these unfinished extremities.

This leaves Leigh St and the remainder of Topham Mall. The condition of Topham Mall is acceptable barring the bollard that has appeared midway to warn of uneven pavers. It would definitely benefit from a revamp but remains serviceable. 

Leigh St, on the other hand, is in need of urgent attention. It has very high foot traffic as well as providing outdoor seating for numerous hospitality businesses. 

However, works by multiple services contractors over the past 18 months has left the paving surface damaged, unsafe and unsightly.

 What was a showcase for the city now looks decidedly unloved and presents a real risk to pedestrians and patrons. 

Addressing this section of the Riverbank to Market route as a priority would make sense. It is to be hoped that this work would be undertaken during the quieter winter months and in close consultation with the many businesses located there.

Completion of this section of the route would connect the Bank St and Topham North sections and maximise the benefit to this vibrant part of the city. 

Repairing the paving on Peel St while planning for the remaining sections of the Riverbank to Market Laneway projects takes place wouldn’t go astray either! – Nicolette Di Lernia

It is disappointing the Pitt St upgrade and beautification is not completed in time for the reopening of Her Majesty’s 70 million dollar upgrade. – Keith Herbig

Commenting on the story: Metro closures and a new Hills hub: Service SA plan “back on track”

If more people are using the service online it’s not because they want to, it’s because the preferred face to face service is disappearing. – Stephen Marlow

Commenting on the story: Skilled migrants in SA business sights

We keep hearing about migrant skilled workers, but nothing about training Australian unemployed people being trained to fill them.

SA has the worst unemployment rate in the country. But losing our jobs to immigrants, nice work. Hypocrite government. – Dino Brunato

When will the Federal Government finally acknowledge publicly that their process to establish a nuclear waste dump has not worked.

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All that they have done to date is to destroy the community bond which is the glue that holds any small community together.

They have portrayed the dump to the key communities as a win-win for all.

This they can do easily because they have only told half the story. The good bits.

They have the money to do this as its taxpayers’ money. If the people of South Australia only delved a bit deeper into the nuclear issue, they would soon discover a total mishandling of the truth from our government.

A few unanswered concerns are: 1) Why won’t the department tell the people of Kimba what the CEO of Lucas Heights told the doctor from Hawker in May 2018 that we are lucky to now be receiving intermediate-level waste, because without it there are very little economic benefits to any community.

2) The department will not tell the community how long the highly dangerous intermediate nuclear waste will be temporarily stored. There are no such plans in place at the present to permanently bury this waste as it is too cost prohibitive to do so. This could easily end up stranded for hundreds of years to come in the centre of Eyre Peninsula. If the government watchdog ARPANSA agrees that it is to remain at Lucas Heights, where does that leave the community.

3) Why won’t Sam Chard (Your views, February 19) tell the communities that once legacy waste is collected and stored at the dump, then there will only be about two and a quarter containers annually of low-level waste delivered provided every one chooses to use the dump. This will never provide 45 jobs.

4. A parliamentary enquiry in 2004 in NSW acknowledged it was misleading to the public by ANSTO, rebadging the high-level waste being returned from France and England as intermediate waste.

If Australia has to have a single waste dump for our low and intermediate-level waste then all Australians need to be involved.

Not just kept low key on the few hundred citizens that are at present bulldozed into the decision that needs a national answer. – Leon Ashton

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Send us an email, making it clear which story you’re commenting on and including your full name (required for publication) and phone number (only for verification purposes). Please put “Reader views” in the subject.

We’ll publish the best comments in a regular “Reader Views” post. Your comments can be brief, or we can accept up to 350 words, or thereabouts.                   

 

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