Commenting on the story: Council revs up heritage listing for ex-CBD car race circuit 

The Council has again taken leave of its senses. What it is now seeking to do is memorialise an ephemeral event, which is not what heritage listing is about.

The park lands are already listed and this protection should never have been trampled on to create a car-racing track. To be true to its so-called environmental credentials, the council should tear up the track and replace it with green cover, predominately trees. – David Plumridge

Council needs to stop wasting time and money on outdated events and infrastructure. Spend time and money on safer commuting corridors for bikes and scooters. Scooters need to be off the sidewalk, before someone is seriously injured or killed.

Heritage listing an outdated race track is laughable. – David Folkers

Is this some kind of sad joke? – Steve Wilson

Commenting on the story: Ali Clarke: If only Fringe performers were footballers

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Ali Clarke’s article about Fringe performers and Arts performers more broadly, is a timely reminder of how marginal the sector as a whole has become, but it also falls short of the mark in terms of the scope of the impacts effecting the arts.It seems that the vast majority of discussion on this issue focuses solely on the performers/artists – those most visible to the viewing public.

What gets so often overlooked is the fact that there are hundreds of people behind the scenes enabling the performances – the mechs, the stage managers, lighting and sound designers and operators, costume designers, set builders, truck drivers – and the list goes on.

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All these people have been severely impacted by decades of governmental neglect, followed by COVID’s knockout punch. The Performing Arts sector was excluded from most COVID support programs, and so many people in these roles have left the industry over the past couple of years that companies are struggling, particularly small-medium companies that don’t have the funding of, say, The Fringe, The Festival or State Theatre Company.

The performers are important, but they’re only the face of a serious problem that extends much deeper, and this needs to be acknowledged and addressed by those with the means to do so. – Cass Selwood

Why compare a “Fringe” performance – as opposed to the world’s best circuses – with AFL footballers, who are the elite of their chosen profession? It’s apples and avocados – not even oranges.

There are plenty of amateur and semi-professional footballers in the SANFL who face the similar issues you’ve described regarding the time and effort involved to train, stay fit, watch their diets etc and then have a comparatively small audience to see the performance and receive very little media or other coverage.

The main differences are they don’t have to flier for an audience, the Government doesn’t provide several million in annual support funding to the organisation, and tickets are usually much cheaper for one show a week. And I’m pretty sure there are green smoothies for sale at the Garden – for a pretty high price no doubt. There’s also the artists’ support fund and the option when buying tickets to add a donation.

I’m a big fan of the Fringe as well – I’ll see about 50 shows – but there is no social media manager, personal manager or PR team for the vast majority of footballers either.

Some of the Fringe acts we’ll very possibly both see, on the other hand? Perhaps your comments should be more in regard to acts like Tommy Little, Lano & Woodley, Arj Barker, Jimeoin, Stephen K Amos, Akmal and some of the other less actual “Fringe” performers attracting 80% of ticket sales. – Tony Dawkins

Thank you Ali. But now there is another issue. Covid-19 and the discrepancies between support, isolation etc.

Fringe casts are falling to being close contacts but yet our children can sit next to positive case at schools and still attend. Aaargh. – Vashti JanzenCommenting on the story: Some COVID restrictions eased in South Australia

It is nice to see that restrictions are easing, but the truth is that it has gone far enough and overseas we see total abandonment of masks, restrictions, vaccine mandates etc, so it is about time that these people just did the same and let people get on with life.

The continued restrictions, vaccine mandates and mask mandates are not necessary. It seems that these people cannot let go of the power that they have and admit that all these rules do not have any real effect and are not necessary any more. – Malcolm Eglington

Commenting on the story: Goodwood overpass and bikeway plan divides community

I live in Black Forest, I’m a cyclist and I use the bike path regularly.

I think bike paths are wonderful, they are really the only safe way to ride on our roads. But under no circumstances do I want trees and koala habitats destroyed in order to provide this overpass. I might add that there is a safe way of accessing the same path via back streets – there is no need to cross railway lines.

It seems ludicrous that this overpass will end up being larger than the one which runs adjacent to the tram line and crosses over South Rd. – Aura Valli

Ever since the Glenelg Tramline opened in 1929, public transport users have been complaining about the fact that anyone wishing to transfer between tram and train had a 500 metre walk between the station and the available tram stops at Goodwood Road and at Leah Street.

The opportunity to provide a tram stop on the bridge is now, when the Government is providing a bike and pedestrian way over the bridge with elevators connecting the bridge with the two railway platforms. Anywhere else in the world with an interest in improving public transport would be providing a facility here to allow passengers to transfer.

Such a transfer facility would allow passengers from along the tram line to transfer to trains to Belair, Flinders Uni and Seaford, or to Adelaide if they want a quick trip to North Terrace. The facility would also allow passengers from the trains from those lines to transfer to a tram if they wish to travel more quickly to Wayville, the southern part of the city and Victoria Square.

The Government has said that a tram stop is not necessary because there are other options such as bus, but that argument could be used for not making any improvements to the road network as well, and many people would only use a bus if they were paid to do so.

We need to be making public transport as convenient as possible. A major criticism of public transport in Adelaide is the paucity of inter-suburban services. Such a train-tram transfer point would assist in improving cross-suburban access. – Tom Wilson