Responding to John Schumann: SA’s algal bloom and the big, beautiful, bureaucratic ballet

It was refreshing to read John Schumann’s article questioning the government’s slow response to the algal bloom disaster. My immediate thoughts are that it was discovered in March when the government’s focus was on Mad March and all associated events. Keeping the masses entertained is one thing, but the real job of the government is to deal with things like the algal bloom, not smother it in bureaucracy. Don’t blame it on other factors and then use taxpayer funds to support the businesses crippled by the algal bloom. I hope this is a reminder that sports and other events aren’t why the state elected the Malinauskas government. They are supposed to be the icing on the cake, not the cake itself. Time for Pete to stop looking smart and start acting smart. Footy matches and golf tournaments are infantile when compared to livelihoods and the survival of communities. – Dan Schmidt

Responding to ‘Since Easter’: Fisher claims species has vanished amid algal bloom

This is an absolute ecological disaster, and we know it, yet we entertain the idea that the sadness of those who have exploited these ‘resources’ and made a good living out of it is the victims now. Clearly, industry activity is a front and centre contributory cause, including the fishing and aquaculture industry.

Are we not actually concerned about species and environmental loss, but just the loss of food and the hunter’s income?

Sad times. – Judy Horsfall

Responding to Sarah Game calls Liberal response on abortion ‘wussy’

There is a cruel impracticality in this attempt to politicise and distort the current pregnancy termination legislation. The legislation, as it stands, permits and regulates late pregnancy termination when the mother is at risk of serious mental or physical disease. This encompasses clearly defined clinical disorders that pose a substantial threat to the pregnant woman. This clarity will be lost in the proposed amended legislation, in which the sole maternal indication is ‘a threat to the mother’s life’. Such a threat is difficult, if not impossible, to clinically identify, verify or predict.

This indication is unrealistic and impractical, and is only valid if and when the mother dies, which I assume would be an undesirable outcome, even to the most rabid anti-abortionist. – Warren Jones

Responding to Adelaide specialists continue battle over long Covid

More than 20 years ago, I suffered for two years with what was then called chronic fatigue syndrome, after contracting a nasty virus following a trip to Thailand.

Many of the symptoms sound exactly the same. I, too, struggled with work, social life and, often, simply getting out of bed.

I hope those studying Long Covid are using the research others have done into chronic fatigue syndrome.

For those suffering today, have faith and be positive. I got back to hard work and adventuring (this letter is coming to you from Tanzania, where I’m camping – not glamping), and I remain fit and healthy.

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You learn a lot from this kind of experience: Listening to your body, giving in when fatigue strikes, patience, mind control and determination.

Regrettably, you also learn about other people in your life and their ability, or lack thereof, to empathise and understand.

Turn this awful experience into a positive and know that you’re not the first – and not alone. – Bunty Parsons

Responding to Plan to slash city speed limits hits road bump

First it’s 50, then it will be 40, then 30 kilometres per hour. Pedestrians and cyclists also need to be aware not to break laws and wander all over the road, etc. Roads were built for vehicle transit. I now rarely go to the city due to all its restrictions – hardly see a cyclist and have difficulty parking. But the Adelaide City Council has been hijacked by the Greenies. – John Lewis

Dequetteville Terrace should also be a 50-kilometre-per-hour zone. There’s a school, and it takes heavy traffic that often speeds.

Do we have to wait for a serious accident before any changes are made? – Barbara Fergusson

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Do these councillors live in a cave? Lowering the speed limit will cause more frustration, and where does it stop? Adelaide is not Amsterdam, where bicycles are the main means of transport. Get out of your ivory towers. – Geoff Rawson

Responding to ‘Piece of the puzzle’: Spotlight on Mount Barker’s relentless growth

The article seems to have been written keeping in mind the investors/builders, not renters/tenants. We all know the bottleneck as the Victoria Road reaches Cross Road and the kiosk begins. What’s the logic behind development in the Mount Barker area? If researched enough, one will get the answer. It would be better if the decision makers go beyond their personal gains and contribute. – Amarjit Bhattal

Responding to Controversial 14-storey tower approved – on a single CBD block

Unbelievable! Anything over three or four storeys means that residents must use the elevator whether they like it or not, and are trapped in this tower in the sky.

The example of social housing by Nightingale at Bowden is exemplary in my opinion, as it gives residents their community space and lawn on the top floor.

This means they’re not restricted to using dodgy stairwells or trapped in lifts to get some air and sunshine.

Too right – this development gives the middle finger to social housing. 😔 – Paul Harding

Reminds me of The Tower built in Battersea, London, in the ‘60s – the building into which my mother-in-law was moved. It swayed in the wind, and it didn’t take long for mattresses to be thrown over the top floors because the lifts were often out of order. It was burnt to the ground eventually. People’s lives were lost. Too difficult for the fire brigade to reach.

I hope your council meeting considered these dreadful problems. Even today, lifts and escalators do malfunction. Try the Marion shopping centre? – Anne Benn

Responding to Should Adelaide be more like Paris? | Deputy Lord Mayopr decable | Canola photo op no-go

Poor Nick Champion – you have to feel sorry for the guy.

The planning minister is getting all the heat for the long string of terrible planning permissions given the go-ahead in the city of Adelaide.

But, of course, it’s not the Minister’s fault – he’s operating under restrictions and a lack of power.

The real culprit behind the problems lies with the agency responsible: the State Commission Assessment Panel (SCAP).

With the latest community heartbreak over yet another rubber-stamped development approval, fresh in people’s thoughts, is it time to have a look at the agency and a reset of policy and direction?

SCAP, as an agency, should be in place to shepherd and direct the community forward, helping Adelaide move towards being a better city; it’s not meeting that brief.

It’s a failure and time for an overhaul.

The long and growing list of development approvals that are now in place and causing genuine angst among residents should be sending warning signals to our elected officials.

The most obvious example is the destruction of the much-loved Cranker precinct.

The bulldozing of our built heritage in favour of a high-rise dormitory is a failure of officialdom on many levels.

But it’s not just the Cranker: there are many, many more.

The Whitmore Square decision, seemingly a decision to favour development over every other concern, is yet another example.

Here it seems is a development that nobody wants and nobody thinks is appropriate, as is the 34-level dorm block due to tower over the heritage-listed Duke of York Hotel in Currie Street

Is a high-rise dormitory, one aspect of which is a blank concrete wall, really what Adelaide thinks is a step forward in city development?

A forward-thinking government would have zoned an area, the West End, for instance, as appropriate for student housing, and then gone big with it; build a whole community centred around students.

But it’s not just student housing as an issue.

The lost opportunity for the development behind Parliament House is awful.

Not the idea of developing the area – it’s a good area to revisit – it’s the approval to build the Walker Corp plan itself, a building so ordinary, so bland, so run of the mill.

That hurts; it’s a premium site with a budget outcome.

SCAP seems to have either lost connection with the community or never had it.

Height restrictions? Don’t worry, just ignore them.

Over shadowing? Not our concern.

Heritage listed? Who cares, just knock it over.

Privacy? Noise? Overcrowding? Forget all about them.

It’s time for an overhaul of SCAP, from the top down, a new CEO and board members, and a fresh look at their operating guidelines.

I will finish with a statement that I shouldn’t be able to make.

There hasn’t been an interesting building erected in Adelaide this century. No architectural triumphs, no design classics, not even a slightly interesting apartment complex.

Nothing this century.

You could argue that SAMRHI, the cheese-grater, on North Terrace is the exception, and you might be correct.

However, while it’s interesting for Adelaide, on a national or world stage, it’s just okay.

Adelaide needs more than just okay. – Ross Duncan