Obviously as tourism providers in Beechworth we are fully aware and very thankful for the many wonderful assets our town has to offer our visitors. However our council and its tourism department is the source of our anger, along with its treatment and lack of consultation with us. These things are not apparent to you as visitors, for which we are thankful.

In October 2015, the council stripped us of an extremely efficient booking system which had been operating very efficiently for us, with no advance warning or consultation with us. One day we had the booking system, the next day it was gone.

In conjunction with Tourism North East, they have spent thousands and thousands of our tourism budget dollars on trying to implement a new system - which to date does not work, and which will take more money and time to get to a functioning position.

In the meantime, their intention was to cut back the services of our Visitor Information Office, to cut back the professional staff who operated the VIO extremely successfully, and have interactive screens and brochures with a few volunteers in attendance.

The VIO has also been stopped from making accommodation bookings on behalf the of visitors, which therefore cuts their income now losing commissions.

Our town has a wealth of aspects to attract visitors, as you so well point out, but a great many regional towns all offer similar attractions – wine, food, beauty, cycling, etc.

We have the distinction of being  the best preserved gold mine town in Victoria, if not the country.

So we feel that we should utilise this fact as our point of difference, to be used with all the other reasons to visit Beechworth. 

In the day of competing for the tourist dollar, would that not be a sensible thing to do? To have a real point of difference in addition to all the other wonderful attractions we have, which are shared by numerous other areas?

Please be aware that we are not whinging or trying to harm our tourism. Exactly the opposite is true but we do need a change from council and our tourism department who only deal in numbers and charts, and not with you the tourists. We thank you for your responses and time.

I keep reading that Britain's influence in the world will decrease as a result of the Brexit, but that is not what I have seen on my recent travels through Europe.

Britain is filling the front pages and many other pages of all the political and economic media across the world.

In Europe it has set an example, and is being seen as an inspiration by a significant portion of the people of the continent.

Whether you agree with the Brexit or not there is no doubt that through this decision Britain has stepped out of the crowd.

It is no longer following the pack that is the EU, it has stepped forward and has started on a new path.

To me it seems that Britain has not lost its influence in the world through this decision but regained its position as a leader. In the past, the Britons have often trod a different path to the rest of Europe and humanity has benefitted immensely from it. Once again Britain has dared to be different. Once again Britain is making history while the rest of the world looks on.

Far from reducing its influence the Brexit has reminded the world that Britain still matters, and it matters not because of the size of its economy, but because it can take decisions which make it stand out. The Brexit has shown the world that Britain is still brave enough to be a leader and there can be no greater influence than leadership.