It’s taken 90 years for those magnificent trees to grow into the beautiful, living oak trees we have today; 90 years sheltering us with their shade, 90 years cleaning the air we breathe, 90 years providing habitat and a life source for our bird life and other living creatures that form part of our eco-system.

That’s not to mention the sheer beauty they add to the street, candy to our eyes, calm to our agitated lives, providing us with reason to take a stroll under their shade. 

Almost 100 years, and the best we can do is cut them down and fool ourselves in thinking that soon, in maybe 10 years’ time, we won’t notice the difference. Does anyone really believe that? 

It has taken nearly 100 years of surviving vandalism, droughts, too much rain and many other hazards these beautiful trees would have had to endure just to gift us with all the benefits we have enjoyed.  

Who are we to deprive future generations of the same beauty and benefits we have had, only to allow more room for cars. Cars that will pollute our air and concrete that will only enrage us more with the unwanted heat and fumes every day. Are we serious in our concerns regarding climate change? Has any thought been given to the life other than ours, these magnificent trees provide for other living beings?  Really is there no other way? 

Perhaps smaller cars, fewer cars and more green space for healthier humans. Can we not think outside the square and save these magnificent trees? They have given so much to us and do not deserve this. None of us do. 

Why is the government  planning to waste $2 billion making a relatively useless upgrade to the Snowy Mountain scheme when a much cheaper scheme – the engineering of Lake Eyre – would provide greater benefits.

A pipeline from the Southern Ocean to Lake Eyre would keep the lake permanently full. Evaporation from Lake Eyre is about 1 centimetre per day. This has two effects – atmospheric cooling (for those worried about global warming) and an increased rainfall over the Eastern states. Increased rainfall would provide more water to the Murray Darling basin and increased river flows to South Australia.

But wait, there’s more! What if the pipeline were engineered to contain electricity-generating turbines? A one-metre rise in ocean tide would deliver about 26 billion metric tonnes of water into and out of Lake Eyre twice per day. This would provide continuous cheap electricity for as long as the moon circled the earth. Would we then need any solar, wind-powered, coal-fired or nuclear power stations?

I write in response to Otto Melville’s letter (‘Alarm bells ring over lack of warning from cyclists’, The Border Mail, December 22).

If people would unplug their earphones and walk on the left-hand side of the pathways, there would be no need for bells.

I use the bell on my bike every time I approach a walker and any other biker I know always warns walkers.

While on this subject, why do walkers carry the dog lead in their hand and let the dog run all over the paths? I know who will get the blame if Fido gets hurt.