I would like to thank one of your readers who wrote a letter published (‘Please lovely young lady, just put your phone down, The Border Mail, January 6) in reference to feeling frustrated seeing a young girl texting while in her car. This person had seen the article published late last year about my daughter Brooke losing her life due to texting and driving.
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From that horrible day I have been focused on making sure others don't have to feel the heartbreaking pain of losing a loved one due to texting and driving. Unfortunately the young girl your reader saw has not heard or chooses to disregard our message.
However seeing your reader’s message tells me we are getting out to the public and some people are heeding our warning. Again, thank you JI Parker, you have reminded me why I do what I do. Because we may not text and drive, but others will and that means our roads are not safe for anyone which means I need to continue what I do.
Your thoughts for me and this issue mean the world to me. Thank you.
Vicki Richardson, Mulwala
Policies need change
We continually hear the excuse for everything these days as climate change. But the biggest issue this country faces is sustainable living due to our policies of converting prime agricultural land into housing estates. If climate change is such an issue why do governments still allow building houses facing west when building houses facing north are more thermally efficient.
Just look at our major cities where once profitable market gardens are now covered in houses. The housing expansion into prime agricultural land must stop and look at alternatives for people who want to live in our capital cities. If they installed reliable fast train networks into regional areas the need for people to migrate to the cities would be a good start. This stupidity is now being used in building massive solar farms on prime agricultural land. What is the long-term effect on the soil around these solar farms? If solar and wind power are the future why have governments not made it compulsory to have either a wind turbine and/or solar system on all new dwellings.
John Walker, Wangaratta
A realist, not a Greenie
Electricity consumers up with the ‘power play game’ realise that baseload coal power generation is coming to an end. As consumers in Australia are continually squeezed due to ever-increasing electricity prices, they are realising the way to combat this is to install solar generation with many consumers installing battery storage.
On a regular basis the media reports about large scale commercial solar installations coming on stream. Investors ahead of the electricity ‘power play game’ have jumped ship, leaving the dinosaurs behind.
It doesn’t take Einstein to work out that electricity generators producing electricity from coal, really are living on borrowed time. It may be an opportune time to look at your share porfolio. Might I add, any supplier providing a service/product, can squeeze consumers for a certain amount of time before they walk with their pockets.
And I am not a Greenie, just a consumer looking at reality.
David Beard, Rutherglen
Letter of the week
The winner of the letter of the week is JI Parker, of Thurgoona. You can collect your prize at the offices of The Border Mail at 1 McKoy Street, Wodonga.