Nothing new for cyclists
I DO hate to be a pain but the current argument regarding cyclists as road users contains nothing new.
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I used to be one and I mostly used bicycle paths as the local roads were far too dangerous. It's called common sense.
Until all roads have bike lanes and bike riders are forced by law to ride single file like the rest of us, we are always going to have friction.
Unfortunately, there is a minority of road users from all camps that abuse road sharing and it will only escalate until the relevant authorities spend some money to include bike lanes, which of course will have to include some sort of registration for all bike users to help pay for it.
The registration fee will be paid either at VicRoads or bike shops. It's unavoidable, the argument has been going on for too long and the solution is obvious as I have just pointed out.
I have witnessed some idiotic actions by both car and bike riders which really never reflect the harmony that should exist between road users.
Angst between car drivers is bad enough – I do remember travelling at 55km/h in the right-hand lane on Beechworth Road one morning as I intended to turn right into Brockley Street.
It appears the person behind me thought I was too slow and began flashing his lights and using his horn. He then tore past me in the left lane shaking his fist and pulling over in front of me, causing me to brake and turned around.
And people wonder why the police worry about road safety.
DEREK ROBINSON,
Wodonga
Work with us on plan
ON behalf of food producers throughout the region I would like to thank The Border Mail for your excellent coverage yesterday of the serious issues we face.
Several months ago a group of concerned producers formed an organisation called ‘Speak Up’, which aims to highlight the importance of what we do not just for our local communities, but throughout our nation. We are the food bowl of Australia, yet it is being decimated by a Murray-Darling Basin Plan that is simply not working.
It needs to be fixed and we would like our member for Farrer Sussan Ley to try harder to understand the issues, and stop toeing the party line with the Coalition’s insistence that the Basin Plan will be delivered ‘on budget and on time’.
Let me put it this way: Assume you were building a house, let’s say with a budget of $500,000, and it was due to be completed by Christmas.
In October the builder came to you and said: “Look, I can have it finished by Christmas and within budget, but there are a few problems. Firstly our drainage isn’t right and will flood the neighbours when it rains. Secondly we’ve had some other miscalculations and a range of features just won’t work the way we thought they would.”
Do you tell the builder to step back, analyse what has to be done and make sure the house is properly constructed, or do you push ahead with “yep, we’ll have it on budget and on time regardless of the consequences”?
I’d suggest every reasonable thinking person would go for the former, yet with the Basin Plan the federal government is adopting the latter approach despite the plan having unintended third-party consequences including flooding, a hike in temporary water prices and serious economic harm for food producers and the communities which rely on them.
So please, Ms Ley, how about a bit of common sense from your government? Ditch the ‘on budget and on time’ mantra, start talking to us and treating us with the level of respect we deserve, and work with us to find Basin Plan solutions that provide a win for all – for food producers, our communities and the environment.
