Pupils should use lights
I write regarding your story 'Playing Chicken With Cars', published in Friday's Border Mail. Your story about students having to cross Kiewa Street by risking injury from cars and stating that a safety island is needed for students' safety is on the face of it a reasonable request, but your photo of two students and a carer playing chicken with traffic tells a different story.
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If you look at the photo you can see a perfectly safe alternative just a few metres up the road; a pedestrian crossing. Surely this carer is risking the students unnecessarily. Instead of wasting money on an island, surely the students should be taught to use the pedestrian crossing without the need of risking their lives. Is it too hard to walk a couple of extra metres? Why would any responsible carer allow children to play chicken with traffic?
Steve Taylor, North Albury
Emergency worth backing
Two weeks ago, there was a Rural City of Wangaratta Council meeting. The Border Mail reported on this meeting, where our Youth Council Mayor asked 'Will Wangaratta declare a "climate emergency?". The Mayor answered promptly, 'No'.
Councillor Dave Fuller expanded, explaining that he is speaking with Dr Helen Haines about proactive solutions to carbon emissions. North East Victoria is leading the way in finding and showcasing solutions to the climate emergency. We have huge commercial and household solar power uptake. We have hydro electricity. We have biogas generators. There is a wind farm. Barnawatha offers biodiesel. We have a greater density of community energy groups here than anywhere in Australia.
We have Indigo Power, our own power company that is 100 per cent clean energy and established and owned by the community, because we know it matters. Wangaratta Council believes in finding solutions to this climate emergency, and intends to work in that direction. But we want to the Rural City of Wangaratta to do more.
We need to declare a climate emergency. We need to show the federal government that this is urgent. To really invest in the solutions, we need to declare that there is a problem. If you would like to sign a petition requesting the Rural City of Wangaratta to declare a climate emergency, please go to: https://spark.greenpeace.org.au/petitions/wangaratta-rural-council-breakfree-from-fossil-fuels.
Kate Walsh, Sustainable King Valley
Look at the flipside
The letter 'Making Things Better?' by Carmel Packer questioned a letter written by Howard Jones (The Border Mail, August 28). Both letters were regarding the right of a woman to chose or not to chose to have an abortion. Ms Packer asked how many potential 'people with grand careers' had been aborted. I would like to see her voice this much concern and effort to control another person's choices put into helping the tragic lives of young and older children who have been beaten, abused and emotionally maimed by their parents.