Meters not the answer

Meters not the answer

The major justification for installing parking meters in the CBD is to stop "all-day parkers" abusing the two-hour parking zones.

What a load of cobblers.

I've been parking in the CBD for years and have always kept a close eye on the time for fear of getting booked.

Hasn't anyone realised that in order to get booked for a parking meter infringement we still need parking rangers to patrol, check meters and issue tickets? Parking meters might make the rangers more efficient, but I can still overstay a two-hour parking meter spot and get away with it until a ranger comes along to book me.

The majority of car spaces in the CBD are one- and two-hour spots - so surely more parking rangers is the easy and much cheaper answer?

Generate some new jobs - you'll cover the cost with increased fines anyway. This keeps the parking spots turning over and doesn't risk a reduction in trade for CBD traders.

The other easy solution is to mark out parking spots. How many times do you see two cars taking up enough space for three cars? This would generate a few hundred more car spots in the CBD.

These are two sensible solutions - and since when is it the ratepayer's job to come up with alternative solutions anyway? We might not have a council, but we still have plenty of council staff.

Lastly, the free shuttle bus is a great idea, but us "suburbanites" still need to get into the CBD to get on it. There needs to be parking stations along the bus route for this to be effective. By the way, who's paying the $10,000 per day to run these "free" buses?

Barry Jackson, Figtree.

Technology disaster

The new ABC and SBS TV channels prove beyond doubt that once again the Government has chosen the wrong television technology and forced it upon the unsuspecting taxpayers of this nation.

ABC and SBS programs now resemble an endless spaghetti western, with sound and picture out of sync and regular bouts of firecrackers and not so special effects thrown in for good measure.

We have allowed the politicians to once again take away a perfectly good communications system and replace it with super high-definition TV which has more bugs in it than a whole shipload of Chinese apples.

We were forced to relinquish the CDMA mobile phone network, and now Kevin Rudd has allowed yet another commercially based disaster into our lives.

Dave Cox, Corrimal East.

Hold on to all hospitals

The people of Wollongong have shown their support of their hospital by their many donations.

Now is the time to stand up for this place and say what we have, we hold.

Recently at 2am my wife had a bad heart attack and was taken to casualty. What a war zone. This lady's life was saved, but many hours later she had a near-fatal fall. We are still trying to ascertain what happened, but I believe it appears to be the result of over-worked and under-staffed people.

Many double shifts are worked and problems occur. This situation has apparently caused a breakdown in communications and public relations. We still do not know what happened.

Over almost 60 years, I have worked in many hospitals and seen many changes. Some good and some bad.

The Richmond Report of 1982 was a great disaster. State public hospitals looked after about 24,000 psychiatric patients. Ex-patients finished up in jail and a few were even shot. There was a plunder of their land to real estate.

The down-staging of Bulli Hospital puts a greater strain on Wollongong Hospital.

A big tick goes to the ambulance, casualty and others. There also seems to be a lack of wardsmen; they are very thin on the ground.

The radiotherapy section is of world standard, though.

Noel Carr, Darkes Forest.