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Letter: Cars in the Mall?
No! No! No! We’ve danced this dance before… Putting cars ahead of people through the Central Armidale Mall means we would lose something infinitely more valuable – our Town Square.
We have, perhaps, often not used this precious, democratic space as well or often as we could, but its existence still gives us so much – an important central space to gather in good times and bad.
To begin with, for example, removing the stage, used for so many events, as well as the space for our very special Christmas tree and markets simply to create yet another ordinary city block adds precisely what? We have many parking opportunities nearby and a very serviceable road network as it stands with maybe a couple of tweaks..
Time alters dynamics. When Centro/Central was built it pulled many shops towards it which was then compounded by online shopping. Many specialist shops in the CBD couldn’t compete, particularly as more and more absentee landlords who hold property like stocks and shares in their portfolios bought into town maximising rents beyond individual business abilities to pay. These trends are sadly world-wide. We now see many organisations in the spaces.
Different Councils had different policies. I’m pretty sure the original plans for the welcome renovation of Tatts Hotel showed the hotel with tables into a designated Mall area but the then Council knocked that back for a redesign. Today that seems to me it would have been a good idea. A policy encouraging more of an entertainment precinct would contribute to making more community use of the space as a meeting place. Weekend events with rostered food trucks and entertainment could be employed.
I’ve sat on various Council Tourism and Arts Committees and seen various consultant’s plans. We should be open to doable imaginative ideas but please don’t just play with re-inventing the wheel just because an expensive square wheel might be presented as a new idea.
Around the world there is more and more concentration on pedestrians and lifestyle.
I won’t discuss other ideas such as a new regional cultural facility (to incorporate what already exists?) or the rather cavalier “targeted demolition of detractory buildings” and the Bowling Club) as I’m so concerned for the future of the heart of our City, our Town Square.
It really matters!
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Letter: Regional people don’t oppose renewables
The popular narrative suggesting regional people oppose renewable energy projects doesn’t stack up when the data unarguably shows the opposite.
Poll after poll after poll, from Porter Novelli, 89 Degrees East, CSIRO and more, all find huge support for local clean energy projects with opposition much less (but amplified by some media coverage and social media algorithms that promote conflict). Recent polling in April showed overall local support for clean energy projects at 63% and opposition at 17%. In coal regions, Hunter showed support of 60% and opposition at 17%, Gladstone showed support of 65% and opposition of 17%, and the Latrobe Valley showed support of 60% and opposition at 18%. In Illawarra the support was 68% and the opposition 12%, Central West Orana support was at 60% and opposition at 20%; in western Victoria the support was 69% and opposition was 12%. Even in New England, support held strong at 55% with opposition less than half that figure at 24%. Professor Rebecca Colvin’s peer-reviewed paper, published in Science Direct, finds that in addition to social media and media promoting conflict, people are more likely to speak up against things than for them.
Farmers for Climate Action represents 8000 farmers across Australia. Our “Billions in the Bush” report found Australian farmers are on track to make a billion dollars in total from clean energy rent by 2030. Modern solar contracts pay up to $1500 per hectare per year while the farmer continues to graze sheep underneath. Modern wind farms typically pay $40,000 per wind turbine per year in rent to the farmer, while cattle and sheep continue to graze around it.
Hosting solar and wind projects is entirely voluntary and how a farmer chooses to farm on their land is their choice. If farmers do not stay united around that principle, farming will become very difficult.
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Letter: Neighbours who deserve better
Re: “Begin Rant: The New England can’t afford friends like these”
Dr Crosby calls for respectful, informed debate on the New England REZ. She then spends 1,500 words calling concerned communities “agitators,” telling them to “grow up,” and accusing their state MP of “sucking at his job in the most basic way.” The contradiction is breathtaking.
She insists Walcha “does not get to claim to speak for all of us” — then proceeds to do exactly that, declaring the REZ “manifestly” retains community support and that opposition amounts to stealing opportunity from the region. On what authority does Dr Crosby speak for the New England any more than the communities she is dismissing?
She concedes the cumulative impact study “has not been done yet,” then in the same breath tells communities to stop raising concerns about cumulative impact. For communities facing up to seven major projects, 200+ wind turbines, battery storage facilities, pumped hydro dams, and years of overlapping construction across a $24 billion development footprint — the absence of that study is not a reason for reassurance. It is the reason for alarm.
A publisher who uses their platform to personally attack elected representatives and belittle rural communities — while admitting the evidence base is incomplete — should not be surprised when readers question whose interests are being served.
The people of Walcha, Boorolong, Yarrowyck, Ebor, and Georges Junction are not agitators. They are neighbours who deserve better than being told to “grow up”.
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Letter: Put RWH to an election
Council’s further delay in making a decision on the future of Ray Walsh House (RWH) clearly demonstrates the importance of this decision and that our Councillors do not want to get it wrong.
With such big stakes at play should the Council ask the community for a mandate on the future of RWH?
Candidates at the next Local Government election could base their election campaign on how they would vote on the future of RWH.
The community will vote accordingly for the candidates they want to be on the next Council.
Do our Councillors know if the community want to pay off $100M PLUS debt for a new Council headquarters?
This is a huge amount and if you sell RWH this is the only option available.
Should Council opt for a mandate from the community on the future of RWH and let the people decide what happens to RWH at the next Council election?
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Letter: McLean Care lost sight of what matters
In my opinion McLean Care lost sight of what mattered most. Instead of focusing on strengthening and supporting the Inverell facility there seemed to be a greater focus on expansion and growth across Australia.
Growth can be a good thing but not when it comes at the expense of the people who built the organisation.
Now the consequences could be devastating – residents facing uncertainty about their future home, staff worried about losing their jobs and livelihoods and a community left wondering how things reached this point.
What disappoints me most is that leadership should be accountable during difficult times. When an organisation faces a crisis, people expect its leaders to stand by the staff, residents and families affected.
It feels like the damage has been left for others to deal with while those responsible have moved on.
Money and expansion should never come before the care of residents and the wellbeing of staff. That’s just my opinion, but I believe the people of Inverell deserved better.
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Letter: Judge governments by what they deliver
Reading the coverage of the NSW Budget, it is hard not to notice a striking contradiction.
For years, regional communities have been told by the Nationals that Labor governments only care about Sydney and that country NSW is somehow forgotten whenever Labor is in office.
Yet when we look at the actual budget measures, a different picture emerges.
This budget includes a $100 reduction in vehicle registration, major investment in regional hospitals, drought support for farmers, funding for feral animal control, road restoration following natural disasters, regional school upgrades, support for preschools and early childhood education, and the transfer of the Rural Fire Service red fleet from councils to the RFS. Nearly $3 billion has been allocated to regional health facilities and $2.3 billion to regional schools.
Are there still things regional communities need? Absolutely.
We need more doctors. We need more housing. We need better transport links. We need continued investment in roads and water security. No budget is ever perfect.
But politics should be about facts, not slogans.
Too often we hear local National Party MPs complaining that regional NSW is being neglected while simultaneously acknowledging that hospitals are being rebuilt, schools upgraded, roads repaired and farmers supported. If governments are to be judged by what they actually deliver, then regional NSW has every right to ask whether the old political assumptions still hold true.
The reality is that this budget contains substantial investments in regional communities alongside cost-of-living relief measures that will benefit country families directly. A $100 registration reduction means far more to people in places where a car is not a luxury but a necessity. Drought support matters. Investment in regional hospitals matters. Support for emergency services matters.
Perhaps the question regional voters should ask is a simple one.
If Labor governments continue delivering significant investment into regional communities while local conservative politicians continue telling us that nothing is happening, who are we supposed to believe?
At some point, voters may decide that political loyalty matters less than practical results.
And perhaps that is exactly the conversation regional NSW should be having.
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Letter: TRC listen to the community you serve
I am asking all Tamworth Regional Council Councillors to consider the following before they vote on the future of Ray Walsh House on Tuesday 16 June 2026;
- Will selling Ray Walsh House provide a quick fix and an end to this longstanding problem?
- Will selling Ray Walsh House spark new debate and community concern about the cost to build a new Council headquarters?
- How much will it cost the ratepayers to pay for a new Council headquarters if Ray Walsh House is sold?
- A loan for the new Council headquarters may cost ratepayers between $4M and $10M each year for 20 years. That’s a debt of between $80M and $200M ratepayers will need to pay off. Will ratepayers be happy with this huge debt?
- Will this huge debt restrict future Council’s ability to provide services?
- Will the cost of the new Council headquarters ultimately make a rate rise necessary to pay for this new building?
- Will the community remember for many years the Councillors who voted to sell Ray Walsh House and burden ratepayers and future Council’s with a huge debt?
Councillors please consider option 1 of the 4 options the Mayor displayed at the Council public meeting on the 14 May 2026 as option 1 allows; 1) Council to continue to own Ray Walsh House 2) allows future Councils the opportunity to plan to use Ray Walsh House as Council’s headquarters, 3) avoids ratepayers having to pay off a $100M PLUS debt.
Councillors please listen to the community you serve and vote to retain Ray Walsh House in Council ownership.
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Letter: Look beyond the headline
Re: Denise’s Desk: The Schoolyard Bully Test
I read this post and had to laugh. To be honest, I think people should look beyond the headline and ask a simple question:
Does the Pauline Hanson ONP record present Pauline Hanson as a thoughtful voice worthy of the peoples trust? Does she present humanity, peace and long-term thinking any different to the other two parties?
The problem for the entire country is that for most of the past 30 years, Pauline Hanson and One Nation have built much of their political support by focusing on division, fear of immigration, fear of multiculturalism, fear of Muslims, and the idea that Australia’s problems are largely caused by outsiders.
People are entitled to support those views if they choose.
But let’s not pretend that this is some great new message of unity.
If we are going to talk about trust and humanity, then we also need to talk about the policies and rhetoric that have defined the movement.
Australia’s challenges are real.
1. Housing affordability is a mess.
2. The cost of living is hurting families.
3. Infrastructure is struggling to keep up.
4. Many people feel left behind.
Those concerns deserve serious discussion. What they don’t deserve are simplistic answers.
Pauline Hansen blames migrants, refugees, Muslims or multiculturalism for every major problem facing Australia. It might make for a good political slogan, but it doesn’t solve housing shortages, lift productivity, improve wages, build roads, expand hospitals or strengthen the economy.
The reality is that millions of migrants have helped build modern Australia.
* They work in our hospitals.
* They run businesses.
* They teach in our schools.
* They serve in the military.
* They pay taxes.
* Contribute to all of us.
That’s not political correctness. That’s reality.
So when I see posts praising Pauline Hanson, I think it’s fair to ask whether those values have been consistently reflected in the policies she has promoted throughout her career.
Words are easy.
The real test is the record. And when I look at that record, I don’t see a movement that has spent decades bringing Australians together.
I see a movement that has often gained support by telling Australians who they should be worried about.
Australians should always listen to different viewpoints.
But they should also judge politicians on what they have actually said, actually done, and actually proposed over time—not just on one carefully crafted message that suddenly appears on social media.
That’s how informed democracies work.
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Letter: Ray Walsh House debacle undermines TRC leadership
Confidence in the leadership of Tamworth Regional Council has been seriously undermined following the ongoing Ray Walsh House debacle and the handling of asbestos removal, remediation costs, and public communication over the past four years.
After last week’s public meeting, the Mayor publicly admitted they are caught between a “rock and a hard place” regarding the future of Ray Walsh House.
At the same time, evidence aired publicly has highlighted the enormous pressures currently surrounding Council administration.
Ratepayers have every right to ask why did Council completely gut all floors of Ray Walsh House knowing Council did not have the funds to complete the asbestos removal and the refurbishment of this building? Why did Council enter into a long term and costly lease at the Hub to house Council’s indoor staff when this money, some $15M at least, could have been used to remove the asbestos from Ray Walsh House?
This situation has become a costly and an embarrassing failure of leadership, governance, transparency and financial management. Many members of the community now believe the only way to restore public trust is for the current leadership to step aside and allow new leadership to move forward.
This is not personal; it is about responsibility to the community, accountability for public money and restoring confidence and reliability to local government decision-making.
The people of Tamworth deserve transparent answers, competent management and leadership that the community can have confidence in.
Enough is enough, this community urgently needs all Councillors to listen to the people they are representing and ensure immediate changes are made to ensure effective, competent and accountable Council leadership.
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Letter: Access matters
I wanted to thank Ingrid for her comment on the accessibility of Armidale’s spaces and throughways.
There’s something deeply powerful about hearing from someone who understands not because they’ve read it in a textbook, but because they’ve lived it. They know what it’s like to navigate the maze. They’ve had days when getting out of bed felt like climbing a mountain. And they’ve also found ways to adapt, to create joy, and to carve out a life that works for them.
When people with lived experience share knowledge, strategies, and resources, they’re equipping each other to advocate for better access, challenge discrimination, and push for systemic change. One person’s hard-earned insight can save another person months of fear or frustration.
Systems may be slow to change, but when we connect, we change things for each other right now. Thank you Ingrid, I’ve submitted a response to Armidale’s Disability Inclusion Action Plan now, and without your piece, it may have slipped under the radar!
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