Letters June 2017

By The People of the Eastern Beaches on June 9, 2017 in Other

KEEP COOGEE SOBER
I have just read the piece by David Glasheen about Randwick Council not having consultation etc. re the alcohol ban at Coogee (Are They Drunk? Randwick Council Bans Booze at Coogee Without Consultation, The Beast, May 2017), and I would like to respond. It is definitely not – as he claims – increasingly clear that the vast majority of residents do not support the ban. The time for consultation is over. Coogee residents and beachgoers have put up with the alcohol-related anti-social behaviour for so many years and it is now such a relief that there is a total ban in place. The council and police should be supported in the alcohol-ban decision – not criticised. And what’s wrong with having a few public places – especially beautiful Coogee – where we can all enjoy ourselves without alcohol?
Julie Allomes, Coogee

DON’T BIN THE PARTY, FIX THE TRASH
To Pancho, who wrote in last issue about the tourist apocalypse that we narrowly avoided by banning the booze at Coogee Beach (Alcohol Ban Works, Letters, The Beast, May 2017).

It’s clear from the letters supporting the ban that it’s not the smiles that piss people off, nor the laughter, nor the catching up with friends, nor the dancing to music on the grass near the beach. It’s not the feeling of freedom, having a beer with your feet on the grass, that really grinds people’s gears. And the letters aren’t complaining about the extra business that the merry makers bring with them. Nope, the number one complaint is rubbish left on the grass and broken bottles leaving hard to remove, dangerous shards of glass waiting to slice up little feet. And rightly so! No one wants that. Not even people who like to drink by the sea. So we ban everything.

Here’s the thing though: can’t we come up with some sort of middle, win/win solution? What about a bottle deposit scheme local to Coogee, or volunteer networks of rubbish collectors roaming on peak days, or a no glass policy, or some sort of organisation that runs the day on peak days. Can’t we just fix the main problem of excess trash and broken glass? It’s not that hard. Can’t we think in terms of: “how can we let people have fun and let their hair down and dance and laugh and drink safely and somehow leave the ground spotless”? What if we simply ask everyone at the end of the day to do 15 minutes of rubbish collection instead of saying, “Oh no, I don’t like it – ban it”? I mean, Pancho, think of all the crazy things happening to places in the world at the moment, and you’re worried about “putting Coogee Beach at risk again of becoming the go-to party hub”. Seriously. God forbid my suburb becomes a go-to party hub.

Pancho, you and lots of other people like you in the country need to start coming to the middle ground a bit. And if you’re really worried about the pressure on Coogee with Bondi, Tama, and Bronte all having alcohol bans, then why don’t you campaign for those bans to be lifted, to spread the traffic around the beaches a bit, eh?

There’s a whole class of these people slowly shutting down the life of this city – this sensitive bunch, so easily offended you’d think they were French dukes screwing their noses up in disgust at the peasants in the park, from their private balcons: “Oh mon dieu! They had to ring the shark alarm three times because those awful people were drunk on the beach. It’s outrageous. I won’t stand for it! Call Madame D’Souza at once! They should all be in a licensed venue under competent supervision, not terrorising the parks with their shameful revelry.” If Crocodile Dundee were alive he’d be disgusted with this snobby bullshit. This ain’t Versailles. This ain’t Chelsea. It’s Coogee. Australia.

And no, I’m not a local. I’ve only been in Bondi five years, and the reason I moved to Bondi was because it had a vibing party scene with bars like Canteen and White Revolver, and Sunday sessions on the grassy knoll, and good music pumping out of the Bucket List. And every time something like this gets shut down the community is poorer for it, all because we take the complaints of boring people, who really belong more in say, Kiama, or the mid north coast, or somewhere nice and quiet with more sensitivity than is truly warranted. And because quiet streets are worth more real estate dollars than noisy streets.

I fear for the Beach Road Hotel with the apartments being built near it – how long will it be before some jerk gets in there and starts complaining about the thump, thump, thump music emanating from its second floor?

Dan Mac, Bondi

BUS SERVICE A BUST
Hi Beast,

Thank goodness I have your magazine to read whilst I waste endless hours of my life waiting for the x74/374 services from Randwick to the CBD, which are continually late, full, or simply do not turn up at all.

It is a regular occurrence for not one, but two services in a row to be so over capacity just a couple of stops into the route that they drive on past leaving the good people of Randwick waiting for up to 30 minutes to board a service during peak hour.

Prices are going up whilst service is going down. I am continually given the excuse that the problem is the building work on Alison Road, but the problem starts much earlier than that – there simply aren’t enough services on the route at peak hour.

The least that they could do is sort out the app so that you can accurately tell just how late you are going to be.
Will they ever listen?

Kind regards,
Laura, Randwick

ROCK FISHING LEGISLATION DOESN’T ROCK
Hi. Paul Cooper (Rock Fishing Legislation Needs Amendment, Letters, The Beast, April 2017) makes sensible suggestions as to improving the Rock Fishing Legislation. However, as the relevant NSW Government Fact Sheet bears a photo of a supposedly safety-conscious rock fisherman wearing long, loose trousers (an absolute no-no on the rocks) along with inappropriate shoes, one wonders at the level of government awareness of the nature of the activity.

The reality is that experienced fishers are being put to inconvenience and expense as a consequence of those, usually of overseas origin, who have little knowledge of and/or regard for the sea. It seems ludicrous that a surf club member who might be required to swim without a safety vest to the rescue of a fisherperson would be required to wear a vest if standing on a rock with a fishing rod in the same vicinity. Experienced surfers regularly enter and exit the water from ocean rocks.

The legislation applies to areas declared by the minister to be “a location where high risk rock fishing takes place”. In supposed ministerial wisdom, every rock on or proximate to the water in the entire Randwick Municipality appears to have been so deemed without any consideration of the risk level attached to them. So much for the ministerial duty to properly consider the risks.

Perhaps an exemption should be made for past and present life saving club members.

Greg Maidment, Bronte

OUR NEW NATIONAL PARK – JUST NOT FOR YOU!

Has anyone seen Randwick Council’s promotion for our new national park lately? Apparently Malabar Headland is “now open and it’s in your backyard”! Or is it? My family and I were keen to explore the 177 hectares of bushland that, according to Wikipedia, features dramatic sandstone cliffs and provides spectacular coastal views – after all, where else in the world can you find a national park right in the middle of a city?

But we made a mistake – we didn’t read the fine print! As it happens, the park – which is also home to the ANZAC rifle range – is closed during rifle range operation. We knew that but decided to take our chances anyway, only to be turned away by an armed policeman guarding the heavily fenced off entrance! Not an inviting sight in the first place.

He told us to come back two days later when the park would be open. So we did. But the park was closed again. The kids were disappointed and so were we (and the many, many other people we saw being turned away on both occasions).

Our disappointment turned into anger when we checked the National Parks website. Now who would have thought that the shooters are out there pretty much all of the time? Turns out, they are. According to the National Parks website, the park is closed every Saturday, every third Sunday, and every single day except one for the rest of the school holidays (and this is only for the month of April)!

Furthermore, “closures may occur with little or no notice”. In my naivety I thought that, apart from conservation, national parks are there for education and simple enjoyment. Now how does that fit in with the reality of a park that is hardly ever accessible? In my opinion it really defeats the purpose of ‘giving’ the community a national park if they can only access on the odd day when the shooters are having time off (mainly during times when most people are unable to do the walk anyway).

Why sacrifice the enjoyment of the whole community for the particular interest of a few? Yes, I know, the shooters pretty much hold the balance in our political system that is called democracy, but national parks and shooting simply do not match. The rifle range needs to move, preferably sooner rather than later. Now how to tackle it…

Katja Klikauer, Coogee

WHAT IS WORSSAM’S PROBLEM?
Dear Editor,

Andrew Worssam insults the intelligence of local residents when he says they could not understand the question: ”Pedestrianise Queen Elizabeth Drive and create more green space through a new underground car park?” (Car Park-Gate #1000000, Letters, The Beast, May 2017).

In a survey of 900 people, those responding ‘yes’ to this question outnumbered ‘no’ by a margin of three to one. Yet Mr. Worssam says this result is invalid as, according to him, the question contains so many hidden meanings locals could not possibly decipher it!

A three to one margin in an election is considered a landslide. If a sample of the millions of visitors to Bondi Beach was taken I believe the margin would be even higher, as almost all of them arrive by public transport.

Mr. Worssam cites a few submission responses to Council as evidence of “overwhelming community opposition” to the proposal. Curious that during the submission process his Facebook site pumped out templates of objections to be submitted to Council. Anyone reading the submissions (available on Council’s website) can see they repeat the same misinformation used by Mr. Worssam, e.g. his ‘service road’ argument, which says that Queen Elizabeth Drive, post-car park, will be left as an empty road waiting for emergency vehicles – despite Council clearly saying it will be pedestrianised!

In fact, one would almost think the same person is writing the same submission to Council over and over again. Who knows? Is there any verification on who really sent those submissions to Council?

If Mr. Worrsam wants to believe a handful of corruptly manipulated submissions trumps a 900-person survey, he is welcome to that alternate reality.

The Facebook site in question, ‘No Underground Car Park for Bondi Beach’, could be renamed ‘No Extra Green Space for Bondi Beach’ or ‘Concrete Not Trees’!

It’s inevitable Mr. Worssam will continue his sad crusade, despite the majority seeing the overground car park for what it is – an eyesore, pedestrian hazard, and urban heat island with many acres of concrete that would be better utilised as green recreation space for the community to enjoy.

Though the majority of people walk to or catch the bus to Bondi Beach, motorists such as Mr. Worssam are still catered for. I live on Birriga Road in Bellevue Hill and sometimes I walk to the beach; other times I drive down and park on QED. If I have to park underground and walk an extra minute to the sand it is no skin off my nose.

So what is Mr. Worssam’s problem? Why the vehement opposition to more green space? As a Bondi Beach resident, perhaps Mr. Worssam can leave his car at home and also try walking to the beach. Just think, by eliminating all those short car journeys he’ll be doing wonders for the local environment!

Alan Doyle, Bellevue Hill

DON’T CHARGE ME, OFFICER!
Recently my partner and I went to two local restaurants, and on receiving the bill there was a ‘cc’ charge. At the Surry Hills restaurant, when asked what the charge was, the guy casually replied, “The credit card charge.” My partner told him that we were paying cash. The waiter apologised and corrected the bill straight away, but it made us think how many times this has happened before and we haven’t been aware of it. The next week we went to a Coogee restaurant and the same thing happened. I just think people should be aware of this charge when it doesn’t apply to them. It may only be a couple of dollars, but with corkage and even a 10 per cent charge at some places for a table of 10 or more, it soon adds up.
Jo, Clovelly

LETTER TO RUPERT
Hi Rupert,

I agree with your title of ‘It’s Time to Nail Easter to the Cross’ (Rupert’s Rant, The Beast, April 2017) and your conclusion about celebrating all other festivals that are popular around the world and here!

All these festivals have their origin in Babylonian sun worship, which was practiced by the Babylonian empire thousands of years ago. Only the Jews had direct instructions on what/how to worship God, and therefore Judaism was the only true religion at the time.

The Old Testament was about Christ coming to the world as a man. Easter, Christmas, New Years, etc. wasn’t canonised into so-called Christianity until the 4th Century AD when the Roman emperor Constantine, in order to keep cohesion and prevent the Roman Empire from collapse, did so.

So what did the true Christians in those days observe before being forced to follow Rome or die? They observed the ‘Jewish’ festivals handed down by the original apostles.

The ‘Jewish’ festivals were meant for everyone to observe worldwide if they understood what they stood for; they are essentially events in the timeline that God has for humanity as a whole.

The Jews only existed as an example to the world to be unique and separate, and to teach the rest of the world the truth! It therefore follows that Christ came to call and instruct those who are willing to follow his teachings to throw off the pagan, deceived ways of this world. These teachings are still valid today.

You’ve got to understand that we live in a world so greatly deceived by that great deceiver that our whole way of life is built on lies. That’s why the Catholic Church eventually became so dogmatic and murderous, because It sought to be the intermediary between Christ and man, instead of a direct relationship with Christ. Have you noticed how the Pope is falling over himself to unite all religions worldwide and draw allegiance to him?

This is history repeating itself for one last time, because the Bible says that he and the coming worldwide super dictator originating from Europe will persecute everyone who does not pledge allegiance to them as God.

If you want further explanation of these pagan festivals, let me know. I greatly implore you to do some research on these issues, because the greatest deception is coming to trick the whole world into believing that he is Christ returned, when in reality he is the antichrist in our lifetime. The fact that the current Pope is uniting all religions worldwide is a prelude to worldwide domination of these two blasphemous individuals.

Thanks for your time,
Anonymous