Council grants
Dear Editor
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It's nice to see council get these grants to upgrade infrastructure in Parkes.
They have a very switched-on grants team.
However I see no grant to give Mazoudier Park an upgrade and it has a few issues.
The kerb and guttering is broken and had it. There is no disabled access from Forster Street and the park has no footpaths.
There is a footpath running along Orange Road but the hump above it could topple a scooter and someone on crutches. It's just plain dangerous.
There is one aluminium seat and chair. Because it is so under-lit it's a popular pick-up and drop-off point for drugs. The community police are aware of it but say it's up to council to fix.
It's not a big fix - run an X footpath through the park, put in some much-needed lighting to keep the riff-raff away, CCTV it and put a few nice chairs and tables on it.
It's a dear little park and has great potential as overflow from Cooke Park for the Elvis Festival.
Given Mazoudier was an ex-mayor and brought quite a few upgrades to Parkes, such as sealed roads, he deserves better recognition.
Cooke Park is like a spoiled brat, it gets everything while poor Mazoudier Park gets nothing.
Conrad Mill, Parkes
Cities Power Partnership
Dear Editor
Well here we go again. The dams are full and some overflowing, the rivers are in flood and despite Prof. Tim Flannery's dire prediction Perth is not a ghost town.
Our council has fallen for this man's dud predictions. He was sacked by the government from the Climate Council, but he then established his own private Climate Council and our council chose to involve itself in his Cities Power Partnership.
I hope Parkes Council does not pay a membership fee towards this organisation because I for one, see this as a waste of our rates and if they do pay such a fee, I wholeheartedly oppose it.
It is time for Parkes Council to cut its ties to this partnership because Professor Flannery has no credibility whatsoever.
Boyd Chambers, Parkes
Loss of TAFE jobs disappointing
Dear Editor
The news that TAFE will be restricted and that 52 jobs could go in the Central West is very disturbing. TAFE is a vital component of country towns.
We really need more courses offered by TAFE, not less. The present NSW government appears hell-bent on selling off or downgrading community assets.
Parkes Shire Council needs to be proactive in resisting the downgrading of the TAFE.
Where will apprentices gain experience and education on their choice of career if there is no TAFE left?
There are lots of children who go to TAFE after school and during school hours to learn more.
Country towns have lost lots of services over the years such as: Banking, which is a priority in all towns; train services are a mere shadow of what they used to be; hospitals are more and more centralised, especially when you cannot have babies in your local hospital, etc; regional hospitals are gaining more funding than local hospitals such as Parkes, Forbes and Condobolin.
Barney Thompson, Parkes
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