What's got the Coffs Coast talking?

Advocate readers discuss police pursuits and public housing restructure and Mark Lynch of Grin Bin fame gives us a laugh.

Cartoon about public housing. Picture: Peter Broelman

Advocate readers discuss police pursuits and public housing restructure and Mark Lynch of Grin Bin fame gives us a laugh.

Grin Bin by Mark Lynch. Picture: Matthew Deans

Stop before the chase turns fatal

ANOTHER death in a police pursuit.

There have been many times that I have criticized police for various matters, however this is not one of them.

Blame for these incidents can be attributed to the carelessness of a few individuals.

There is here an example of lack of discipline on behalf of the parent to the child.

An on-going fault these days.

No discipline at home and none at school.

You must realise that all this heartache and misery could be eliminated with the driver bringing the vehicle to an immediate stop when confronted by police.

This is where early discipline becomes apparent.

This method also eliminates the "thrill of the chase".

What the majority of the general population does not realise is that police are governed by the same rules and regs as the normal populations.

There is one such item of said rules and regs that states that the "the aiding and abetting of the continuous of crime" is also an offence and this crime is very much a no no when committed by police and is a dismissible offence when serious enough.

Just remember, when you have digested the above that all anyone has to do is stop.

A.Douglas

Coffs Harbour

Benefit from public housing restructure

I UNDERSTAND the concerns of the public sector union ('Claims public housing cuts will impact Coffs Coast' on February 7) but they're overstated.

The NSW Government will continue to own all public housing on the Mid North Coast, but will transfer the management of our tenants and the properties to one or two community housing providers.

Jobs won't be lost to the region. The work will still be done, just not directly by government.

Our tenants will not see a change in their length of tenancy or rent, and when the properties are being managed by a community housing provider, tenants will be eligible for Commonwealth Rent Assistance, bringing an extra $7 million each year into the social housing system on the Mid North Coast.

This is a tough time for our affected staff, but the long-term gains for our tenants will be significant.

Michael Coutts-Trotter

Secretary, NSW Department of Family and Community Services

58,000 on public housing waiting list

ACCORDING to Family & Community Services NSW in 2015 there were 58,000 families on the waiting list for public housing across NSW.

If you live in Coffs Harbour there is a five to 10 year waiting time for one or four bedroom housing or in excess of 10 years for two to three bedroom housing.

This situation is the result of years of neglect, by successive LNP and ALP governments, to invest in public housing.

The Baird government has announced a building program of 23,000 new and replacement homes over the next 10 years, i.e. 2,300 per year, yet last year it announced the sale of 300 public housing properties at Millers Point, in Sydney, alone.

So how many new homes will actually be added to the current housing stock?

This reads like another beat up to gloss over the sale of public housing for prime real estate and treating the residents like cattle to be herded to other areas, destroying their community in the process, so that the pay masters of the government can profit at our expense.

These short sighted policies have led to the overcrowding of housing and the social problems that come with it, that we have to live with. It is time we let our voices be heard, with our political representatives and at the ballot box. It's time to vote for the Greens, the only political party with a credible public housing policy.

Robin Hesketh

Bellingen