The dilemma facing Sydney’s urban planners

Your two stories (“Rezoning blitz for trackside homes” and “City gauges to monitor literal hotspots”, December 6) identify the dilemma facing Sydney’s urban planners. They must manage extreme heat while also housing more people through densification. Rather than wall-to-wall high rise, Sydney needs a mix of terraces and townhouses with small gardens plus low and medium rise apartments set back from the street to allow for plantings. Otherwise, we will end up with massive heat islands unmitigated by adequate tree cover. We already see how residential blocks fare: the original house and garden replaced by giant houses. The thinking: trees are someone else’s problem. Let’s try and get this right. Alison Stewart, Riverview

Proposals to impose new planning controls within an arbitrary 400 metres of 31 train stations, just shows the poverty of thinking in NSW urban planning. In some cases this will capture commercial property which is old and possibly due for renewal, but the impact of that will be to reduce the amount of real estate for interesting small retailers and service providers. In other cases, it will result in the loss of very fine residential homes that date back 100 years and are highly prized, to no doubt be replaced with cheap to build but not to buy one, two or three bedroom “cookie cutter” plan apartments that nobody currently living locally would want to move into. But what is missing is the use of state-owned land as a first priority to develop such as over carparks or over railway easements before imposing such grotesque development on private owners. Peter Thornton, Killara

Illustration: John ShakespeareCredit:

I do not live in Croydon, Dulwich Hill or Marrickville, but I do know that their built heritage is part of their beating heart, and what contributes to Marrickville being one of the coolest neighbourhoods in the world. There are some suburbs with railway stations that are crying out for re-invigorating, such as Narwee with its boarded up shops. The Minns government has lots of good ideas to address the housing issue; being a carbon copy of the Coalition which was an enemy to our historical streetscapes and buildings, community consultation and creativity is not one of them. Marie Healy, Hurlstone Park

The secret plan to increase density around stations, without input from local councils, is an electoral train crash waiting to happen for the present state government. The prospect of compulsory acquisition of family homes is un-Australian. Most reasonable people acknowledge the need to increase housing in Sydney, but not at any cost and certainly not without the inclusion of local councils in the process. Local councils understand their respective local areas: centralised planning bureaucracies can’t and do not. Peter Menton, Bankstown

Oh dear, what to do? On Google Earth, the Kogarah Kid’s 400 m radius from Dulwich Hill station slices right through my property. So I get to keep my front two bedrooms and front yard. Roger Cameron, Marrickville

With hundreds of thousands more people each year now calling Sydney home, who will solve the Mystery of the Missing Apartments? Move over Sherlock - this is a case for Trackside Holmes. How will all these people fit in? It’s elementary, my dear Watson. You place them in high-rise boxes near metro stations, from which single-deck carriages with limitless capacity will transport them in cattle truck conditions to and from their daily tasks. Doug Walker, Baulkham Hills

The numbers that show our education system is failing students

With the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) results revealing the huge and ever-widening achievement gap between the richest and poorest students, the imperative for restoring equitable funding to our schools is obvious (“Students falling behind as gap widens”, December 6). However, this latest report notes that the proportion of low achieving students is growing (now at 20 per cent), while at the same time, the number of high-achieving students is falling. That tells me that our current system is failing to meet the educational needs of our least able and most able students. Could it be that the rise of opportunity classes, selective high schools and the ubiquitous coaching industry is weakening, rather than strengthening, educational achievement at both ends of the scale? The current model of schooling is divisive and lacks the diversity that fosters improvement where it is needed and superlative achievement where it is lacking. It’s time for a review. Irene Buckler, Glenwood

Australia once did a far better job of educating our young than today. There are people who know why this is the case but no-one ever asks them. These are the successful teachers and principals who worked in schools in the previous century. It takes a long time for changes in educational practice and policy to reveal their outcomes. To understand our current situation, we must consider decisions reaching back into the 1970s and continuing into the present. Virtually every major decision in that time made teaching less attractive as a career option. If we had more respect for what our schools once achieved, and for the people who created those achievements, we wouldn’t be in this dire situation. If we wish to reverse the current trend towards intellectual decline we need to hear from those who understand its causes. Noel Beddoe, Belconnen (ACT)

We should be grateful the PISA survey doesn’t include foreign language study because we’d be stone, motherless last on the list. The news that Macquarie University is closing its Italian language courses should come as no surprise either. This year’s HSC language candidature is the smallest ever, indicating a flight from the difficult subjects. The dumbing down of the curriculum and the concomitant weakening of academic rigour and standards, the failure to attract the best and brightest into teaching, the importation of failed practices and policies from the USA and the UK and the over-generous funding of private schools at the expense of public schools have white-anted our once strong education system. Ryszard Linkiewicz, Caringbah South

Your report hits the nail squarely on the head in stating “the latest findings underscore glaring inequalities in the nation’s education system”. The real pity of this situation lies in it being the direct result of the long-term conservative government funding programs which continue to favour the rich over the poor. How shameful that in our so-called enlightened democracy, despite the findings of Gonski and others, we allow this to occur. Trevor Wootten, Petersham

The over funding of many private schools and the policy of encouraging the creation of more private schools has left us with a system that is unique in the world. To promote this, the safety net public system is underfunded. The result is the most fractured education system on the planet. Standards falling? That’s no surprise. Eric Sekula, Turramurra

Time’s up for Netanyahu

My father was involved in hiding Jews and getting them out of the Netherlands in WWII (“Netanyahu’s betrayal gives me hope for Israel”, December 6). His two colleagues are among those recognised in the Yad Vashem as Righteous Among the Nations. He is mentioned in one of the citations. His passionate humanity continues to inspire me 80 years later. Those who conflate criticism of Israel’s actions with antisemitism are using political arguments to defend that which is indefensible, just as Hamas’ appalling actions on October 7 are indefensible. Thank you, Jenna Price, for your voice on this. Your courage reminds me constantly of all that my father risked his life for. Erik Hoekstra, Leura

Price is utterly right as she responds to the heartbreaking situation in Israel and Gaza with compassion and fearless honesty. It is an intractable situation made worse by the ruthlessness of Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas. We all need to fight the understandable desire for revenge. Anne Garvan, Chatswood West

Netanyahu needs to go. His tactics have no place in the 21st century. It is unthinkable that he put the lives of his own people at risk by soft-pedalling on his country’s security. And for what purpose? Arguably, to increase the chances of a terrorist attack on Israel to take the heat off his domestic woes, and as a consequence, to provide him with justification for counter-attacking.

Here in Australia, we need to stop and think. We need to separate extreme political movements from the everyday people on both sides; especially the people here, on this side of the world, trying to live their lives in peace and harmony. As Price mentions, all Muslims are not Hamas. And all Jews are not Zionists.

It is extremely disheartening that this issue has once again exposed our Achilles’ heel: our inherent and ugly racist underbelly. Pam Timms, Suffolk Park

Thank you, Jenna Price, for giving me permission to be anti-Zionist but not antisemitic. Your voice-of-sanity article has articulated exactly what, as a non-Jew, I’ve been feeling. As a young idealistic socialist I was a fan of Golda Meir and a fervent supporter of Israel, even coming close to joining a kibbutz after the Yom Kippur war. But over the years I’ve become sadly disillusioned as the scales fell from my eyes and I came to recognise that there were two equally deserving sides to the conflict. My heart breaks at the hopelessness of ever finding a solution to the tragedy that is, and has for decades, been unfolding before our eyes. Megan Jones, Pyrmont

Jenna Price, please don’t judge as all by the abhorrent acts of a few antisemites. Your own suggestion that people hate Israel because of Jews is inaccurate. For the majority, condemnation of Israel’s actions (and those of Hamas) is not based on religion or race, but on politics, horror, frustration and humanism. Heather Johnson, West Pennant Hills

Mail failings

As a service, Australia Post is staggering; as a corner store, it is questionable at best, and a failure at worst – those queues (“Love letters? Why loss of daily mail won’t break hearts”, December 6). So why have it? Is it simply an emotional attachment? Posted mail continues to be vital for the elderly, remote communities and those who have poor to bad internet connectivity – quite a chunk of the community. Recent events have demonstrated why privatisation of an essential service is never the answer. Glenda Gartrell, Newtown

Health emergency

It’s no surprise to learn that lack of money is the root cause of problems with our health care system (“Why our health system needs its own emergency care”, December 6). Rather than playing the blame game and scoring political points, wouldn’t it be wonderful if all sides of politics, the AMA and other healthcare stakeholders could get together via a summit and mutually agree on long-term solutions? If the extra revenue needed is garnered from a fairer taxation system, a GST increase or better efficiencies, then so be it. An accessible and effective health system for all Australians is the goal. Robert Hickey, Green Point

Immigration debate

There is no doubt that the opposition will make immigration a central part of its election campaign (“Longer view on immigration is what counts”, December 6). In the current context of the cost-of-living crisis and the housing crisis, it will be an easy issue to exploit. Perhaps the government needs to take a more restrained approach. The thought of Peter Dutton becoming the next prime minister because the Coalition managed to stoke up enough fear over large-scale immigration is too ghastly to contemplate. Alan Morris, Eastlakes

Locked up post-lockdown.Credit: Cathy Wilcox

Equal treatment

What dispiriting reading recent events have produced, not least the unedifying clamour in parliament and elsewhere, against the release of people from unlawful detention – most of whom have committed no crime (Letters, December 6).

There is an axiom, widely accepted among lawyers, that “hard cases make bad law”, and the proposals which have been shamefully embraced by the two major parties will produce just that. Fortunately, the problem isn’t nearly as hard as we are being told. In fact, we don’t need any legislation. Let’s just treat released detainees in the same manner as any other prisoner who has been released. Michael Strickland, Mosman

Human values

The refusal by our federal ALP government to grant increased flights in Australia to Qatar Airways caused a shrill hue and cry from the Coalition and many in the public (“‘How dare we?’ Bondi woman says gender part of reason why airline won’t apologise”, December 6). There was no guarantee that prices would fall substantially, and it puzzled me that people were behaving like air travel was akin to a roof over your head, clothing, and food on the table. The disgusting treatment of these women sends a message on basic human values, and perhaps criticism of the federal government may have been a tad obtuse and self-serving. Brian Jones, Leura

Spaghetti fallout

For your correspondent: we’re all calling it the Rozehell interchange (Letters, December 6). James Butchart, Lilyfield

Illustration:Credit: John Shakespeare

Those responsible for the interchange did lose their jobs. They were beaten in the last state election. John Cotterill, Kingsford

Traditional thrift

I’m part of a Lebanese family and have been threading lamb, beef and chicken on individual skewers for decades (“Home made: Skillet shawarma”, December 6). Why do I need to make a foil parcel for them? It takes extra time and creates unnecessary waste. Kerrie Wehbe, Blacktown

Crowd booster

Now I understand (“Text messages fuelled Johnson’s Warner ire”, December 6). Mitchell Johnson has been secretly employed by Cricket Australia to create a controversy just before the international cricket season begins. Guaranteed to double the crowd for the opening game. Bernie Bourke, Ourimbah

Beetle bliss

One need not worry about a shortage of Christmas beetles in Burradoo. A night light after a warm day attracts them by the fifties and hundreds, and though discombobulated by the light, they seem happy in their beetle world, unlike some humans. Ivan Head, Burradoo

• To submit a letter to the Sydney Morning Herald, email [e-mail]. Click here for tips on how to submit letters.
• Catch up on the best letters and online comments on the topic of the week in our Friday wrap Yours. Sincerely
• The Opinion newsletter is a weekly wrap of views that will challenge, champion and inform. Sign up here.