J. Lindsay's comments (Letters, August 25) regarding the Tuggeranong pool fiasco were spot on.
But in deciding to get precious about ''fair-weather swimmers'', Lindsay missed the main thrust of the argument that is, the damage done to Tuggeranong families through the ongoing saga with the pool refurbishment.
The closure of the Civic pool adds to that pain.
The silence from the Government, and for that matter the Opposition, is deafening.
Families are now forced to travel further afield to find and hire pool lanes to accommodate their children children who dream of representing Australia in swimming at some future Olympic or Commonwealth Games.
Added travel, added fuel costs on top of all other family expenditures leaves very little in the family and swim club kitty.
It is the Tuggeranong parents we should be thinking of here, and not the occasional users referred to so dismissively by J. Lindsay.
Noel McLaughlin, Macgregor
Teach them well
Instead of taking family benefits from parents who do not send their children to school, why not give each child some money for themselves that's related to the parents' family benefit and the number of days they attend school?
The child can only spend this money at their school and for things that benefit them directly.
That is, they get to go on excursions, they can spend their money on computer software, they can purchase a healthy breakfast, or pay to go to the swimming pool after school.
Give it a try at some problem schools and see what happens.
It won't take a lot of money to give the children a real incentive to go to school, and schools can think of innovative and appealing ways for children to spend their money.
Kevin Cox, Ngunnawal
Work/play balance
I read with interest (''Greens weigh up main rivals over balance of power'', August 23, p7) that high-profile Greens candidate for Molonglo, Shane Rattenbury, has decided to spend the next two weeks at the world triathlon championships in the Netherlands during the northern summer, rather than join his colleagues at shopping centres and doorknocking during the cold of a Canberra winter.
Is Rattenbury so confident of his election prospects that he feels able to not even be in the country while his Green colleagues continue to do the hard yards on his behalf?
One hopes that, should he be elected, he would look at what his real priorities are or, are his current actions revealing his true commitment to the people of Canberra?
Beryl Hicks, Dunlop
Cold comfort
On arrival in Canberra at Kingston railway station by CountryLink train or coach, you encounter a billboard outside the station advertising Canberra's attractions but no taxis at the rank, no numbers to call, and an isolated station which closes down leaving passengers stranded in the dark in all weathers.
Taxis, if called, do not always arrive and are apparently unwilling to take fares to nearby suburbs.
Local buses are infrequent, and in any case are not an option for anyone needing door-to-door transport.
In Civic, there is now only a set-down/pick-up point on West Row with no shelter or other facilities.
Who uses the trains and coaches?
Certainly a high percentage of the most vulnerable people senior citizens and young travellers.
What is the ACT Government going to do to remedy this deplorable situation in the nation's capital?
D.M. Owen, Griffith
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