Doubts expressed over Lake Burley Griffin seaplane safety

Apparently, many of the submissions during public consultation opposed the proposal on the grounds of "safety" to lake users. These concerns can be addressed, and I say that with some substantial aviation experience.

However, the graphic with the proposed landing and take-off routes is the real worry. If the NCA swallows that one, then "I have a bridge ... etc".

The proposed ingress and egress routes, according to the graphic, are orientated west to east - land from the west and take off to the east. This is a recipe for a prang. The prevailing winds in Canberra come from the north-west; by my calculation that's 80 per cent of the time and they grow in intensity around our spring.

This means that a west to east landing will be serious "juju", as will a take-off to the east. Tailwinds reduce lift. A commercial jet can comfortably handle 10 knots of tailwind. A light aircraft is in trouble with anything over five in trying to gain the necessary speed and lift to get airborne with limited distance. Water drag comes into the equation as well

Conversely, an east to west landing shouldn't be an issue. But there's always a catch. An east-to-west take-off to get the necessary lift into the wind will bring terrain into play. The winds over the Brindabellas and Black Mountain create a "rotor effect". Put simply, that's "down-force". Downdrafts have trashed way bigger aircraft.

While I am in favour of seaplanes on the lake, the NCA will be culpable if it ignores this kernel safety issue and takes the path of least resistance.

Like the majority of Canberrans I am one of the users of the lake. I am not a yachtswoman, I do not row, I don't, in fact, ever get wet. Would the NCA even recognise me as a user? Perhaps it wouldn't, but I am.

I use the lake for its harmonious landscape and its peace. I love to sit quietly by the lake in my car, along with so many others who have snatched a few minutes out of their busy day to relax.

It is like a lung full of oxygen for us all. I like walking around it with friends, I like to picnic by its side. I used to ride my bike around it.

The lake brings me tranquillity, it has uses for all ages and stages of Canberrans. Some use it for water sports, some for exercise, some bike around it for transport, some use it to rest. But the essence of all those activities is the lake's peace and quiet. Those uses are all now threatened by the NCA's decision, on the eve of Christmas, to industrialise the lake through the use of seaplanes and thereby rob every Canberran of this hitherto guaranteed source of joy and peace.

I am heartbroken that our planners have done this to us.

Maybe Mr Brierley of Australian Hotels Association ("Canberra retail and hospitality sectors split over mask mandate", canberratimes.com.au, December 22) should have a peek at Broelman's Wednesday cartoon.

That, Mr Brierley, is what we are all facing if we don't stop the virus.

Many of us are tired of the bleating about mask mandates and the bagging of the ACT government which is trying to protect us.

Yes, it's tough on you, but it is not all about you.

I was at the Mitchell COVID-19 testing station in Tooth Street on December 20. But when I saw the line of cars I did not stop.

The site seems much less suitable than EPIC.

Cars in line block the left lane of the street and to pass cars in the line one has to drive on the wrong side of the road for some distance in a hazardous manner.

The news on December 23 was that the Mitchell testing site is overwhelmed with people waiting for a test. Why, when the ACT government knew Omicron was coming, was the EPIC COVID-19 testing site closed just before Christmas? It's beyond me.

Much has been made of the increasing number of people in NSW who have tested positive to COVID-19, with over 3000 positive tests reported on Tuesday.

But that is all they are; positive test results. These numbers say absolutely nothing about the severity of infection or about how ill those testing positive are.

Surely the more relevant number is the number of people in hospital. On Tuesday that number was just 284. Unfortunately, unlike other jurisdictions, NSW doesn't report the number of active cases, but 284 is likely to be a very small proportion.

Victoria by way of comparison has 392 people in hospital which is less than 3 per cent of the total number of active cases of 13,355.

It is about time the media switched the focus from the number of positive test results to the more meaningful rate of hospitalisation.

If that rate starts to go up then it is likely there will be a problem. But if it doesn't rise significantly, or even falls, then perhaps there is an over reaction.

Thank you Adrian Gibbs (Letters, December 18) for your letter on the importance of wearing masks.

You as a virologist, and indeed all the medical experts, keep emphasizing the need for masks especially with the Omicron variant now taking hold.

Why can't more of our politicians look to Europe and start re-imposing mask mandates?

Otherwise we will be just where they are now within a few weeks. People don't realise the seriousness of this disease.

Triple-vaccination will help but it may not prevent infection. A frightening statistic is that 22 per cent of people who are infected with COVID-19 will experience long-COVID.

That should be of concern to everyone and especially the health sector that will be burdened with this for many years to come.

The plastic wrapper on the home-delivered The Canberra Times usually keeps out most moisture, but on days of heavy rain it seeps through. A couple of weeks ago a mate of mine found his copy saturated through and through and unsalvageable.

He tossed in a corner of the garden - still in its wrapper - intending to use it for mulch. A couple of days ago he retrieved it. In the wrapper, it had rotted, corrupted, festered and fermented. To his amazement it had turned into a copy of The Australian.

Selecting a Christmas present for the relatives is always a difficult exercise.

This year it's easy. A nicely wrapped rapid antigen test to be used before the family gathering would be a good idea.

The result is not perfect but it seems a useful addition to the armoury.

The University of Sydney estimated in 2008 that the ACT caused more greenhouse emissions per person than any other Australian state or territory.

The Commissioner for Sustainability recently estimated that in 2018 the ACT's carbon footprint, at the equivalent of 35 tonnes of carbon dioxide per person, was now second only to that of the Northern Territory. Every state had a carbon footprint below 30 tonnes per person.

Thirty-two tonnes of the ACT's emissions footprint occurred outside the ACT. Governments can help by providing better information about the carbon footprints of products and services. The Australian government has an important role to play in reducing the 23 tonnes of the ACT's emissions footprint that occurred in Australia but outside the ACT.

The ACT Government's Climate Change and Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act applies only to emissions in the ACT. It set targets to reduce reduce those emissions to 40 per cent less than 1990 emissions by 2020, and to achieve zero net emissions by 2045.

ACT Greenhouse Gas Inventories show that emissions in the ACT were 60 per cent higher in 2020 than they were in 1990.

ACT Minister for Emissions Reduction Shane Rattenbury recently claimed that "the ACT remains a national leader when it comes to emissions reduction and climate action".

The NSW Premier is hell-bent on keeping his hands off the wheel concerning mask wearing and other sensible public health measures at least for a few weeks.

He prefers to smile wanly at the unmasked masses who throng crowded shopping strips and malls, cafes and restaurants, nativity plays, and large end of year gatherings.

These are the same people who are no doubt counting the days to the Boxing Day sales , more partying on New Year's Eve and joining thousands at the sporting and entertainment fixtures to follow.

A recent news headline suggested we could be sleepwalking into a COVID-19 catastrophe. I see it more as a charge of the light brigade under arrogant entitled leadership lacking the skills for the job. Come the autumn heading into winter, it would be no surprise to see our numbers matching those currently seen in the northern hemisphere.

So, Bill Stefaniak (Letters, December 21), after presenting some rather dated numbers on the British order of battle, wants France to join AUKUS. I suspect France is too canny for that. Besides, what could they call it? FAUKUS?

Are we cannon fodder for the sake of Scott Morrison's re-election? He refuses to act on rising COVID-19 numbers. He refuses to regulate in any form to slow the spread of this virus. Open borders and rising tourism portends economic growth in the lead up to a federal election.

One of the scams that helped to burst the South Sea Bubble of 1720 was "an enterprise of great advantage, but no one to know what it is". The latest mid-year economic crystal ball gaze include the one-liner " $16 billion for decisions taken, but not yet announced". Plus a change, plus c'est la même chose (the more things change, the more they stay the same).

I saw the advertisement touting Craig Kelly as "the next Prime Minister of Australia". I am not sure whether this will become fake news, horrifying news, non-news or actual news. Time and the voters will tell.

Douglas McKenzie continues to hammer the use of fossil fuels and their association with climate change, especially the warming of the earth's atmosphere. Neither he or other writers on these matters discuss population increase. Our planet's population has grown from 2 billion to nearly 8 billion in just under 100 years, hence the massive increase in energy requirements.

We need a government that can set an example by taking responsibility and behaving like adults. All those words have a very hollow ring coming from the Morrison government.

Scott Morrison has a judgement and comprehension problem. Firstly the bushfires, then the failure to purchase vaccines, followed by the inadequate climate change response and now the failure to support a mask mandate. If the virus gets out of hand there will be massive impacts on the health system and the economy. Whatever happened to an abundance of caution?

The more the pandemic sweeps out of control, the more there are glimpses of tangled web weaving; not to mention bobbing.