Disruptive Metro line is unnecessary and unwanted

I concur with Hurlstone Park residents (“Inner West families’ years of construction pain”, April 11) on the negative impacts of the Sydenham to Bankstown line. Living 50 metres from the railway line and on a corner where every single truck passed my house when entering and exiting the site has been a long auditory nightmare. Day one consisted of at least five B-Double trucks lining Lilian Lane in Campsie, behind residences, with their engines idling. It wasn’t until council and I, on more occasions than I can remember, spoke with the supervisors of the site and managers from Transport for NSW, that the situation improved and the trucks eventually turned their engines off. I was repeatedly told to “get nicked” when I asked drivers to turn off their trucks (as was the newly implemented direction), with some simply ignoring me or entering my personal space for a confrontation. Once, I caught a subcontracted truck driver urinating alongside my house. Not only did we suffer from the noise and vibration of the trucks and construction, there has been loss of parking, the removal of hundreds of trees, increased litter, deterioration of local roads, loss of sleep from night works (with a measly $50 offered for respite), workers using our fences as smoko rooms, construction dust and dirt, ripping up and replacement of traffic-calming devices and removal of power lines for the cranes, and the list goes on. The community didn’t want the Metro, the council didn’t want the Metro and I am sure the public purse didn’t need the Metro. Clare Raffan, deputy mayor, Canterbury-Bankstown Council, Campsie

I often wonder how many billions could have been saved by just upgrading the existing train network in Sydney, instead of building the new metro lines.
Lindsay Foyle, Stanmore

The same story as told by residents of Hurlstone Park is occurring in homes right though Sydenham to Bankstown, but the negative impacts of this project extend well beyond that. It is a dud deal that illustrates why the Liberal government needed to be voted out. The residents were able to see the big picture as they fiercely opposed the Metro, but all the Liberals could see were developer dollars and a privatisation opportunity. For us, the loss of important transit connections, especially beyond Bankstown, the safety concerns, construction impacts, lack of seating and the risks to our heritage and local character were major reasons to reject the project. But we were equally concerned about the billions being spent, when we already had a rail service. This public money could have been spent on upgrading the entire network’s signalling, making all stations accessible and extending public transport to non-serviced areas. Due to years of an incompetent and secretive Coalition government, we are left with a rail network unfit for purpose, except for Rouse Hill to Bankstown, maybe, where a tinny, driver-less Metro promises to whizz you through high-rise hell. It’s not too late to stop the poorly thought-out southwest metro at Sydenham, Jo Haylen. Marie Healy and Kate Lumley, Hurlstone Park

‘Blowouts’ are a normal part of building costs

As a public servant intimately involved with the construction contractual process in my past life (and consultant in my present), I can assure your readers and writers that there is no such thing as a cost “blowout”, a meaningless term in a contractual sense (“Metro West line to cost state $25b”, April 11). Contracts are written to deal with contingencies: weather, unexpected underground and unforeseen conditions, CPI, etc and the government is expected to take its fair share of the risk, otherwise the original price with the risk factored in would have been much higher, or no contractor would have been willing to take that risk. Hence, it is easy to select any government contract for a complex project, compare the original contract price with the final cost, and “shock, horror” it is a “blowout”. No, it is not. It is the fair cost of the project, as agreed between the parties, following a tender selection process, with the variations carefully managed by highly skilled government-appointed project managers. Robert Hosking, Paddington

It strikes me that it would be fantastic if we ever had a state government that decided to build and spend on a per capita basis. That would mean that about $2.5billion or so would be spent on transport in the New England region, which is not even the average cost blowout on Sydney infrastructure projects. Andrew Brown, Bowling Alley Point

Metro lines were started by Gladys Berejiklian as political flag-waving for the Coalition government, and they are all being operated by foreign companies whose profits we will never see because of “commercial-in-confidence” cover-ups. Spending public money on foreign companies is the way we did things in NSW, but I hope the Labor government does only projects that retain equity for the people of the state. The big end of town has ripped us off enough. Barry Laing, Castle Cove

Adding to the frustration of years of living in a construction zone for the South West Metro is the fact that a functioning rail line is being torn up to be replaced by a slightly different rail line. John Bailey, Canterbury

I fear there was a lot of sound engineering advice that was ignored or worse, not even called for, by the NSW Liberal government, that contributed towards this $1.4 billion cost blowout. Unfortunately, it would seem it was the contractors that were receiving excellent (read profitable) engineering advice, at the state’s (read the public’s) expense. Denis Sullivan, Greystanes

Hard-won democracy in dire straits

As Peter Hartcher says (“Trump charged but US on trial”, April 11), the world does need a democratic America but, in its current state, its democracy is in dire straits. Various suggestions had been put forward that resulted in a bill being proposed, known as the “For the People Act”, which addressed voter access, election integrity and security, campaign finance and ethics for the three branches of government. This act was passed in the House of Representatives but Senate Republicans blocked the bill by using a filibuster.
There has been a change in Americans’ views of their democracy from an acceptance of democratic norms to one in favour of political gain which has made it difficult to rectify the failings and the world is the worse for it. Peter Nash, Fairlight

Trump, an evil individual by most people’s standards, is as much symptom as cause for the parlousness of US democracy. Despite polar opposite attitudes toward black people and the needy, which have long divided the nation, the US managed to bind together in dire times like the world wars. Today, it is worse. The very possibility Trump, friend of Putin, could become president again after the treasonous role he played in the murderous Capitol attack is alarming for Western democracies. We must be prepared to fight for our hard-won freedoms and right now that means speaking out against high-profile Republicans who, despite the dangerous immorality of tolerating Trump, are prepared to do so to get into power. Ron Sinclair, Windradyne

Hartcher is right to sound the alarm for a more democratic world. And, yes, the US is teetering. However, the man trying Trump, Harvard-educated district attorney Alvin Bragg, was democratically elected. His constituents would expect nothing less than the successful prosecutions he mounted against Trump ally Steve Bannon and Trump CFO Allen Weisselberg. You cannot expect universal acceptance. Mark Paskal, Austinmer

Housing vision needed

It’s time our political masters viewed public housing as social capital rather than a piece of real estate to be flogged off to the highest bidder (“Public housing listings pulled from market after backlash”, April 11). It should be viewed as a home, part of a community where supportive networks exist, where kids play and are schooled locally, where residents have rights and responsibilities and where tenure is secure and affordable. What is needed is a new vision for public or affordable housing devoid of stigma. Some of its future residents may well be our essential workers: teachers, police, health and child care workers. Peter Singer, Hamilton South

Common values

Recent discussion stirred up by Ross Gittins’ article (Letters, April 11) brings to mind the elephant in the room: the view of Christians that loving your fellow humans, caring for the underprivileged and having a monopoly on being a perfect human being, is their purview alone. Most of my friends exhibit those so-called Christian qualities but are confirmed atheists. And so did millions of humans before Jesus appeared, and billions after, who profess other or no religions. Richard Fry, Marrickville

Regarding the relationship between religion and some politicians. I think it may have been Gore Vidal who said religion is believed by the common man to be true, by the wise man to be false and by the politicians as useful. Lot of truth in what they both said. Al Clark, Belrose

Mobile billboards

When the light rail was finished it appeared as a smart, modern transport system. Then suddenly the carriages became massive advertising billboards – a truly hideous look when they cover the entire carriage. I don’t recall seeing any “artist’s impressions” of the light rail looking this way before it was completed. John Swanton, Coogee

Sign language

While we are throwing brickbats at non-indicators (Letters, April 11), could we save a few for the car indicator designers who seem to delight in making them invisible to drivers or pedestrians who aren’t directly in front of or behind the vehicle? It is illuminating (or not) for one to check the visibility of one’s own indicators. Just walk around the vehicle on a sunny day and note at what angle you can see the front indicators flashing. It will give you some idea about when other drivers on roundabouts can work out that you are actually turning right instead of going straight ahead. Earlier designers knew better; my old Beetle’s indicators were more effective than those of my current car. Tim Robilliard, Tamworth

Why do we even have traffic roundabouts? It seems most of the time they are just a licence for the motorist on the more major road to hurtle through regardless (or to zip through on the tail of the car that you did give way to). Might as well just put stop signs on the lesser roads. The rules state we must give way to traffic already in the roundabout, but good luck pleading that case when you, from a stopped position, enter the roundabout before another car which enters at 60km/h. It would save millions in infrastructure if we just adopted the American system of the four-way stop sign. Everyone has to stop, and you give way to the cars which had pulled up before you. And if two cars arrive at the same time, give way to the right. Simple. Lloyd Swanton, Wentworth Falls

Your correspondent rightly points out the dangers of tailgating, but a simple remedy is to turn on your parking lights – they back off really quickly. Shane Nunan, Finley

Stuck in Sydney

Thank you, Simeon Boikov, for giving me such a laugh (“Stuck in Russian consulate, Aussie Cossack wants out”, April 11). Only in Australia. I feel you are entitled to a long holiday in Russia, if only to see how others really live. Glenys Quirk, Forster

Less works best

To your correspondent (Letters, April 11), forget about asking for more public holidays to escape the daily treadmill. What we need is a four-day working week for all employees. It has been trialled successfully with companies here and overseas, resulting in a reduction of absenteeism and an increase in productivity. This can only be good for our overall wellbeing.Con Vaitsas, Ashbury

No green veg

I agree with your correspondent’s (Letters, April 11) point about fruit packaging by big supermarkets. The only time I’ve had a fruit and veg delivery from one of them, I was appalled. It is unnecessary to put one carrot in a plastic bag. Margot Vaccari, Berowra

Lifetime sport

The most interesting thing about rugby league is the seemingly endless club search for coaches (“Dragons sound out trio as coach race heats up”, April 11). Graham Russell, Clovelly

The digital view
Online comment from one of the stories that attracted the most reader feedback yesterday on smh.com.au
‘Classic Sydney story’: Tenants rebel after landlord hikes rent by
70 per cent
From Shane1955: ″⁣The rental market is pushing an increasing percentage of people into poverty and homelessness, but we see zero urgent action from the state or federal government to tackle the issue.″⁣

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