Like my neighbours, I own a holiday house. I spend money on a myriad of services, and contribute freely to the local economy, yet over the years I have been criticised as the cause of high council rates. But when I look at my council services, I note an absence of kerb and guttering, no streetlights, and the stench of weeping, leaking sewage. 

I see useless fencing built by council on shifting sand dunes, and piles of uncollected rubbish on the verges of Collier Drive. 

I do not blame the local police for the outrage of this criminal rampage, but I do point the finger at our civic leaders. 

Our local member, aldermen and the mayor, work tirelessly to provide the best of public amenities to communities north of the Shoalhaven River. If you doubt me, take a slow drive around the streets of Berry. 

Yet communities south of the Shoalhaven River exude an air of forlorn neglect. We all know the social distinctions in the Shoalhaven, but we fail to do anything about the robberies, the arson, the murder, the drug dealing and addiction, the assaults, and the intimidation of the elderly by local and seasonal bullies. 

I have watched the deterioration of the City of Shoalhaven since 1980, and fear the impact of a community-wide robbery spree is people like me selling-up and bad-mouthing the area to other folk contemplating buying a holiday house. 

In the aftermath of this unfortunate sequence, I suggest Mrs Hancock and Mrs Gash take a long, hard look at the needs of communities south of the Shoalhaven River, lest their political careers come to an ignominious end at the ballot box.

H. Johnston,

Cudmirrah.