Council does not know where the VIC will be located in the SEC, what modifications will be required, and obviously, what the cost will be.

If the VIC consumes 45 per cent of the tourism budget, one way to reduce that would be to move several salaried staff to other council positions and replace them with volunteers. From my experience it is a system that works in almost every other Council area in Australia.

No indication has been given to how the move will reduce costs. 

The tourism manager does not foresee any problems with parking at the SEC. She is wrong. Current parking spots have barely enough room to park a normal car or SUV let alone large recreational vehicles.

I want to be there when the tourism manager, or any other council staffer, attempts to park a 12-metre (plus) vehicle at the SEC. That would be very entertaining. 

I attended the Bomaderry Bowling Club on November 18 to watch a debate which was going to include Gilmore MP Ann Sudmalis.

There was a no-show by her, with “other commitments” given as the reason. It was said that times were to be changed to meet the MP’s schedule but to no avail.

The debate was on the China Free Trade Agreement and other FTAs that are currently with the government. It saddens me our local MP could not give her constituents the time to listen to the government’s side as against the speakers who attended on the night.

I feel this is a very important topic that will affect all Australians in one way or another.

I may be doing Mrs Sudmalis an injustice by being upset at her non-attendance. Perhaps there was a swimming pool that was opening.

I write from Royal Life Saving NSW to simply ask readers to do all they can to help stop backyard pool drowning – a huge issue for our state.

Disturbing figures sadly show that in the past 13 years in NSW, 83 children have died in a backyard swimming pool. For any family, it’s absolutely devastating. 

Figures also show - in the past decade - at least 70 children have suffered neurological damage due to an immersion in a pool. At least 1000 children have ended up in hospital for the same reason.

We want to highlight that often the most dangerous aquatic location exists in our own backyard.

We ask readers to take part in Summer Safety Sunday on November 29.

We ask readers to check their pool and spa from top to bottom and to make sure it’s safe, fully compliant and that any outstanding issues – where something needs to be fixed – are acted on.

We want people to have fun in all aquatic environments. We don’t want to see tragedies.

If a pool gate is not closing properly, please fix it. If your pool fence needs any kind of repair, act. 

It is never worth the risk.

We have extensive free materials available to help readers. Just visit www.bepoolsafe.com.au or www.swimmingpoolregister.com.au.  You can also visit the hashtag #SummerSafe. 

At the websites you can download a check list and get many helpful materials.

Safety and vigilance are the keys. We’ve seen too many tragedies. 

We thank your readers for taking action and helping us with critical safety issues.