Reader Response - Mar 21 2013 edition

Tall order to get foreshore agreement

A City of Perth decision to limit building heights at Barrack Square received mixed reviews, while ConocoPhillips’ criticism of WA’s gas reservation policy attracted comments from readers of our website: www.wabusinessnews.com.au

With regard to the article: ‘City of Perth says hotel too tall for waterfront’...

WHAT an almost unbelievable situation. But then, when how increasingly un-user friendly the city is becoming, and the mess planners have made over the past 40 years are taken into account, it comes as no surprise.

What is it about 11 stories? That’s an absolute waste of inner-city footprint.

I believe all the mini high rise will be on the old Entertainment Centre site on Wellington Street, where they should be looking at around 30 floors minimum per building.

What qualifications do councillors have that they feel capable of making such decisions?

Ian Smith
Nedlands

CITYVISION welcomes the decision of the council, and agrees that a height of 11 storeys is too tall for the immediate foreshore.

We’d love to see very tall buildings in the CBD proper. No limit there, especially along St Georges Terrace. However, on the foreshore they would affect not only Barrack Square but also set a poor precedent for the foreshore to the west of Barrack Square, where overshadowing and wind funnelling are big issues.

This building would also damage the view of the foreshore and river from Kings Park -a genuinely iconic view, significant to Perth’s identity.

Ken Adam
Chairman, CityVision
North Fremantle

Good news on card fees

With regard to the article: ‘Visa to outlaw hefty card fees’...

THIS is a step in the right direction to save customers from all the extra costs. Something should also be done about ATM fees, which are now very high and vary from bank to bank.

Also, the banks are now slowly reducing the number of their own ATMs and businesses are installing private machines in their premises and are asking the customers to withdraw cash from there, instead of using EFTPOS.

Good examples are Harbour Town in West Perth and BP service stations, which used to have ANZ ATMs but now have private ATMs.

Martin Mariappan
WA

Gas protectionism

With regard to the article: ‘Protectionist" domgas policies a threat: Conoco' ...

ADVOCATING protectionism is short sighted and an ideological rather than a pragmatic position. Protectionism has many long-term negative effects for the country it is supposed to protect.

Free trade will provide jobs and wealth for the people.

A Haines
Perth

SO-CALLED ‘free trade’ is an academic’s fantasy, it has never existed and never will.

Not looking after WA’s best interests over some foreign company’s bottom line is short sighted.

James England
Perth

IS it not the case that the explorers are aware of the policy before they spend money on exploration?

If that is the case, then they should expect little sympathy if they subsequently try to move the goalposts to enhance their bottom line

John Bell
Perth