Another letter published, in the Herald-Sun today! Highlighted in a box with 2 others on the same topic. I actually emailed the letter on 6/6, so they must have put it aside.
Melbourne’s population is expected to increase by approximately one million within the next 20 years. This is a frightening prospect.
Already, with the impact of global warming and the rising cost of fuel, our city is struggling to provide essential services.
Our transport system is woefully inadequate, hospitals and public schools need additional funding, and each summer and winter we are warned of possible blackouts.
Worst of all, our reservoirs are running dry. Melbourne’s population is already roughly equivalent to that of major cities such as Madrid and Berlin, and greater than that of San Francisco, Copenhagen, and Birmingham. Isn’t it time that city planners developed strategies based on a population status quo?
This would allow for consolidation and improvement of existing infrastructure and would ensure that the city has the capacity to provide essential services to all its citizens.
– Maureen Kutner, Glen Waverley
Considering our current environmental, infrastructure, cultural, and cost of living problems, the thought of another million people in Victoria within 12 years seems idiotic.
The State Government can’t responsibly manage the population it has got without burdening us with more people to compete for resources.
Governments need to drop this “populate or perish” mentality.
They should look beyond their own lifetimes and set ways in motion for a society that can economically survive without devouring our way of life and environment.
– D. Spooner, Bruthen
News that Australia’s population is booming is dismaying.
Water and housing shortages and overstretched public services mean an increasing population (and competition for resources) should be a cause for alarm, not celebration.
The Brumby Government seems to be in denial of these negative effects of growth.
– Suzanne McHale
