Once again there’s talk that some of our local councils might consider raising our rates beyond the limit set by the NSW State Government which, I believe, is possible after discussions with the State.

We already pay enough rates in Wollongong and any moves to hike the costs up further should be resisted even to the extent of ratepayers showing some guts and deciding not to pay any extra burden.

And certainly no rate rises should be considered while we ratepayers don’t have a right to elect our own council.

Which brings me to the footpath works still being completed adjacent to our local hospital and the questions of why it has taken so long for council workers to complete the work and how much has it cost us.

And in regard to the above I’m still awaiting a reply to a fax I sent to council’s PR department some weeks ago, which makes me think constructing footpaths is not the only thing our council is slow in doing.

Oh, and by the way, it seems our rates also go towards allowing our council to conduct free two hour supervising of learner driver courses. The advertisement in the local on Saturday clearly stated council would run the free workshops.

The costs associated with this would be much better put towards improved road surfaces and the like, and as I’ve suggested in the past we shouldn’t see our rates go towards unnecessary council business ventures!

Shut them down

We just don’t seem to be able to get out of the headlines, our latest black mark having one of our drinking houses named among the worst 10 for loutish behaviour and the like in NSW.

Once again The Glasshouse has been named and is listed third with a reported 429 incidents occurring at this still popular rendezvous.

An analysis of a state – wide police investigation and report on poor behaviour due to excess alcohol suggested that at least 30 per cent of the incidents involve excess consumption of alcohol.

I asked around at the weekend and the young men and women I spoke to suggested that despite its bad name The Glasshouse is a top spot in main street Wollongong. So while you may say shut them down our young people want them open, and I guess the message here is that if you close one they’ll just make another popular and the poor behaviour will continue.

Let’s build a new stadium

With all the talk that has gone on in the past and is still going on about the future of WIN Stadium we would have been better off in the first place to have erected it somewhere else. Like the original idea of Berkeley or in the middle of Kembla Grange racecourse or at Brandon Park, and maybe the latter is still the go.

I agree with WIN Entertainment Centre general manager Stuart Barnes that the estimated $46 million to build a new oval somewhere else is really a trifling amount when one considers how much has been and is still being wasted on other projects.

But whatever is done needs to include vastly improved parking space.

The trains are the real problem

So our State Government plans to repaint a number of our local railway stations as part of a general refurbishment program.

But when are we going to see trains running regularly on time?

Pretty railway stations might be one thing but I’m sure all commuters would rather be serviced by faster and on time rail services, and particularly when I read at the weekend some phenomenal number of people have turned to rail travel to get to and from Sydney.

Go the Dragons

With nearly 8000 people egging them on the St George – Illawarra Dragons scored a comfortable pre – season win on Saturday night.

The attendance for the game was higher than some of last season’s home and away games and augers well for 2009.

Good start, too, for new coach Wayne Bennett.