4 THE ESPERANCE EXPRESS, Wednesday, October 9, 2013

NEWS

FIRSTLY I would like to commend Esperance for thefantastic cycle ways and footpaths that seem to becatered for on most streets throughout this greatSuperTown.

I am staying at Pine Grove Caravan Park to enjoyan Esperance sea change and a well-earned break.

But I was bitterly disappointed that the cycle waydid not reach this great park, which has undergonenew management.

For families with kids and bikes, they too must bedisheartened when they ride on to the busy highwaythat has road trains and cars travelling at 70km/h.

Why has this caravan park been forgotten? I rodeyesterday on the highway to get to a road headinginto town as soon as I could.

On the way I was nearly blown off the road by aroad train, and then as I rode alongside CSBP, it feltlike I had entered a war zone with magpies swoopingand literally attacking my helmet.

If I didn’t have that on, it could have been a trip tothe hospital.

I know I was in magpie territory but maybe somesignage to warn cyclists wouldn’t go astray.

Please look after the tourists at Pine Grove. They are looking after you and your town by

spending money in it.Caroline Collins-RamsayBorden, WA

THE Friends of the Esperance Jettygroup was reactivated in 2006 to raisethe profile and work with theEsperance Shire to preserve the TankerJetty for the benefit of the community.

This group was successful in raisingfunds, including a community grantfrom Magellan Metals to contributetowards the first much needed under-water survey conducted in 2010-11.

Successful jetty birthday celebra-tions were also organised by the groupuntil insurance/health regulations made

these occasions beyond the financialmeans of the group.

Unable to attract new members andwith numbers dwindling, the groupbecame inactive, although individualsstill lobbied and maintained the jettyfocus.

Remaining funds from the group’saccount have now been forwarded tothe shire to be added to the jetty fund.Margaret RanceFriends of the Esperance Jetty treasurer

TO Rookies 3 on winning the grand final.TO all the teams playing in the recent grand

finals. Congratulations on your efforts.TO the Esperance Show – I’m excited. Only a

few weeks to go.TO working away. Thank goodness for a break.TO the beautiful, sunny weather over the week-

end. It’s beginning to feel like summer.TO the sweet photo of the school students on

last Friday’s Express. A very cute moment.TO the police for their efforts in apprehending

criminals. Well done cops.TO the volunteers who work tirelessly setting

up the Royal Show display every year. Well done.Let’s hope more volunteers put their hand up nextyear.

TO the shire for taking a proactive approach toinforming the community about the Tanker Jetty.Thank you for considering us.

TO changing the house around – it’s nice tohave a fresh start.

TO perfect conditions for conquering PeakCharles.

TO the book sale – how lovely to have somenew books to read.

TO the end of school. Hooray.TO the successful WA Kart Klub State

Championships.TO the woman who rang an ambulance and

helped when I collapsed in Woolworths onWednesday.

One bottle of Vinters wineawaits Kaylene Karafilis atour office.The Esperance Express isgiving away one bottle ofwine for the best letter to theeditor received each week.

The Esperance Expressvalues the opinions of itsreaders and hopes theincentive may prompt moreof you to put pen to paperand air your thoughts.

Look after tourists■ Letters to the editor Jetty funds forwarded to shire THUMBS UP

THUMBS DOWNTO local businesses that don’t answer their

phone. Don’t you want business?TO the fool who nicked the diesel tanker from

the shire. Seriously?TO Esperance being left out of tourism promo-

tions ... again.TO all the drivers on the wrong side of the road

going around corners on Twilight Beach Road –and they are not all tourists.

TO no soap at stadium for netball grand finals –yuck.

TO people who dump rubbish on our beautifulbeaches.

TO the end of winter sport. I miss JimFinnerty’s footy write-ups.

THE 2013 Western Australia BeachClean Up will be held in Esperance thisweekend.

Willing participants can registerwith South Coast Natural ResourceManagement (NRM) and are providedwith a free clean up kit containinggloves and bags.

People are encouraged to clean up abeach of their choice.

NRM coastal, marine and waterprogram leader Dylan Gleave said thiswas the third year NRM had supportedthe annual clean up.

“The work complements and valueadds to our coastal community engage-

ment and coastal rehabilitation andprotection program,” he said.

Mr Gleave said participation helpedto keep Esperance beaches in pristinecondition and of Australia’s best stan-dard.

For more information on the cleanup or to register contact Dylan Gleaveon 0427 928 400 or email dylang@southcoastnrm.com.au

To find out about the annual beachclean up go to tangaroablue.org/amdi/amdi-program/wa/383-2013-west-australian-beach-clean-up-count-down.html

Get down and clean up the beach

James St, opposite the MuseumJudy: 0429 721 125

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THE ESPERANCE EXPRESS, Wednesday, October 9, 2013 5

NEWS

Real estatenominated forawardsBy ELIZABETH LANGDALE

PROFESSIONALS Esperance real estateteam were nominated for a series of awardsat the Western Australia and NorthernTerritory Annual Awards Night held at theHyatt on September 21.

The real estate was one of the top fivenominated for fields including PropertyManagement Of The Year (Country),Greatest Number of Sales Achieved(Country Agency), Top Performing SalesOffice (Country Agency), ProfessionalsState Top Selling Principal (PaulBlackham), State Individual HighestNumber of Sales Achieved (Chris Pope)and Chris Pope for the Individual HighestGross and Commission Earned (Country).

Belinda Rose was the Annual MatusikJewellery Voucher Winner.

Property Consultant Chris Pope was alsonominated as the State’s Most Valued

Professional. Mr Pope said the nominationcame as a surprise.

“I thought they were lying to me until Igot the call from head office, I thought they

were actually joking,” he said. Mr Pope saidhe has been with Professionals for sevenyears. Professionals were up against 60other offices from across WA and the NT.

The Professionals Team: The Professionals Esperance were nominated for a series of awards at theWestern Australia and Northern Territory Annual Awards Night. Photo supplied by Dan Paris.

Future still uncertain for skate parkBy REX DRABIK

THE Shire of Esperance willincrease the Esperance skate parkmaintenance budget by a maxi-mum of $60,000 to implementurgent repairs, with the future ofthe park to still be determined.

Esperance Shire Council votedduring its ordinary council meet-ing last month to increase themaintenance budget of the ageingskate park.

Earlier this year, councilreceived a deputation from a con-cerned parent and a number ofskate park users concerning thecondition of the skate park.

After being altered to theseconcerns, councillors inspectedthe skate park, with some remedi-

al repairs carried out to fill cracksin the concrete basin and wallsaimed at reducing injury risks tousers.

Skate park designer Convicwas subsequently engaged by theshire to assess and report on thecondition of the park.

The report presented by Convicadvised the shire that it wouldneed to plan and budget for amajor upgrade or replacement ofthe Esperance Skate Park thatwould place the skate sites in amore accessible area.

It was also recommended thatthe shire implement a specificmaintenance plan for the facilityand all future facilities thatinclude check lists and reportingprocedures.

The report also recommendedthe implementation of a annualmaintenance budget and the devel-opment of a graffiti removal strat-egy.

Convic rated the current parkas being in a poor condition, witha remaining life span of less thanfive years.

In its September meeting,council resolved to allocate$60,000 to implement a immedi-ate repairs of the park.

However, council said it wouldwait for the results of a Shire ofEsperance Perception Surveybefore making a decision on thefuture of the Skate Park as the sur-vey required the community toprioritise a number of major proj-ects including the skate park.

Flight cost put into questionBy REX DRABIK

SHIRE of Esperance president Malcolm Heasmansays he has held productive discussions with VirginAustralia Airlines about the cost of airfares betweenEsperance and Perth.

Mr Heasman said he believed Virgin was commit-ted to making the cost of air travel to and fromEsperance more affordable, saying that airfares hadalready dropped since Virgin took control of SkywestAirlines earlier in the year.

“I’ve been encouraged by the discussions we’vehad with Virgin going back a number of months,” hesaid.

“The price of airfares has always been a bone ofcontention within the community and we had theopportunity to reinforce that message with Virgin. Ido believe that had certainly sharpened the pencil andthe fares of late have been pretty good.”

“They’ve been very supportive.“What we need to do is get to a workable arrange-

ment where there is something in it for them.Mr Heasman said he hoped more affordable air-

fares would allow Esperance to develop into a majortourist destination in the state.

SuperTowns future to be decidedBy REX DRABIK

SHIRE of Esperance chief executive officerMatthew Scott says the shire is still waitingfor clarification from the state governmenton the future of the Royalties for Regions-funded SuperTowns initiative.

However, he said the message receivedfrom the state government thus far suggest-ed that the program would continue in someform.

“We had a meeting with the departmentof regional development and they certainlyindicated that SuperTowns is not dead - it’sstill alive and kicking,” he said.

Mr Scott said the shire was waiting on aletter from the department that he hopedwould outline the future direction of the ini-tiative.

“Given the state’s current fiscal situation,they are probably reviewing all their majorfunding expectations and seeing what canbe done,” he said.

“The message we received was thatSuperTowns was not dead but rather mov-ing on to a new phase.”

Shire of Esperance president MalcolmHeasman said the state’s tighter fiscal envi-ronment would mean that future

SuperTowns funding would probably comewith tougher conditions.

“I think Esperance handled theSuperTown application process extremelywell and professionally and that’s certainlyrecognised in local government,” he said.

“Whichever way the program goes, we’llbe well-placed going forward.”

He said previous SuperTowns grants hadallowed Esperance to undertake forwardplanning processes, such as the EconomicDevelopment Strategy, that would allowEsperance to attract future project fundingif it became available.

VoteSTEWART,Beverley

Written and Authorised by

BL Stewart, 25 Gull Street,

Esperance.

TOWN WARD ELECTORS

TA12

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