AFL oversteps the mark
Has the AFL become a moralistic organisation strongly resembling Nazi Germany where sex was banned between people to keep the race pure?
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Deciding what boundaries should apply between personal and the professional by demanding that two executive members should resign because of a relationship between them and female members of the AFL staff is a bad look for the AFL.
There has been no claim of illegal or criminal activity in this affair, and the two female members of staff have made no complaint, and are over 21 years of age.
Even Catharine Lumby, an adviser to the National Rugby League on gender issues, is concerned that "It all seems a bit extreme and perhaps the AFL is paranoid about its reputation".
Keep out of our bedrooms AFL and administer the rules of the football.
Bill Collier, Golden Square
Lack of vision in planning
While Napier Street is undergoing reconstruction, it would have been considerable foresight to have included a tram extension also.
Regrettably, bureaucrats lack that vision.
Scott Ramsay, Strathdale
Parking key to fixing mall
Over the last few weeks I've read many stories and opinions on the situation in the Hargreaves Mall.
There are problems there, but people seem to keep pointing fingers in mistaken directions.
One key issue I keep seeing is parking.
People claim it’s too expensive, and that's prohibiting visitors to the mall.
Yet every day the parking in the streets around the mall are filled up.
People keep blaming cost, I actually think access is a bigger issue.
Several large businesses in Bendigo have their headquarters in the middle of the CBD; this includes St Luke’s/Anglicare, Bendigo Bank and Bendigo TAFE.
At a count this can add up to well over 2000 staff across the CBD, and nearly every one of them are driving in.
Most of these businesses provide no parking to regular staff, reserving their space for management.
The workers left from this are left parking in available spots around the CBD.
This is where access problems start. Suggestions have been made in the past around freeing up access with decent public transport and better parking layouts, and this has yet to occur.
A simple, yet unused, solution would to be to shuttle workers and shoppers from outer edges of the CBD where existing multi-storey and dedicated parks are used into the centre of town.
Making this free and frequent could mean a significant spike in foot traffic and a decrease in congestion.
Yet this does not happen.
People continue to clamour for free parking, but if there are no parking spots to park in, why would it being free help?
And yes, the mall is an eyesore that we will be regretting for years.
The simple addition of greenery and shade would help, but there needs to be a reason for people to go there.
Maybe next we should be looking at the stores we have and ask ourselves, what would we actually go into the mall for?
Landlords and the council need to work on cost of space, getting it down to a reasonable level so that businesses have a chance to try set up in the space available, or people will continue to run to other locations.
Maybe once this is managed reasonably, we'll see some chains that are not clothing or beauty related come back to the space, and attract everyday citizens back.
David Crisp, Flora Hill
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