Letters to the editor

The no entry pedestrian signs on the padlocked gates have been there for more than five months or more. Council states “The no entry signs will be removed after rehabilitation.” The definition of Land rehabilitation is the process of returning the land in a given area to some degree of its former state. Which was a rough public track. Not a padlocked grass paddock 300 meters long and three lanes wide.

In a letter from Council in May this year it stated Wynyard Way is not a “Private Road”. In fact the track is not even a track but “unused road reserve”. The gate at Warden Street lies in the grass. The gate at the other end is regularly demolished by someone. Then rebuilt only to be demolished again.

The sign which states Council doesn’t maintain this track is still there. As 300 meters of the track no longer exists who will maintain the planted grass. Council sheep.

I am writing to express my alarm at the changes that have happened on my local beach, Narrawallee.

I have watched the pro dog movement (who are very media savvy) push their agenda further and further so that now there are very few times when we do not have dogs on the beach.

I have just returned from a walk on Narrawallee where I passed seven dogs and owners at the north end of the beach where, supposedly, dogs are not permitted. The sand was covered in paw prints from previous walkers. I then walked out to the inlet, where supposedly again, dogs are not allowed (and let’s hope the incredible bird life there will be protected). I passed three dog owners and five dogs, all of whom had walked straight passed the signs declaring it a no dog area.

Walking on One Track For All earlier this week, I noticed that someone has sprayed all the dog faeces with a fluro pink powder, pointing out the fact that dog owners are not cleaning up after their pets. It is everywhere on both sides of the track. 

If council has implemented these changes, it is vital that they enforce the rules.  If a ranger was patrolling these areas frequently, council would be well able to pay ranger wages with fines that are the consequence of taking your dog into no dog areas. 

I am not at all anti dog, but have watched in horror as Narrawallee has been turned into a total “dog socialisation” area, as the pro dog movement takes more and more space and disregards the boundaries they were given, with little thought to  the majority of other beach users. 

Can we please have more patrolling and very clear signage in this area, as the boundaries of where dogs can and cannot go are being totally disregarded. 

ISIL and other extremists group claim Sharia Law is supreme and Islam demands that it be the only law of the land. Their ultimate goal is to establish it forcibly everywhere in the world. Such an ideology is impractical, non-sense and totally contrary to the teachings of Islam.

The Koran clearly states ‘there should be no compulsion in the religion’. Coercion was never an instrument in the religion, neither in the past, nor will be in future. The very essence of secularism is absolute justice be practiced regardless of the differences of faith, religion, color, creed or group.

Islam also pleads for a secular type of government as Koran states ‘Allah (God) orders you to always practice justice’ and ‘let not a people’s enmity incite you to act otherwise than with justice’. Prophet Muhammad never imposed Islamic law on the Jewish or other communities of Medina who accepted him not as their religious leader, but as a political leader.