'More beneficial': why basketball stadium is better than playing fields
by Letters to the Editor · Newcastle HeraldWhile the basketball centre will take up a considerable footprint at the two ovals at Lambton, there will still be sufficient space for exercising and training, but not to play a football game.
Football is a seasonal game, while basketball can be a full-time social game because it is played indoors with many other indoor sports including soccer, which has more registered junior players than junior rugby league.
Going on numbers and diversity, the basketball centre would be more beneficial than an open playing field, especially when training during hot, cold or windy days. However, there are still the Arthur Eden and Ford ovals within a few hundred metres from the proposed basketball centre.
Now that women are playing what was once male-only sports, I reckon they should have a say regarding the security of playing or training in a secured building, against the insecurity of an open space.
Carl Stevenson, Dora Creek
Nuclear cost prohibitive
Your correspondent ("Remove ban on nuclear option", Letters, 9/11) suggests that small nuclear reactors similar to the two on the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford would be suitable for meeting Australia's electricity needs. These reactors each produce 700MW of electricity, enough to power about 50,000 homes, but to suggest that they could be used onshore as an electricity supply solution appears naive.
The cost of each reactor was about $A1.1 billion. Putting aside additional costs for suitable containment buildings, cooling and emergency safety systems, electrical generators and grid connections and provision for eventual waste disposal, the sheer number of reactors needed would make the cost prohibitive.
Australia has about 11 million homes, so about 220 reactors would be needed for domestic supply. This is about 24 per cent of total consumption, so another 660 would be needed for manufacturing, factories, utilities etc, bringing the total number to about 880. So we're getting up to about a trillion dollars.
Your correspondent regularly dismisses renewables because the sun doesn't always shine and the wind doesn't always blow, so I have not included their impact in these estimates, although renewables are already providing about 40 per cent of Australia's electricity needs. Incidentally, renewables generated more electricity than coal worldwide last year and about four times as much as nuclear.
John Ure, Mount Hutton
Prepare now or pay later
I was shocked to read that the cost of disaster management and response had risen 280 per cent in just one year, from 2024-25 to 2025-26 ("Bushfire risk package unveiled", Herald 10/11).
A closer look reveals that, according to the National Emergency Management Agency, Australian government national plans were activated for 128 days during the 2025-26 higher-risk weather season, while its Crisis Coordination Team was activated for 145 days. So, it is appropriate that a federal funding package strengthening bushfire risk management and emergency responders' mental health has been announced.
But the need goes much further. Emergency Leaders for Climate Action's Prepare or Pay report estimates bushfires will cost Australia an average of $6 billion annually over the next 30 years. Fire seasons are already 21 per cent longer than in 1979, while the number of volunteer firefighters fell by more than 10,000 between 2019 and 2024.
Former Fire and Rescue NSW commissioner Greg Mullins warns: "Governments have a clear choice: prepare now for worsening fires or pay later for the huge damage they will cause."
Funding emergency services, supporting volunteers, improving early detection and protecting communities are essential. But preparedness cannot substitute for prevention. Emergency leaders also call for faster cuts to climate pollution from coal, oil and gas.
We cannot keep fuelling the problem while spending ever more money responding to its consequences.
Ray Peck, Hawthorn, Vic
Public wellbeing paramount
I am absolutely opposed to the proposed takeover of Newcastle Private Hospital by Calvary Health Care.
Especially now, in 2026, it is my understanding that all patients have the right to equal, quality healthcare, no matter their medical background.
I am appalled that the takeover would lead to a religious institution denying certain patients access to the exceptional services that Newcastle and Hunter Valley Private hospitals now provide. Services that, as a now 37-year-old, I have had to use. From a patient perspective, I was treated with respect, dignity, compassion, kindness, and a professional understanding of what my medical care required.
If this proposal goes ahead, I am afraid as a society that we will have gone completely backwards in regard to equality for patients. All because of a dated Catholic institution whose ideas do not coincide with the general public's wellbeing.
Lara Kearns, Warners Bay
Best of luck in return of the Burwood Inn
I wish the best of luck to Rolly de With and all of The Burwood Inn staff ("Long time between drinks: 'The Zoo' confirms opening date", Newcastle Herald 10/11). I especially hope that they don't receive any complaints from any neighbouring residents who may have moved nearby when it was closed.
Adz Carter, Newcastle
Both sides have ammunition
Wendy Atkins ("Labor should sign up for maximum impact", Letters, 11/11), your suggested billboard could be easily countered by One Nation by showing the Prime Minister aboard Twiggy Forrest's yacht in the Caribbean, when the latest interest rate rise, the 17th under his government, was announced. Add to that Albo laughing with King Charles about his excuse for not being home to answer the tough questions. After years of telling us he was a republican, Albo must have had yet another change of position.
Dave McTaggart, Edgeworth
Safety reasons spurious to me
Newcastle lord mayor Gavin Morris makes claims about basing the ban on civic protests on safety concerns I think are patently false. Did he present any evidence to attempt to back these up? I would be very surprised if he did. I'd think the only safety concerns would be the sometimes reckless and dangerous actions of the police. If safety is the concern, ban those actions. It is not a good day if our politicians tell outright lies to oppress the citizens, all to protect an industry that is endangering the whole plant.
Richard Boult, Cardiff Heights
Peaceful protest not much to ask
I have two questions for Rising Tide; why do you never want to hold a protest in winter when it's cold and rainy with climate at its worst? Why can't you just have a peaceful protest without disrupting port activities and doing illegal activities such as mounting boats and graffiti? Thank you, lord mayor, for a decision preventing their shenanigans where they get arrested and then let off after a waste of police time and taxpayers money.