My wife and I have travelled to many third world countries and have seen armed security guards in supermarkets to prevent shoplifters and holdups. I could not ever have imagined that we would ever need security guards in the local supermarket in our beautiful town.

Were you to put yourself on the other side of the counter for one day, you would not last till lunchtime. Please everybody treat others how you would like to be treated.

We saw so much good during the fires, where has that compassion for our fellow human beings gone?

The council is preparing a new policy for the shire's commercial centres. The Merimbula Chamber of Commerce has asked the council to broaden Merimbula's economic base and it has, separately, been suggested that 80 council staff be moved to the Auswide building in Merimbula, in accordance with council's stated intentions when it bought that building.

But the new council policy is going to kill that idea. It talks about the "primacy" of Bega, which it spells out as being a policy that the council will reject any development application for a development outside Bega unless it can be proven that the development will not cause some impact on commercial activities in Bega.

What that would mean is that if someone wanted to start up in Merimbula an entertainment complex, a medical centre, or a myriad other businesses, then they will not be allowed to do it. And of course no public servants will be put in Merimbula either.

Now we all accept that Bega is the regional centre, but surely that means that the council chambers and "regional" type activities will be there, but it does not extend to this idea that Bega's businesses also get "primacy" or protection against what happens in Merimbula.

How far does the "primacy" of Bega go and what does "primacy" mean anyway?

While I fully appreciate the urgency of safe disposal of asbestos and other hazardous building materials after the recent bushfires, I do not feel that a single phone call from Bega Valley Shire Council to residents in the Wanatta Lane area represents the provision of sufficient information about the situation.

In the phone call from the BVSC staff member, no specific quantities of materials were mentioned, nor was the specific area for disposal within the facility identified.

I understand that action needs to be taken quickly, but this is not an excuse to provide inadequate information to residents in the hope that the disturbing details can be glossed over. Ratepayers are entitled to receive due notice of relevant meetings and copies of thorough plans for the waste disposal in writing, so that they may then offer genuinely informed feedback to council.

I just read with dread councils Rural Residential Strategy for the next 20 years. If I am reading correctly a lot of land that won't be developed for years is set to be zoned residential. If it is, council is set to be gifted a motza in residential rates, which are far dearer than rural rates, for a long time before the owners can sub-divide and develop, if at all.

I own a two acre property which for all intents and purposes should be paying rural rates. Guess what, as well as paying a residential rate you are also paying for the size of your land. I hope my assumptions are wrong but I don't think so.