Letters to the editor

Upgrading it to bitumen provides a good excuse for the council to downgrade the annual maintenance required, as we can see in many roads in other areas.

Also, why is Ridge Road being upgraded when the Old Highway is in worse condition? Just asking....what about the dodgy trees on the Old Highway, just asking.…

I would like to send a huge thank you to the lovely lady who returned my daughters wallet on Easter Saturday afternoon.

She found it and returned it within moments of my daughter losing it. You are the epitome of an honest person and I think there should be more like you. 

Did you know that thanks to the Eurobodalla Shire Council there is now another arms dealer in our Shire?

With Council's approval for HuntFest to expand its licence to include the sale of firearms at its family event held in Narooma, it has extended the number of dealers within the local area command to eleven.

Isn't that just brilliant.  Onya council for encouraging the proliferation of firearms in our community.

This flies in the face of a recent press release by the Australian Medical Association citing firearms to be a public health issue.

And guess what, council refuses to endorse the AMA's policy.

This Friday, April 21, marks the 247th anniversary of Lieutenant James Cook’s naming of Batemans Bay as the HMS Endeavour sailed north along our coastline on Cook’s first voyage of discovery to the Australian eastern coastline.

This anniversary is our reminder of the origin of our town’s name, but it is also a reminder that in three short years other established eastern coastline towns, also named by Cook, will celebrate the 250th anniversary of this extraordinary voyage and of the naming and location identifications Cook entered into his journal. Planning and funding for these separate celebrations are already well underway elsewhere.

The administrators of the Royal Australian Navy’s sail training ship, the Young Endeavour, are considering replicating Cook’s coastal voyage timeline, which could mean that this superb reproduction of Cook’s vessel will be anchored in the Bay and be available to assist in our own celebrations on April 21, 2020.

But planning for these celebrations must begin now. Key community groups, the Chamber of Commerce and Council should coordinate what will need to be an ‘all of town’ organisation and funding effort.

The Anzac Day holiday, just four days later, will allow for a four or five-day range of events that should add to the tourism interest at that time.

James Cook did not record his reasons for using the name Bateman.

He may have intended to commemorate either Nathaniel Bateman (an earlier mentor) or Viscount John Bateman (British politician).

Cook had earlier served as master under Nathaniel Bateman, producing charts of the St Lawrence River and the Canadian coastline. These charts are considered to be amongst the finest examples of the period and are jointly signed by both Bateman and Cook.