We cannot let ego and argument lead to the disbursement of the city's outstanding collection of maritime history. Please, society members and council leaders, take a deep breath and try again to come to some sort of agreement over permanent preservation and display of these precious pieces of Newcastle's history.

Perhaps a sponsor can be found among the many big businesses that use our port to help finance the project. Maybe it could even be a levy that could be placed on ships coming in? I am just a humble but proud resident of Newcastle, and I do not want to see this link with Newcastle's beginnings and development lost.

THE rhetoric around a need for a separate maritime museum ('Bath wipes his hands of maritime museum', Herald, 28/8) does not stack up. From the time the museum was located at Lee Wharf in 2007, there were less than 200 objects exhibited altogether. Even after a revamp in 2014 introduced over 100 objects not previously seen in public display, it was hardly a full presentation of the maritime heritage of Newcastle.

The plan to exhibit in a new museum or five-star hotel envisages exhibiting the objects in secure displays in the guest rooms of the hotel, with some of the larger objects displayed in an entrance level foyer. Wonderful. So, if you wished to see the stories of Newcastle's maritime heritage, all you need to do is book all of the rooms in the hotel.

In my opinion both of these scenarios cleverly avoid the real problem: what to do with the remaining 7000 collection items. The collection storage space required is something over 1000 square metres. At the best rate of say $100/m2 annually, it's a rental cost of $100K. Either that, or construct an appropriate store. Think $1 million minimum.

The council was aware of this issue from early in 2018 and was prepared to work through the problems and arrange varied exhibitions to better tell all the stories encompassed in the collection at considerable annual expense. The only way this would be tenable would be if the city owned the collection. I doubt the ratepayers of Newcastle would support a private organisation's exhibition and storing a private collection.

THIS letter is aimed at the aggressive blue ute driver who gave me grief this morning at the corner of Kenrick and Smith streets. Did the fact that I was riding a bicycle cause you some sort of affront to your macho self-image?

Not only were you later to the intersection than the white van alongside me, but also later than me on my bike. Exceeding the speed limit to get somewhere, as you clearly were, does not give you magic priority or the privilege to ignore road rules and verbally abuse others in spite of your own ignorance.

May I please remind you of the road rules as clearly stated here? If you approach a four-way intersection at the same time as a vehicle who is approaching from your right and they appear to be travelling straight ahead, give way to your right.

If you approach a four-way intersection at the same time as a vehicle to your left and who appears to be travelling straight ahead or turning left or right, they give way to you.

This generally applies when vehicles approach the stop sign or line at the same time. Whichever vehicle approached first generally has the right of way.

I'm certain you won't let this sink in, as in my opinion you were clearly the sort of knucklehead who feels everyone else owes him deference. Please consider re-sitting your driving test for the sake of everyone else on the road.

IT'S great to see the most significant concern for Newcastle people is the "Knightmare" (Herald, 27/8) created by the Knights football team.

This is obvious by the concentration of letters to the editor, who is the gatekeeper of what is published on particular subjects (Letters, 27/8).

There are so many armchair specialists and authorities on the matter, I am at a loss to understand how this terrible situation eventuated. I hope these people will not complain when the safe, lucrative city they call home falls upon hard times.

For those of us who care deeply about societal woes, it seems to me that people closely affiliated with the Knights would be the last we should expect worthwhile support from. I have been in Newcastle for 10 years and have never noticed the letters page so concentrated on one specific subject. The Knights and/or Brown were mentioned in every piece.

I find it hard to believe there were no letters on a different topic worthwhile publishing. I guess one way to get Knights off the front page is to implore them to consistently lift their game.

I SHARE the angst of a whole page of letter writers on Tuesday (Letters, 28/8) at the demise of our Knights. I wonder sometimes at how much outrage is often directed at the alcohol-fuelled indiscretions of NRL players. Should some outrage be directed at the sober managers and management of the game and club that allowed this situation to reach this point ('Blindsided', Herald, 28/8)?

The same state government that cancelled the construction of the passenger terminal in the Newcastle port this week has had to explain its blockage of the Ports container terminal development ('Treasurer to face port fee questions as container case hots up', Herald, 28/8). In my opinion it's a no-brainer that the oldest trading port in Australia straddling the sixth largest city should have a passenger terminal. I believe it is also a no-brainer that a container terminal should be constructed adjacent to the rail infrastructure on contaminated land useless for just about anything else.

Both projects are desperately needed to future-proof the city and valley after the inevitable demise of coal.

I would love to think those Knights tragics could show their collective loyalty to the city by hammering their local representatives, who in my opinion have done little to ensure these two projects proceed immediately.

THE pen goes to Phil Payne, of Gateshead, for his letter on the Amazon fires.