As expected household expenses were reduced proportionally - except for one. I was surprised by the first rate notice that I received from Lake Macquarie council.

I had moved from a home in New Lambton (Newcastle City Council) and was amazed that the rates charged by LMCC for a unit was not much less than my previous home. Upon enquiry I found that the rates are made up of three calculations:

- Waste Management Fees $451 p.a;

- Ad Valorem (based on land value) as a %; and,

- Base Amount $746.50 per home.

The first two I have no problem with. But what I find hard to comprehend is that a large home on a large block pays $746.50 pa base amount, whilst 8 units on a large block collectively pay $5972.00 pa. ($746.50 each).

The council must love unit/townhouse complexes.

You would think that at least you would receive a lower base fee rate for a small unit. Not sure where all the money goes but it is definitely not on footpaths.

I don't know what the council's program is but with paying this much I would have expected more footpaths in the area especially with the amount of older people out walking it can be dangerous.

THE premier of Sydney tells us every day to stay at home.

I have been wondering about how many people who live in Newcastle and surrounds that travel each day by train or other means to go to work in Sydney. I see people on the trains when stuck at the Adamstown gates. These trains all go to Central Station.

What happens with isolation? I think that as a precaution we should be informed.

I am not in any way against people going to work, we just need clarification from the NSW government.

Gladys Berejiklian mostly says we are a regional area and not in lockdown. She also says we are not a regional area , so we don't get the $250 per year travel card. She needs to really do some homework about our area.

IT was beyond hypocritical that we were having the third State of Origin game anywhere, and yet it was in Newcastle, just up the road from the hotspots where all the trouble started.

Everywhere we go, the NSW government's posters are plastered all around us saying "physical distancing" is so important in stopping the transmission of the virus but we are going to allow up to 20,000 people in a stadium, all on top of each other.

The information we receive and then are expected to follow is so inconsistent; the double standards are a joke.

Why do we have to wear masks to work or to walk around a shopping centre if we are prepared to expose ourselves to an outbreak for a game of football?

The series has been won anyway, there really is no need for another game especially given the cases in NSW are rising at the moment. Oh that's right, it's really about money, not about keeping the community safe and healthy.

ROBYN Hristov's letter about the sad loss of her brother from polio (Letters, Herald, 7/7) brought back memories of the 1950s and 60s and the many pandemics the community faced.

While Robyn recalls that people were charged for the Salk polio vaccine, that is not my memory.

I was vaccinated at Gateshead Primary School in 1956. A lingering memory as a five-year-old was being lined up with the class on a very overcast day and waiting for the inevitable injection at the end of the line.

I well remember a girl screaming and running away from the nurse administering the injection with blood running down her arm. My thoughts were "what have I got into here". However, I also recall the level of concern in the community about polio and tales of people living in "iron lungs'', crippled or dying. Of course, in the early 1960s we went on to getting the Sabin oral vaccine (again free) and by then polio seemed less of an issue, however it was replaced by tuberculosis (TB).

Again, I found myself in 1962 in a line waiting for an injection in the wrist. This time the injection was to determine if I had been exposed to TB, about a week after the injection, the nurses returned to check if we had been exposed to TB.

For adults they received a free chest x-ray which was compulsory. A converted bus was parked at the Gateshead shopping centre for days with adults lining up to have the x-ray.

OUR Premier continually justifies her decisions on COVID regulations on receiving expert scientific/medical advice - and rightly so.

Why then does she ignore the expert advice of police, paramedics and doctors in relation to the relaxing of late-night liquor trading hours.

Anzac Day services were limited and even cancelled in some cases, yet the football crowd that day were permitted to do just that - crowd together. Where was the expert scientific/medical advice when the passengers of the Ruby Princess were permitted to disembark in a "free for all"?

There are many more examples but space does not permit. Seems to me like double standards are the order of the day.

THE headline "Live music back in limbo", (Herald, 29/6) says it all. Just as the music scene was starting to get back on track, COVID-19 has thrown another spanner in the works.

Disheartening as the article was, I was glad it was printed to provide people with more insight into just how dire things are for anyone in the music industry.

Many musos live week to week, and the less than steady pay checks have now become even less steady now that venues have been forced to postpone gigs until further notice.

The estimated 4000 unused tickets in Newcastle last week will mean a lot of rescheduling. But this unfortunately means that many future gigs will suffer when the postponed gigs can take place, as there will inevitably be conflicts with tours, and I predict that some rescheduling won't be possible for all artists.

This is why I believe it is imperative that, when everything starts to get back to normal, all live music lovers support live music as much as possible by turning up to as many gigs as possible. Live performers, as well as the venues that host them, will need support like never before.

BEFORE we get too carried away about Newcastle's drawing power for major events, best we remember that the sole reason for Supercars' existence on our heritage streets is that Sydney and Gosford councils had refused them entry, while our Council offered financial incentives, at rate-payers' expense, while only the COVID pandemic brought World Surf League and (almost) State of Origin here. Once again, spin over substance.

I AGREE 100 per cent with the decisions of the NRL and the St George Dragons board in relation to Paul Vaughan and his party, but what about the other players? Most got hit with a feather. They didn't have to accept Mr Vaughan's invite - they knew they were wrong in their actions to attend the party. I am sure Mr Vaughan didn't put them in a headlock to get them to his show. They are all idiots and should be all penalised with the same sanctions.

MANLY machine Martin Taupau has revealed the reason he is at peak physical and mental fitness after 12 years of first grade footy. His diet is sirloin steak and sausages for breakfast, steak for lunch, steak for dinner, no veg, bread or fruit, just plenty of water and a touch of salt, similar to the Fingal Bay machine yours truly. Except I find beer gives me that added advantage especially when it comes to my mental health.

DENNNIS Crampton asks whether China has an antidote to this plague, (Short Takes, 8/7). If they had, I suggest we would not be seeing the tragic spate of deaths among Indonesian health workers fully vaccinated with a Chinese serum.

WHO thought it was a good idea to bring State of Origin to a regional area with no diagnosed COVID cases and the prospect of spectators coming from all over?

THE photos of the Tim Tszyu fight in the Herald, along with broadcast coverage, clearly show large numbers of the crowd without masks, in direct breach of health orders. With abundant photographic and video evidence available, why haven't the individuals and promoters been hammered with fines?

COVID-free Newcastle. Beautiful beaches. Lots of things to do. An ideal spot from which to explore the Hunter. I know, let's stage the State of Origin.

CONGRATULATIONS Newcastle on refurbishing Newcastle City (Town) Hall. It looks good. Question: how can you prove the yellow block sandstone used to build the City Hall was actually from Bondi? Well, Bondi quarry sandstone has a peculiar "kidney-shaped" blemish which is visible on the Newcastle building's columns. You can also observe it in the facade of St Stephen's church opposite Parliament House, and in the footings of St Anne's Shrine nearby in Bondi.