Even now its struggling vegetation is trammeled by off-road vehicles.

This extraordinary wild area so close to a metropolitan area is a microcosm of the bleak State of the Environment report.

Native habitat the area of Tasmania lost since 2002, many native animal species gone or on the brink.

Despite all this, Belmont Wetlands State Park (BWSP) around the majestic crook of Crokers Creek, remains a remarkable, wild place in proximity to a metropolitan area.

Restored to something like its original state the potential for low impact "nature tourism" is immense.

How we choose to manage BWSP is a test for how serious we are about addressing our past mistakes.

Last Sunday, National Tree Day, around 60 volunteers planted 600 locally indigenous trees propagated by our not-for-profit Trees in Newcastle.

Thank you to the organisers and to all the enthusiastic volunteers, with special mention to the wonderful Valentine and Belmont scouting groups.

You brought hope, pride and it felt like the healing has begun.

THE recent rally at the breakwater ('Somebody sand up for us', Herald 18/7) confirms residents and the council have only one plan to save Stockton beach (and the peninsula, by implication); dredging sand from the bight, filling the two-kilometre 'hole' and rebuilding the beach.

This does nothing to address the erosion, ongoing now for many years, and growing in power.

The Tweed Sand Bypass scheme was said to be the model for this.

That is now completed; 110,000 odd cubic metres dredged from the Tweed entrance and spread on five Gold Coast beaches as topdressing.

No erosion, no hole.

A win-win shared by NSW and Queensland costing $6.6 million.

If Stockton needs about 17 million cubic metres, that's at least $100 million.

The NSW government may not approve bight mining; it could be seen as a dangerous precedent, and all this for something that does not fix the problem. Further, the hole could be much bigger and growing.

The engineers and designers for the city could be looking at other possibilities, like a seawall complex.

Perhaps a similar approach to foreshores as with Honeysuckle.

Rezoning, with mixed public/ private.

Otherwise, Stockton will be the most expensive surfing in the country - to the taxpayers, of course.

WHO'D wear a mask?

They hinder breathing and speech and in these difficult COVID years haven't we all suffered enough with lockdowns and restrictions without having a piece of material wrapped around our faces?

I totally agree with our Chief Medical Officer, Professor Paul Kelly that they should not be mandated.

What would it achieve?

Hordes protesting about their right not to wear one, I suppose, so he's definitely made the right decision.

I see folk wearing them, not many I'll admit, and I think to myself more fool them.

If they wish to limit their life experiences let them.

I mean, we have been told we are all going to succumb so why bother.

It really is putting off the inevitable.

Anyway, what harm is it if we catch the virus?

Some may get complications like heart issues or long COVID.

I get it that some people will even die, but that's life.

No, I want to go to cafes, meet with friends, and party.

You only live once.

No mask for me, besides I'm vaccinated.

She'll be right.

I BELIEVE the recent controversy over the Manly rugby league players' refusal to wear pride jerseys is ludicrous in the extreme.

First, a few years ago, Test cricketer Usman Khawaja was allowed to wear clothing in Test matches without the VB logo featured on garments worn by other members of the team.

Whether it was for religious or moral reasons is immaterial, simply, he was exempted.

Homosexuality was decriminalised many years ago, same sex marriage was legalised in recent years, so why do we need to have a special pride jersey for what is seemingly a minority of our citizens?

My understanding is the LGBTQIA+ community has achieved all the rights they sought.

I can only think that by having special days such as pride days in conjunction with a particular sports group or other type of organisation, such as the NRL, is unnecessary.

Since legal barriers confronting this community have come down, I am of the belief that this sort of promotion is unnecessary.

HOW low can ex-PM Scott Morrison go?

While the first parliament of our new Labor government was sitting, our former prime minister Mr Morrison was overseas at some meeting of countries to talk about the Indo-Pacific.

He then makes a speech for all the world to see, ridiculing what Penny Wong has been doing to try to fix what Morrison's LNP government did wrong during their time in office.

Penny Wong is using diplomacy to try and work out how we can get back to at least talking with China about trade deadlock.

She doesn't need a has-been prime minister spruiking about what he believes Labor is doing wrong.

So far this government is actually correcting what Morrison's LNP did wrong during their tenure in office.

To me, Scott Morrison is acting like a child who lost big time at a game of marbles, and is going to pay back the ones who beat him.

We need to support this Albanese Labor government and give them a fair go.

So far I think they have already done more in two months than the Morrison government did in three years. Guess what?

Labor won and the LNP lost big time.

A LETTER to the editor published on Tuesday suggested that Souths had changed their members' vouchers policy, by now providing only one voucher per household, given to the male of the house only.

The club has assured us this is not the case, and that all financial members, male and female, continue to receive $5 bar and $5 bistro vouchers as per usual. The Herald apologises to the club and readers for any misunderstanding this has caused.

I CAN'T believe Adamstown Bowling Club had to stop playing live music from 2-5pm on Sundays because neighbours complained to the City of Newcastle. It isn't even nighttime. Clubs are doing it tough enough without these whingers that moved to houses near a club.

I WAS beginning to think Adz Carter had relinquished his position as the self-appointed apologist and publicity agent for the live music industry and had joined the let's knock everything Liberal club, but his letter, "Gaps to fill in city music scene", Letters, 29/7), would indicate he is still holds his original position.

THE Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies is a federal government agency formed in 1964. One of their functions is "to provide advice to the Commonwealth on the situation and status of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and heritage". In my opinion, a referendum to alter the constitution to include an Indigenous Voice to Parliament is an unnecessary expense. Spend the money promoting the agency so they can achieve their goals.

I WONDER which NRL team will be next to decorate their players with a rainbow?

PERHAPS Steve Barnett, who writes strong right wing letters to the Herald, would be interested to know that his favourite PM lied with the children overboard and convinced Australia with another lie that we had to be anxious because of the "weapons of mass destruction " which have and still are killing hundreds of thousands of innocent human beings.

IN reply to Ian Reynolds: we, the West Tiger supporters, had only been sooking for less than a week. It seems you have been sooking for half the season.

IN January, AFLW Greater Western Sydney GWS star Haneen Zreika opted to sit out AFLW's pride round in order to avoid wearing the team's pride jersey, on religious grounds. Zreika attended the match and joined in the team song via FaceTime. The seven Manly Sea Eagles players who boycotted the pride jersey did not attend the match against the Sydney Roosters, following a police warning. Double standards?

THE Knights were woeful. How much more embarrassing can they be? I found Sunday's performance disgraceful.

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