HUNTER Business Chamber is to be congratulated for drawing attention to the need for dramatic improvements in Newcastle's mass transit systems.
Proposed major developments - including the GPT Hunter Mall revamp and the university of Newcastle faculty relocation - have the potential to draw many thousands of extra people into the city.
But inner Newcastle's roads are already congested in peak hours and parking is already a problem in parts of the city.
It is unlikely that these problems can be solved by road upgrades and new parking stations, although both of these strategies may have to be employed in places.
The only way the city redevelopment can be made to work efficiently is by beefing up rail and bus services, making them a truly feasible alternative for the expected commuters of the future.
The business chamber has followed conventional thought by proposing increases in the cost of parking. As the price of using private vehicles to visit the city rises, so more people will be prepared to consider public transport.
That is certainly true. The cost of city parking is already a significant factor for many relatively low-paid retail workers. The trouble is that raising the cost still further could damage the city's capacity to attract workers and visitors, unless cost-efficient alternatives are available.
Recognising this, the chamber has proposed new, frequent shuttle bus services from designated "park and ride" depots on the city's outskirts.
The chamber sensibly argues that the sooner these services are provided, the better. It certainly makes sense to implement them - even on a relatively small scale - before the significant changes are made to the city's rail terminus.
If commuters are reassured that genuinely effective transport options will be made available they will be more comfortable with other changes in future.
The major obstacle to all this, however, is the State Government's likely resistance to increasing the annual kilometre allowance of Newcastle Buses. As things stand, Newcastle Buses can't increase services in one area without removing them from somewhere else.
The chamber's plan may be sound, but it needs Government funds to make it a reality.
Koompahtoo
THE dissolution of Koompahtoo Local Aboriginal Land Council was a sad move but an appropriate one. A series of questionable transactions and some adverse findings by the Independent Commission Against Corruption had undermined confidence in the organisation.
The void left by the land council's dissolution will be filled, in time, by a new body with a new outlook and ethos. In the meantime the important thing is that the public assets given to the defunct organisation - especially its major land-holding at Morisset - are not squandered.
The demise of Koompahtoo - a consequence of actions by a handful of people - should not be allowed to disadvantage the majority of Aboriginal people in the area who had no part in those actions.
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