Restaurants and accommodation are important, but that's only part of the picture. What would our draw-card be? The answer is evident. It is a clean, healthy lake with adjacent expanses of green space that give access to the water and offer opportunities for relaxation and recreation.

Inappropriate development on foreshore land detracts from that appeal.

In Sydney, even with its huge population, the harbour waterfront is treasured. The paths are well-trodden through the shorefront bushland that both protects and enhances that beautiful body of water. The wise forefathers recognised the asset there.

Hundreds of people every week enjoy that bushland and also patronise the cafes and restaurants nearby. Many travel to, and stay in, Sydney, exactly for that experience.

Lake Macquarie City must also recognise the assets we already have. They can then be added to with a built environment that is in sympathy with the surrounds. If we lose or diminish those original assets, the rest will be money and effort down the drain.

It is a wonder that such an appalling suggestion as a four- to six-storey building on the Toronto foreshore, should even have been put forward in council.

The city must think long-term and not rob future generations of that which is irreplaceable.

- Lois Simpson, Toronto

MEOW. It’s me, Misty. Last time I wanted to go out and play with the handsome tomcat who looked in my window every night, but after my feline friend two doors up, old Angus, decided to stay out one night and was attacked by the peeping tomcat, I have changed my mind.

I don’t want to be bitten and have stitches on my derrière, and I don’t want my owners having to fork out $400 for the vet’s bill. I would rather pull down the blinds and stretch out in front of the fire.

Brickbats to the irresponsible owners of the peeping tomcat.

- Misty (a Rathmines cat)

WHEN is Lake Macquarie City Council going to come to grips with long-term parking for rail commuters near Morisset Station? From 5.30am onwards, on weekdays, it is impossible to find a long-term parking space near the station.

Council has allowed unfettered development to take place without providing increased parking opportunities to cater for an increase in rail usage. They are, however, hell bent on gouging revenue from motorists who have no alternative other than to walk long distances after parking on unmade road shoulders some distance from the station, or who risk parking in short-term parking places.

- George Townsend, Mandalong

HAVING just completed paying my Lake Macquarie Council rates online, l had to prove l wasn't a robot by completing an intelligence test.

If l had a robot smart enough to pay my rates, and the bank approved the transfer, where is the problem? 

Or is this just a test to determine that people who can’t pass the test don't need to pay their rates?

Some times l think some people in public office have nothing better to do than prove how smart they are by making life difficult for others.

I dread the ramification of council portfolios, with unqualified, inexperienced councilors who are unfamiliar with the requirements needed to make firm decisions regarding the portfolio without using consultants.

I can see big-dollar investment in consultant agencies, for occasions where people don't want to be responsible.

- Carl Stevenson, Dora Creek