The last referendum on the subject was held on 29th April, 1967 and, had it been successful, there was a good chance of Newcastle being the capital city.

I can now only imagine where we might be if the revenue generated by the top half of the state, and in particular Newcastle and the Hunter region, was to stay here and not be sent to bankroll Sydney's infrastructure as is now the case. In one instance alone, $1.75 billion was raised with the privatisation of the Port of Newcastle. Roughly $300 million came back to finance the light rail system.

Would we now be fighting against Sydney's deal to protect the container terminals at Port Botany and Illawarra? Would we be able to make our own decisions on coastal erosion such as Stockton beach? Would we have the debacle of the closure of the Myuna Bay Sporting complex? I could go on ad infinitum.

Perhaps the time is ripe to resurrect the idea of a separate state.

- Bill Snow, Stockton

IN 1958, I was in sixth class and was fortunate to go on a school trip to the Snowy Mountains. We were to see the fabulous project being built, called the Snowy Mountains Scheme, where they were harnessing the melting snow and sending the resulting water inland to the Murray and Murrumbidgee rivers, while generating hydro electricity.

The project was nearing completion and it was suggested that they keep the labour force and engineering knowledge together and harness the Northern Rivers of NSW, because almost on a yearly basis towns such as Kempsey, Grafton and many others had major floods. This stored water could have been used in the same way our Snowy Mountains Scheme operates. It's a pity it didn't happen. Imagine the benefits today.

- Bob Mitchell, Bolton Point

IT appears that Lake Macquarie council is going down the road that Sydney council is going with this public art proposal. One would think with all the concern of silt being washed into the lake kerb and guttering would be a priority.

- Bruce Brander, Belmont

WE'VE all seen the ad with a rocket ready to take hay-fever sufferers to another planet. Well, I was speechless when Scott Morrison happily promised $150 million to support Donald Trump's moon/Mars mission. The bottom line is: could those funds be better spent in Australia right now? I'm sure our farmers are not thinking it's wonderful. If things continue like they are, in five years production of staple foods in Australia could be seriously threatened.

In five years, Morrison and Trump will be a distant memory and someone else will have to clean up their mess. Perhaps the mission to Mars is really for politicians, because once they stuff the planet up by ignoring climate change they will need to escape.

- Robyn Fisher, Adamstown Heights

SOUTH Belmont is just one of many areas subjected to Lake Macquarie City Council's sea-level rise warning notifications on property deeds. It appears to still be a problem for property values, sales and transfers.

Why do such warning notifications still exist? Evidence shows any rise in water levels significant enough to cause concern would be caused by days of heavy rain resulting in a bank up in the Swansea channel during a king tide - and nothing to do with rising oceans. Such an eventuality would be possibly at 1000-to-1 odds.

- Carl Stevenson, Dora Creek

Letters to the editor: All stations to where? (Sept 26)

Letters to the editor: 'City comes to Morisset with Cedar Mill (Sept 19)

Letters to the editor: What happened to Dora Street Station carpark? (Sept 12)