At a time when industry is screaming out for qualified apprentices, the TAFE system (ie government) is seriously letting down our young school leavers when on and off the job training should be readily available in our local community. Apprentices should not have to travel to Tamworth, Newcastle etc. for the TAFE component of their training when facilities are available locally.

With government talk of 'outsourcing' TAFE it's high time our politicians of all persuasions showed some fortitude and put the education and training of our young people firmly back on the agenda with the restoration of local TAFEs to provide the services they were originally established for.

Tony Blake, Gunnedah

Sad to hear that the BHP Engineering course is coming to an end. This project has been a great support to Namoi Valley Bricks for many years. Four out of our last five apprentices have come through this course, and due to the hard work of the students and the teachers and the quality of the skills developed throughout the course all of these apprentices were ready for work with skills that made them productive in our workplace. Having these skills meant that we were able to continue our maintenance program throughout the height of the resources boom in Gunnedah, maintaining our staffing levels in a time when this was hard for non-coal mining businesses to achieve. 

I sincerely thank BHP for sponsoring such a valuable program and I really hope that our decision makers in the community look at the success of this program as it has delivered. We often look at more complex ways of youth training and this program was in its simplicity perfect as it matched required skills to the needs of the community.

I also think congratulations needs to go to Steve Wicks and the team at NE Gunnedah Tafe Campus, for the provision of not only the course but the mentoring of these young Gunnedah people which will potentially set them up to be future assets for our community which in turn strengthens the longevity of this great town.

From July next year, the NSW Liberal and National Government want every local council to collect a new land tax for them – the ‘Emergency Services Property Levy’ (ESPL). The new state government tax will be included on all council rate notices.

But Premier Baird won’t put the legislation to Parliament until the very last minute to avoid a community campaign against this new tax. Parliament doesn’t even sit again until next February.

The devil will be in the detail, and it is all being kept secret behind closed doors in Macquarie Street.

There could be different tax rates for commercial, residential and rural properties. Some groups are worried that the tax could shift costs from metropolitan or commercial classifications onto residential and rural landowners.

The government has refused to say if it will compensate councils for the cost of collecting the new tax, or if local ratepayers will also be hit with this extra cost. The community and local councils have a right to know. After all, residents and small businesses will have to find the money to pay it.