Some years before she died, my mother wrote some words of reflection. I thinks they could well be applied to the attitude of the staff in the Braidwood Hospital, who have what she called true “generosity of spirit”, and can be relied upon to deal with anything professionally, but with the warmth that usually only comes from a family. JOCELYN SUSSMAN, Captains Flat Road, Braidwood

I wish to express my concern about recent developments in health services in our community.

Firstly, as a patient of Dr Anu Alexander, I was offended when I received a letter from Dr Stewart, referring to me as his patient and inviting me to attend his surgery for a cholesterol and blood glucose level test. The letter stated that “the test does not require you to be fasting”. It is my understanding that for cholesterol tests to be accurate fasting is required. What is the purpose? I have heard complaints in the community about the level of health service provided in Braidwood in the absence of Dr Alexander. Without going into too much detail, I refer to the following event which involved my husband, and which seems to be the general thread of complaints from others. My husband fell early morning, splitting his elbow which required some stitches. He rang the hospital and was advised that Dr Stewart was present and he should come in straight away. He arrived within ten minutes and was told Dr Stewart had gone home, but would be back shortly, as he knew he had a patient waiting. After waiting about two hours, and receiving apologetic, embarrassed excuses from nurses, he could not afford to wait any longer and had the injury attended to (immediately) at Milton Hospital on his way to a meeting.

Now, imagine my concern when I find that Dr Alexander has felt that, in the best interests of the community, she should relinquish her practice here. I personally wish to commend Dr Alexander for her highly professional and dedicated service to our community and wonder if others feel that we are loosing a vital choice. DALE WALLACE, Braidwood.

I assure Mr Baker that I made no assumptions about the consultation process or the plan for the Monkittee Creek project. It reads as a moderate document with comforting motherhood references to respect for heritage values and ‘careful management’.

My problem is that the creek has been ravaged, not managed.

The jihad on willows has blinded BULG to its’ very serious responsibilities. That is, if you remove major structural elements from a landscape you’d better have a clear idea of what you intend to replace them with, and how. Instead we are presented with muddled thinking and lack of understanding of basic hydrology and geomorphology.

One minute willows must be removed because their “logjams cause floods”. Next minute they can’t be used as a resource for bioengineering works and must be removed because they “rot too quickly”. Spot the logical inconsistency?

Then willows are bad because they cause “nutrient export downstream” (even though leaf fall and catkins are mainly carbon. The tree withdraws most nutrients before abscission). Once again logjams (debris dams, snags, strainers, all good terms) must be removed even though they are the best way of capturing and recycling nutrients drifting down river. No mention of the fact that insect fall from the canopy is the main food source for creatures in the water and that it’s best held in ponds (created by willow root plate dams) rather than swept down the drain. They’ll starve now.

Logjams/debris dams were the link in the chain of ponds which once occupied the site.

No, I didn’t suggest use of live willow biomass to recreate these structures (though it is a good idea). Dead wood, sensible placement and wise planting will work fine. The rebuilt biosystem will then be self repairing, with a little help from time to time.

Events of the last week reinforce the educational value of the project. On the weekend we had poor species selection (light demanding eucalypts into a shaded bog, suspiciously non-endemic looking tea tree). The keystone species Phragmites and Casuarina did not feature. Then we had woeful planting technique. Tube stock planted straight into kikuyu are doomed to fail.

Mid week storm water runoff rilled the planting site and discharged ample soil into the creek. No sign of silt control mesh or straw bales. Call the EPA? I’m sorry to have to be so critical but I lived with this landscape from my front window for years and treasured it. It’s hard to see it ruined, no matter how proper the motivation of the perpetrators. Hope none of my share of the Telstra sale financed this mess. PETER MARSHALL, Reidsdale.