Whilst traveling through your area, my wife developed sepsis, a condition she is prone to.

The staff at the motel assisted us in getting her to Batemans Bay Hospital and ensuring I had a room in their motel. 

You are all so lucky to have such a hospital; the staff were kind, efficient, and skilled.

The treatment was, in the words of a GP in the UK, far beyond anything our own National Health Service would provide. (My wife almost died of the same problem under NHS treatment.) 

In general I have found the people of Australia to be kind,considerate and welcoming, but the staff in this small hospital were far beyond that; so much so, we were almost sad to leave.

We will never forget our short stay in your town and hope one day to return. You are a credit to your nation, and an example which we in the old country would do well to emulate.

So students are told their environmental concerns are of no relevance - back to the schoolroom to “learn”. About democracy?

I no longer know what it takes to make politicians listen. I despair. If you won't recognise the impact of climate change on the children who marched, ask your own what they think.

If you are a climate sceptic - what if you're wrong?  If you know it’s true - but vote along party lines - how arrogant to dismiss the rest of us and all other species.  If our generation has to pay a bit more to introduce renewable energies, so what?  Previous generations have given far more than a few hundred dollars a year to gift us the lives we lead today. 

I call on all levels of government, including locally elected councillors, to devote the Christmas break to researching the subject in preparation to vote to adopt strong climate and renewable energy policies. 

Last week, Australia witnessed a synchronicity of extreme weather events. Sydney received a month’s rainfall in two hours and Queensland recorded its first bushfire categorised as catastrophic. These should be viewed as warnings to act on climate change. Instead the Adani coal mine is going ahead.  

 If people were aware of three indisputable facts, they might better understand the urgency. Climate sceptics are entitled to their own opinions but they are not entitled to their own facts.

Carbon dioxide accounts for a miniscule 0.04 of 1% of the gases that make up the atmosphere. Yet this paltry amount already exerts a greenhouse effect that means that the mean surface temperature of the Earth is 33 degrees C warmer than it would be if the air contained no carbon dioxide. A little goes a long way.

That part of the atmosphere where it accumulates and where most weather happens, extends only about 15 km above our heads. It is a very thin veneer of air that encircles the globe – considerably less than the distance from Batemans Bay to Moruya.

Two hundred years ago, we rode horses, burnt candles and the world population was one billion people. In the geological blink of an eye, the population is 7 billion - most with a very large carbon footprint. 

All that new carbon dioxide is spewing into that thin envelope of air every day. You don’t have to be Einstein to figure out it’s bound to end in tears. Fortunately, the effect is logarithmic, not linear. Increased concentrations of carbon dioxide exert a progressively smaller warming effect. (If it was linear, we would have cooked our goose long ago). This buys us time to act. Instead we have political inertia.

Eurobodalla Shire Council agrees with oyster growers about the aquaculture industry and its unique position as an economic driver (Bay Post/Moruya Examiner, November 30).

Where we disagree is about the impact of the Rural Lands Strategy. Oyster farming is not at risk and claims the strategy will “threaten the viability” of the planned hatchery are untrue. I would never put our oyster industry in danger. The steering committee’s aim was to protect and grow rural industries and that is what the strategy will do.

In the entire Clyde catchment, the strategy allows for a maximum of nine additional lots to be created by subdivision and up to 20 dwellings. Most are located more than four kilometres from the river. In the combined Moruya River, Tuross, and Wagonga Inlet catchments there is potential for a total of 18 new lots and 26 dwellings. Development would require consent and be assessed against NSW Government legislation to protect water quality, as happens now. 

The DPI, Office of Environment and Heritage, Rural Fire Service and Local Lands Services have not objected to the strategy outright - they have raised objections about specific issues or properties. We carefully considered and disagreed with their objections. Justification can be found on the Council website. http://www.esc.nsw.gov.au/inside-council/project-and-exhibitions/rural-lands-strategy/project-documents

In August we met with the Clyde River Shellfish Quality Assurance Program Committee, who advised in writing they were satisfied their concerns had been addressed. I welcome a meeting with any oyster grower who still has concerns.