Letters

Opportunity knocks

Ed,

I am writing to suggest a win-win solution for both Valley residents and City dwellers.

Currently, there is an unprecedented permanent exodus of young and mature-aged families from both Sydney and Melbourne, due to Covid lockdowns, overcrowding, the realisation of the benefits of work-from-home, high cost of housing and education, lifestyle etc. The ABC reported this week that 57,000 Travel Permits have been issued in the past four weeks to Sydneysiders wish to inspect regional and rural owner-occupied properties.

Concurrently, one of the major problems facing Valley residents is the critical shortage of healthcare professionals. I am not aware of any efforts being made by Local or State Government to rectify the situation. The number of doctors, specialists, nurses, aged and homecare nurses, carers etc is dwindling and it has become almost impossible for the remaining healthcare providers to cope with the ever-growing needs of the community.

My suggestion is that we attract healthcare professionals from the Sydney and Melbourne exodus, by way of an immediate, professional advertising program to be launched by our Local and State Governments. The advertising would be targeted at healthcare workers and professionals, highlighting our lifestyle attractions, the river, beaches, national parks, schools, etc., and emphasise that the average cost of housing is 50% of city prices.

This is a golden opportunity for our elected representatives to step up and achieve some positive improvements to our sagging healthcare system.

Mike Gorrie, Grafton