Having lived in Castle Hill for more than 10 years I find the roads are revolting.

Showground Road is a goat track in parts and the new ring road is a debacle with the impact it is having on people who live on the eastern side of Old Northern Road.

The council is at the centre of all of this.

The problem with this part of Cecil Avenue is only made worse by the fact that the middle and senior years of The Hills Adventist College have been delayed in moving to their new site at North Kellyville because of council ``conditions''.

What can I say?

If half of the The Hills Adventist College population moved, then so, too, could the traffic.

We as parents and staff are tired of waiting while the council sends us round in circles.

Sharyn Brown, Castle Hill

Back to 1987

Politically in Australia, 2010 is 1987 revisited. If you don't believe me, return by time travel and find out.

In 1987, Labor was the Australian federal government and the NSW state government.

In 1987, the Coalition parties believed they were a great chance to win the federal government at the 1987 federal election. They also thought the Coalition were dead-set certain winners in the 1988 NSW state elections.

In 2010, the Coalition has similar aspirations in the 2010 federal election and the 2011 NSW state election.

Is it deja vu results?

Jane Wallace, Riverwood

Trees disfigured

Recently we suffered another assault on our street trees by Integral Energy. Our trees have once again been disfigured. I understand the reason for pruning the trees but we as community members were never consulted when Integral struck a deal with Optus to hang their low and unsightly cables from Integral's poles.

Consequently our trees on Optus's side of the street have never had a chance to grow into well-formed shade trees. They remain mutilated, savaged by Integral's tree-loppers every few years during summer when shade is imperative. Houses on smaller blocks are often devoid of high tree growth and often the only shade of any consequence is from nature strip trees.

The unsympathetic and incorrect branch-cutting makes me doubt that Integral is using qualified arborists.

A skilful arborist with soul would not treat trees in such an unkindly fashion. All councils have a strict tree code but Integral Energy seems to have a free hand to ignore the practical and aesthetical value of our trees.

Elaine Lowrey, Winston Hills