We thought at first they must have been kidding. But no, a fine shade of ferric cancer is gracing the long awaited new faade of Lithgow Library.

Yep, rusting steel is featured high and low in what is apparently intended as a nod to our place in history as the nation's steel making pioneers.

Beauty really is in the eye of the beholder but for many it will take a lot of beholdin' to find beauty in our Council's latest attempt at CBD improvement.

Adding to the overall effect is a rather odd looking lighting strip along the ridge line that looks like an afterthought. Why not downlights for effect and to highlight the rust after dark?

The work was made necessary by structural fault in the old facade of what in a pre library life was a Woolworths store.

There was an opportunity here to create something truly attractive for the CBD but according to our feedback so far it's another opportunity lost.

Wonder who it was in Council who signed off on this and did the elected Councillors have any input?

Get used to it Lithgow; it's here to stay.

When visitors ask 'what's that?' just tell them our library is sponsored by Bluescope.

SOME interesting revelations in statistics released by the Real Estate Institute last week. Seems we're in rarified air as one of the top 10 regional towns in Australia where it's difficult to find a house to purchase or rent. Not surprising when you observe the sea of 'sold' stickers in our real estate windows. Availability in these towns plunged by 80 per cent since the pandemic rush to the regions began in line with work from home in vogue. Based on two year's listings to January this year by realestate.com we're equal eighth with Rainbow Beach (Queensland) and Thirlmere (NSW) in the home hunter stakes. Others on the list were all inter state.

POTHOLES are the topic of the season for motorists but forget the highways and byways. For a truly bone jarring experience you cant beat the Lithgow Street exit from Valley Plaza where fill has been washed away again. Two other exits with no problems are available for the faint hearted.

HOW pleasing to see the turnout on a freezing Saturday morning for the performance at Lithgow Library by the ever improving Lithgow Community Orchestra. Spokesman Peter Avery said the orchestra members were feeling 'very up' after the show of support by an appreciative audience estimated at around the hundred mark.

THE latest two week trackwork on the Blue Mountains Line again highlights the difficulties that would have been faced with rail transport had the

Wang waste incinerator project gone ahead. The potential level of replacement road transport during shutdowns truly is mind boggling and was always going to be an issue that seemed to avoid scrutiny.

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