Conducting business behind closed doors is causing an air of distrust between the community and the council. The sacking of the CEO wasn't the first time we had seen this lack of transparency, we also witnessed this when the credit card expense scandal was exposed. The community was seeking reassurance that it had been reported and was being investigated through the correct channels.

The council was evasive with their answers and consequently failed to set the community's mind at ease. The customer satisfaction survey results show how hard the reputation of the council has been hit, closed-door decisions are adding to the dissatisfaction with their performance. It seems the current councillors are unconcerned with rebuilding the reputation of the council.

So much of the great work the council does is lost between stories of scandal. Restoring the reputation of the council will call for a group of elected members willing to work with the residents to make Warrnambool the best it can be.

Ben Blain, Warrnambool Ratepayers Association, WCC election candidate

Sitting councillors that sit on the fence, interesting to see only one sitting councillor has so far put his hand up and state he will be standing for the upcoming council elections. Says a lot about the other six councillors that are waiting in the shadows to see who else will stand for or contest a ballot by ratepayers and residents of Warrnambool. Only if they think they are in with a chance will they be clambering to get their head in the paper sprouting the usual gumph to push themselves and the usual roads, rail, breakwater, boat ramp and more consultants and surveys (note, nothing ever changes here) on us, Good on you Robert Anderson, you are already a winner.

Dallas Bridgman, Warrnambool

The extraordinary claims by Graham Keith on Australia and the nuclear option requires a response. (The Standard, August 1). His Labor and Greens "dead against nuclear" statement ignores coalition governments in office. Since 1996 these governments from John Howard through to Scott Morrison have not embraced the nuclear option. The poor safety and environmental record of the nuclear industry and it not being necessary here are factors. Major nuclear accidents at Windscale (UK), Three Mile Island (USA), Chernobyl (Russia) and Fukushima (Japan) plus the difficulties of waste storage and disposal have contributed.

With the increasing development and abundance of wind and solar renewable energy in Australia , all governments are now adopting the better way forward. Battery storage advances increase the attractiveness of these cleaner and cheaper renewables . Wind turbines "absolutely useless " is a nonsense statement as our south west becomes the wind farm centre of Victoria.

Tony Delaney, Warrnambool

As we head back into stage three restrictions in an effort to control Victoria's second wave of the coronavirus I know the community will be feeling confused, anxious and frightened.

Confused about how we ended up back in this place, anxious as we see the daily number of cases rising and frightened about what this virus means for us and our families health and well-being.

I know this is going to be tough, another six weeks of isolation, of remote learning and of uncertainty.

It is a blow to our local businesses who were just starting to see some glimmer of hope after the last shutdown. They are now facing even more uncertainty.

But I know that we will get through this, we have done it once and we will do it again. But make no mistake, this time will be tougher on people and we need to look out for one another.

We need to make sure we support our local businesses who are under enormous pressure again. We need them to make it through to the other side of this and to do that we need to support them.

We are facing worrying outbreaks of the virus in our region - a large cluster in Colac and a smaller but growing cluster in Portland.

Both of these clusters have shown the power of community. In Colac people have come together to get things done as the government department was being burdened by a huge caseload across the state.

The community in Colac have put processes in place to support people who are vulnerable and in isolation with grocery deliveries and to ensure well-being. Contact tracing of positive cases has largely been done locally and people are getting tested.

It's been the same in Portland, seeing what was happening in Colac, the chief executive officer of Portland District Health Chris Giles wasted no time when there was a confirmed case. With her small team they have done a power of work to get in touch with close contacts of positive cases and to keep the community informed.

But despite that hard work we have seen tragedy, with the loss of a man aged in his 50s from this virus and we have seen new, unlinked cases developing in Portland. This is a sobering reminder to all of us just how easy it is to contract this virus and to spread it around.

As the local MP I have been impressed, but not surprised, at the way people are getting on and getting things done and making sure we are looking after people and trying to get on top of this virus.

In Warrnambool Midfield Meat proactively shut its operations after a close contact with a person who later tested positive for coronavirus. They took proactive measures and tested all staff on site and remained closed for three days.

What the local responses to this virus so far have shown is that local knowledge is best and we need a decentralised response to outbreaks - with locals leading from the front with timely information to ease the communities mind.

As we head back into lockdown, please stay strong, stay connected and stay safe.

Roma Britnell, South West Coast MP

It is with great sadness I read Friday's The Standard article on Mount Gambier's John Pollock, who has been denied an exemption to travel to the South West Regional Cancer Centre, here in Warrnambool, for life-saving treatment.

Our cancer centre was literally built by our community, with the Peter's Project campaign I was very privileged to lead raising $5 million locally for the $30 million facility, which now provides cancer treatment to hundreds of patients each year from around our region. My heart breaks for John and everyone doing it tough in these unprecedented times.

I am also concerned that people are deferring medical appointments and not concentrating on their health at this time, when we are focused on the impacts of this global pandemic. Don't delay keeping your health checks up to date and making a doctor's appointment to check anything unusual. Please look after yourself, adhere to the principal of virus control by staying at home and take care of each other. I wish John and his family all the best.

Vicki Jellie, Warrnambool

Please note: The Standard prefers letters to be less than 250 words. Preference is given to shorter contributions. Letters must include the author's name, address and contact phone number for verification purposes. Letters are published at standard.net.au and in print.