When it moved to Batemans Bay we decided not to go because it was Narooma we came for not the Bay!

Now with lack of ticket sales (as we made many friends over the years and kept in touch) they also decided not to go to the Bay as it was a Narooma Blues Festival.

After visiting this weekend, something was missing and it was the Blues Festival! Narooma, you need it! Bring it back!

Ellen Tom

Parkes

Rafferty's Rules for Eurobodalla LEP

MANY attending the last council meeting must have gone away confused about the process and direction the Local Environment Plan (LEP) has taken. They would not have felt alone as many of the councillors, including the mayor, appeared just as confused.

If there is a Noble Prize for “Rafferty's Rules” then the council will undoubtedly win.

We know the LEP has gone on exhibition unaccompanied by several critical documents generally accepted as best practice. One such document is an environmental study (ES). This hasn’t been done.

Even with four years grace the council has failed to prepare one and used the excuse that a settlement strategy and number of structure plans have been prepared.

Government legislation under section 66 states council should “Publicly exhibit a copy of an Environmental Study and Draft Local Environment plan”.

Furthermore, “existing legislation doesn’t allow you to challenge an LEP and the council for making one and failing to take into account its long-term social or economic impacts on the area”.

It is the moral and electoral responsibility of councillors to ensure that there are minimal impacts on established areas by development of council land such as that looming above Dalmeny and Kianga. These impacts should be determined before finalisation

Another significant omission in the LEP is a statement of council’s interest. When a council exhibits a draft LEP and in accordance with section 66 of the act that applies to council land additional information is required.

This information must be displayed during the exhibition period. Amongst other requirements a written statement must be provided which describes the nature of council’s interest in its land, when it first acquired an interest, and how and why it acquired an interest

Where a council owns substantial amounts of land and is acting as a regulator and entrepreneur proper procedures must be followed in accordance with the guidelines laid down by the government.

The non-disclosure of the above to the public and other prescribed matters are serious and extremely significant omissions. Similar instances resulted in the Director General previously withdrawing delegated powers from councils for LEPs concerning council land.

If the Minister becomes aware of the vote of no confidence by many citizens and that the council cannot deal with the LEP in an objective and impartial way, he can decide to direct it completely away from the council.

If this occurs the final decisions made may be disappointing to some landowners.

It is highly recommended that those that intend to lodge a new submission lodge it with a copy of any previous submission and direct copies to the Department of Planning Southern Region. They may not have been told of your previous specific concerns.

Peter Bernard

Dalmeny

What once was a Narooma paradise

IT’S coming up to 12 months since my family and I headed up to the "once was" Narooma Paradise.

For 10 years, Narooma was everything you could want for a holiday with the opportunities to fish, swim, surf, water-ski and generally "chill out".

We and my brother's family would camp at Easts Holiday Park on the inlet side of the highway.

It was "magic". Every year, you looked forward to catching up with the many people and other families who also camped along the foreshore and had become good friends. Then, the cabins started to arrive.

This was the beginning of the end of Narooma that we so dearly loved. Eventually, the cabins have spread right across the front of the park and last year saw us too without the annual site we loved to camp on.

Gone are the many wonderful folk and families who for 25 years or more holidayed along the foreshore in their tents.

Gone is the beautiful view of the inlet as you drive down the hill, having been replaced by an ugly concrete development.

Gone too is the small park where you could sit to eat your fish and chips whilst admiring the view of the inlet and the surrounding hills and oceans. Apparently views like this have to be paid for now.

Gone is the quaintness and character of a once beautiful seaside town.

Am I against the idea of progress? Absolutely not!

It simply a shame that the greed of developers and Holiday Park owners have decided that unless you can afford at least $1500 per week to stay in Narooma at Christmas time, you don't get the views.

Fortunately, we still have the memories and the photos that will remind us of what once was.

I wonder whether the Eurobodalla Shire and the councillors that run it realise what has been lost.

R.I.P. Narooma....we will miss you.

Peter Blades

Patterson Lakes, VIC

Doom and Gloom

You've heard of people feral and grenn,

Conservationists, pot growers and in between.

Who talk about earth with portents of doom,

Our chance of survival a subject of gloom.

Grim predictions made by men of science,

Usinf media alarmists of little reliance.

Ozone layer damage to earths interface,

Glasshouse heating by the suns rays from space.

Polar caps melt as world temperatures rise,

Oceans expand, coastal communities demise.

Natural disasters that already we know,

Compounded by effects of the El Nino.

We've polluted the air, poisoned the water,

On to destruction, lambs to the slaughter.

Yet these man made blunders in no way retard,

That growth of bloody grass in my backyard.

Barry Lake

Push for wind and solar farms

WIND power is coming under threat in NSW as the government considers following the example of Victoria which has strangled the industry by draconian planning regulations.

It seems there are no such reservations about embracing more coal-fired power, gas generation or the controversial coal seam gas industry. Yet commodity prices for these fuels are on a rising curve and thus herald increasing costs for power generation and the consumer.

On the other hand the fuel and maintenance costs for wind power are negligible or free. Figures from the Australian Energy Market Operator 2010 show that wind now supplies 20 per cent of South Australia's total power and, in spite of an increased demand it has cut emissions from the electricity sector in that state and reduced the wholesale energy price. Wind farms have delivered social benefit as they have in Ararat, Victoria, or a second income stream to farmers as well as reducing costs.

Solar PV is getting closer to reaching "grid parity" with the price of solar panels dropping rapidly so that in the not-to-distant future it will be cheaper to source power from your roof than from the grid.

Of course NSW has already done its best to destroy the solar industry with changes applicable to new installations that mean any excess power produced by roof top panels is exported to the grid for free.

There is an urgent need for this anomaly to be rectified as it has cost jobs and projects and undermined business models locally and throughout the state. The Bega Valley had a viable local business that was forced to cut its staff by 75 per cent as a result of this change and it is not alone.

Our community has demonstrated its support for renewable energy by the take up of solar photovoltaic roof panels in response to bulk buy programs organised by Clean Energy for Eternity. Now we need the space to move on to community-owned power in the form of wind or solar farms.

Jo Lewis

Bermagui

Random act of kindness

I WOULD like to thank a Dalmeny resident for his act of kindness, honesty and decency.

My son recently travelled from Sydney on his motorbike to spend some time with me before his student exchange overseas.

When he got to the Tilba area his bike was stalling, he was tired, it was dark and it was stressful. He did manage to clutch-start the bike but had not secured his bike bags and they slipped off the back of the bike without him knowing.

He had all the gear he needed for uni in those bags.

When he got home and I told him a person I will call “D.A.” had rung and had found the bags on the side of the road. The relief was more than huge (ten tons of relief). The loss of the bags and contents could have been such a huge setback with much anguish.

D.A. found a name, looked up our phone number, rang me and also delivered the bags to my parents place in the next town. He was also concerned about how I would feel finding the bags and no sign of my son.

I would like to give his full name but have not sought permission.

I could go on for ages D.A., you really went out of your way and we are incredibly appreciative.

Since my husband’s death from Leukaemia (my son's dad), life has been an emergence from sadness and you have made life brighter.

Thank you to a brilliantly honest and decent person.

D. Morgan

(from the glorious Far South Coast community)

Narooma the most scenic of them all

HERE is a photo from the Saturday Bike Week ride in Narooma.

There were 25 riders who enjoyed a wonderful ride around the cycle paths of Narooma before venturing across the bridge, along the boardwalk then out to the breakwater.

The ride continued along the fantastic community built cycle path to the viewing platform at Dalmeny.

A 20km journey was rewarded with lunch and coffee back at Narooma. Bike Week was a great success and it was terrific to be able to include a Eurobodalla Bicycle User Group (EuroBUG) ride at Narooma.

There can be few more scenic places to ride anywhere in Australia.

Guy Brantingham

President

EuroBUG

Frontier Economics on climate change

THE NSW state government this year commissioned Frontier Economics to look at the economic impact of a carbon tax on Australia.

Mr Barry O’Farrell quoted the Frontier Economics report as saying that “31,000 jobs will be lost in NSW.” That news created front page headlines across the country.

That was not the impression I got after reading the report.

The conclusion of the Frontier Economics report is that the adverse affects of the carbon tax will be modest. The economy will continue to grow and jobs, incomes and standards of living will continue to rise.

The report states that a carbon tax will force significant shifts in where people are employed and in what industries. The changes are most pronounced where emissions intensive trade exposed industries are important to regional economies. The most adversely affected regions are Hunter NSW, Gippsland Vic, Northern SA, Illawarra NSW, Fitzroy Qld and Central West NSW. In all cases the carbon price results in slower growth in output rather than absolute declines on current levels.

According to the Frontier Economics report the three regions in Australia that will most benefit from a carbon tax in terms of jobs created are southeast WA, far north Queensland, and southeast NSW. That is very good news for our part of the world. Our region will have more jobs and higher growth with a carbon tax compared with business as usual, according to the Frontier Economics report.

Frontier Economics does not factor the influence of new jobs created in the renewable energy sector, or the $9.2 billion in compensation to emissions intensive trade exposed industries. Federal Treasury modelling does.

Federal modelling shows that national employment is expected to increase by 1.6 million jobs by 2020. The modelling predicts 400,000 new jobs in NSW by 2020. These figures are broadly consistent with CSIRO modelling.

When you look at federal treasury modelling and the state commissioned Frontier Economics report, the evidence suggests the economic impact of a carbon price will be modest, and positive in many instances. Some regions will grow slower than a business as usual scenario (The Hunter and Illawarra), and some will grow faster (southeast NSW).

Matthew Nott

www.cleanenergyforeternity .net.au

Rally to improve cancer treatment

I WRITE in response to your recent article “We deserve better! Cancer patient left to wait for hours”.

The comments of Ms Ewin are a reiteration of comments that have been repeated for quite a while with respect to the age and size of the Moruya Oncology Treatment Centre. The comments highlight the importance for a collaborative approach to improve the state of Moruya hospital, as it provides the only oncology treatment centre to residents within the Eurobodalla Shire. The demands on the Moruya Oncology Treatment Centre have quadrupled since it began providing services 25 years ago.

The situation at Moruya Hospital, particularly with respect of the Oncology Treatment Centre, is one that continues to resurface and needs to be dealt with. The Bay Post reported on April 20 “Community push for better cancer care” about the collaborative approach taken by Ron and Tralee Snape to get the local community united in a push to improve treatment at Moruya Oncology. They felt that an improved facility was not only necessary from a patient’s perspective, but also to maximise the benefit received from the wonderful staff. Discussions with Narooma Lions Club, Eurobodalla Shire Council, and the Member for Bega Andrew Constance, started the ball rolling for working with other local organisations to improve cancer care within the shire.

Often governments make promises of ‘more beds’ in an easy sell to sway voters’ opinions at election time. The problem of such promises is that they don’t take into account the complete picture, and that for each bed there is the need for nursing staff, cleaning staff, administrative staff, and in the case of oncology, specialist visiting medical staff.

To return the power to communities and local residents, and to eliminate misdirected spending at budget time, the Southern NSW Local Health District is now allocated their funding by NSW Health and it is the Local Health District who makes the decision on how this funding is spent. The maxim of the current government is to return power to communities, to find community-driven solutions on community-identified issues.

It is only too evident that cancer in the Eurobodalla Shire is something that is close to most people’s hearts. The statistics say that one in two people will receive a cancer diagnosis by the age of 85. With this in mind we all need to rally together and support the push of Ms Ewin and Mr Snape to improve cancer service delivery at the Moruya hospital as the demand on the service will only grow in coming years. We need to work together and provide a unified voice to the Local Health District showing that they must improve the conditions at Moruya. By improving the facilities for patients, and the working environment for staff, we can only be improving patient outcomes when they are receiving treatment locally.

Toby Dawson

Regional Programs Coordinator, Cancer Council NSW – Southern Region

Scientific fraud in our water

HAVE we been given an opportunity for a reprieve? (See Bay Post September 28, "Computer glitch causes delays" - The Water Authority has delayed introducing fluoride to our precious water system).

Originally there was a strong community push to keep our water free of fluoride (a hazardous waste product.)

Initially council too favoured "no fluoride" until later that same week when we were told one of the councillors who had been against had changed his mind giving them the numbers to reverse the decision.

We can't plead ignorance as the information is available.

I recently came across this statement, "Fluoridation is the greatest scientific fraud of this [20th] century". It was issued to the press after a meeting of 119 scientists (including Nobel Prize winners).

In 1986 1100 scientists who worked for the Environmental Protection Agency in the US tried to sue their own agency for ignoring important data on the dangers of fluoridation.

Dr Hardy Limeback, Bsc. PhD in Biochemistry Head of the Department of Preventive Dentistry for the University of Toronto and President of the Canadian Association for Dental Research was for years a strong advocate of fluoridation. He has apologised saying, "For the past 15 years I had refused to study the toxicology information available to all”. He is now working to stop Canadian fluoridation. (He can be Googled.)

We're being mass medicated.

1) It's unethical - our right to an “informed consent" is being betrayed.

2)"Dosage" is the same for all (from babies to adults). We all know that can't be true.

3) It's a cocktail of hazardous waste material sometimes containing arsenic, lead, uranium, aluminium and cadmium.

I'd invite everyone to listen to the video by Dr Paul Connett, (just Google him) He's a professor of chemistry, lecturer at St Lawrence University in New York and revered throughout the world as a leading scientist. He too initially thought people "going on" about fluoride were “a bit whacky".

P. Delaney

Narooma

Why re-zone Dalmeny in the Local Environment Plan?

I WOULD like to add my voice in agreement to the views recently put forward by Ian Hitchcock of Dalmeny.

The strip of land on Mumaga Lake Foreshore between the intersection of Binalong Street and Mort Avenue and the end of Attunga Street has been zoned E2 on the latest LEP. I believe that this zoning is contrary to its current use and its pattern of use over the past thirty plus years and the LEP needs to be revised RE1 (Public Recreation) or to E4 (Environmental Living).

In the mid 1970s my parents together with some friends bought the land which is now numbers 1 to 7 Binalong Street.

At that time it was truly a swamp. I remember there was a big dead gum tree. An array of smaller trees some living, some dead and blackberry bushes everywhere. The four blocks were cleared and levelled at that time and homes were built for my parents and their neighbours. Sometime in the mid 1980s the sewerage system was installed along part of the land now to be rezoned.

The current boundary between the lake water and the dry land was defined when the mud and gravel that was dug up to lay the pipes was used to cover the pit. It then was graded and smoothed to create the flat area that now is used a natural walking path. A path that I have seen used constantly over the years by mums and dads with the kids, old folks out for a stroll. Youngsters playing hide and seek or chasings or people out and about to give the dog a good walk.

My argument is; this area is and has been used for public recreation for the past three decades or more - why change it? The council role should be to enhance the amenities of the land under its management not reduce them.

Two other points I would like to make

1) The sliver of land under discussion is also part of the 30m buffer zone for bushfire-prone land. If the E2 zone is put in place and it becomes overgrown with uncontrolled vegetation, in a long drought it will dry out. Come a bush fire with a strong wind then the area will become a conduit for fire not a buffer zone as required.

2) Council and the community has spent a great deal of money and effort in building the bike path from Dalmeny to Kianga, plus the boardwalk. Without doubt the natural extension of the wonderful local asset is to continue it around the corner at the start of Binalong Street and up along the shoreline to the boat ramp on the point at the end of Attunga Street. If the land is zoned E2 this will not be able to be done.

G. Hall

Dalmeny

Mayor’s column – boating tragedy, demographics

THE tragic boating accident at Batemans Bay on Saturday cast a shadow over what is usually a very happy first weekend of the summer season.

It is so often such a fine line between a family outing and a disaster of unimaginable horror and sorrow. We feel for the family and their loss and we feel for those involved in the rescue and subsequent search.

An interesting report coming before Council on Tuesday is the one where we have expressed an interest in being part of a research project with the Adelaide University initiated by the National Sea Change Task Force. For some time coastal councils have expressed a concern that it is very difficult to obtain accurate information in visitors and or temporary residents to a local government area.

This research project headed by Professor Graeme Hugo, one of Australia’s leading demographers, will suggest methodologies which could be developed to measure non-standard local populations and to test those methodologies in case study areas such as Eurobodalla.

As we provide many services for a population that on many times of the year far exceeds our known permanent residents, it is important to find some way of measuring that fluctuation and also the services that we need to provide.

There is much we do know, or have estimates, of such as around 1.1 million people visit the shire including overnight stays and day-trippers.

We believe that the population during the summer peak period grows to around 100,000 people and that places pressure on the resident population to fund and maintain essential infrastructure such as our water supply and sewerage.

Hopefully, this project and our involvement in it will better enable us to plan for the future.

It is wonderful to see a number of our residents achieving that magical figure of 100 years.

One that I am really looking forward to celebrating is that of May Koellner (nee Emmott).

May and her brother Jack Emmott grew up in this Shire and are from the pioneering family well known for having established Emmott’s store in Moruya, now known as Harris Scarf.

The original store provided for the needs of the rural community for many years supplying everything from horse feed to fine clothing. May and her brother Jack have provided as much information on the history of Bodalla and Moruya and both have remarkable memories for details such as names and characters of a bygone era. Happy 100th birthday, May Koellner.

I understand from sources that Robyn Innes is actively engaged with others in planning the Batemans Bay Seaside Carnival due in mid-November. The festival and carnival will play a very important role in creating a good feeling in each of our towns and I look forward to seeing this one develop.

Clr Fergus Thomson

Mayor