Pool mural delight
AS a regular user of this shire's fantastic swimming pools, you can imagine my delight when I arrived at the pool last Saturday morning.
Instead of that boring, red brick wall that we've all become so used to I was confronted by the wonderful new mural that has completely transformed the facade of the pool
The design, the colour, the movement, the boldness of the figures and motifs it contains are a wonder to behold and a great credit to all those involved.
I understand that this was a joint venture involving local schools and businesses, the shire council and a designer from Sydney.
I congratulate all of them. This adds to quality murals already in place such as the one at the Bar Beach amenities block and the Bodalla Fire Shed. The more the merrier, I say.
John Cowan
Cadgee
Ambo’s roster reshuffle
I WAS appalled to read the NSW Ambulance roster proposal in last week’s Narooma News.
How do the bureaucrats believe that rostering a person on seven days a week with change over shifts, with call outs will be more efficient and cost effective?
All I can say with the trial roster run happening in Narooma and districts mid-November to mid-December, and talking to one of the Paramedics, is: “Don’t get sick and call an ambulance!”
This roster reshuffle, I’m afraid, is literarily “playing with people’s lives.”
Gabe Eichler
Narooma
Hunt-Festering… about to burst?
THE HuntFest debate has gone on long enough. Please will somebody put an end to it? Here’s my attempt…
Shouldn’t all hobby/social/sporting and recreational groups have a right to celebrate and educate others about their skills, knowledge, values and potential they have to offer our community?
Whether it be clubs based on crafts, gardening, fishing (aqua-hunting), walking, eating, sports or dare I say it…hunting (i.e. legal feral animal control), all have a right to exist, to be seen and to be heard.
If you have no interest in HuntFest, the photographic and video competition proposed by the South Coast Hunters Club - don’t go!
It really is that simple. Everyone has the right to choose.
I am assured by the HuntFest organisers that there will be no firearms at the event, a legal requirement.
Nor are there plans to display distasteful images to the passing public, in fact all entries will be viewed within the confines of the building.
More importantly, there are strict guidelines as to the content of the photos and videos that will be accepted into the competition.
Are the objectors aware of these restrictions, or the extensive rules and conditions proposed by the organisers?
We are a diverse society with an even greater diversity of interests.
If an activity is legal then why should an individual or minority group assume they have the right to hinder the planning, organisation and conducting of an event.
There may well be an abundance of interested members of society , both local and further afield, encompassing all ages, genders, careers and backgrounds who wish to attend, observe, learn and participate in HuntFest.
At the very least, respect each individuals’ right to choose.
Personal preferences and beliefs should not be a consideration in the council approval process.
If an event proposal observes all guidelines and regulations surely it would be undemocratic to reject it.
Joanne Millar
Narooma
Beautiful pool mural
IT is great to see the beautiful “Swimming in Art” mural recently created outside the Narooma pool.
What a great job the artists did in creating a mural depicting life around Narooma including Gulaga Mountain and the sleeping lady, the sea life, the forests etc.
I walk past this mural every day and have a smile when I look at it and how impressive it is.
Tourists and locals will have a great work of art to remind them of beautiful Narooma and the “story” behind it, including Gulaga and the spirit surrounding our pristine environment.
A written plaque may be an idea to explain the story behind the mural for people such as tourists who may not know about Gulaga.
Well done to all the people who were involved on creating this great work of art! Maybe there will be more to come…
Lorraine Moss
Narooma
How to reduce your energy bill
FOR a typical large house upgrading to energy efficient light bulbs can save around $130 a year.
Switching to energy efficient showerheads and minimising shower time to three minutes can save around $230 a year.
Upgrading to a solar hot water system can save around $650 a year.
Switching to solar panels can deliver significant savings and substantial cuts in emissions. Installing a 2kW system could save around $470 a year in New South Wales and reduce emissions from energy use by around 23 per cent.
Ensuring good roof insulation will substantially reduce heating costs in winter, and cooling costs in summers.
Planting deciduous trees on the north side of the house will provide shade in the summer but let in sunlight in the winter. Wisteria around a north-facing balcony provides excellent summer shade.
Riding a bicycle to work three times a week will halve your fuel bill (and your waist).
Household energy efficiency alone is not enough to dramatically start reducing Australia’s emissions, but when combined with a price on carbon and a renewable energy target, we are seeing the start of a transformation in Australia.
News this week is that that Energy Australia will be shutting one of its four generators at the 1450 MW Yallourn power station. The decision will see around 360 MW of capacity sidelined.
The Energy Australia decision follows similar announcements at several coal-fired power plants across the country, with coal-fired power being sidelined in Australia’s four biggest states this year. Other plants to completely or partially shut down include Tarong (Qld), Munmorah (NSW), Energy Brix (Vic), Playford (SA) and Northern (SA).
All too slowly, pollution intensive electricity generation from the last century is being replaced by employment intensive clean energy of the 21st century.
The energy transformation has begun in Australia, and despite all the scaremongering, the lights are still on.
Matthew Nott
www.cleanenergyforeternity.net.au
Emotional phraseology vs. factual reality
AFTER a spell from buying the Narooma News, I began purchasing again just prior to the local election, to gain information on the prospective councillors.
Over this period I noticed in “Letters to the Editor” various statements being made in regard to feral animal control and a HuntFest proposal.
Now, I want to compare some of the remarks made in this time against factual reality.
In Australia the constitution as far as I’m aware, has not yet been rewritten to mirror that of the USA constitution, hence in Australia we do not and cannot have a “gun-slinging American gun culture centred in Narooma” as the Greens have so emotively been saying.
Please, let’s stick to the facts here and drop the emotional phraseology.
The silent majority by now must be wondering about the extreme wing of the Green’s policy makers based in Sydney, who wish to dictate regional affairs.
Do these policy people speak out about violent American culture saturating our TV screens instead of our own Australian content?!
And what about those addictive graphic digital games?
Have they digested the ramifications of research showing a wave of upcoming mental conditions affecting our young people who spend excessive time immersing themselves in these virtual realities?
Please, let’s get real people.
Hunting in the forests was common in the 70’s and 80’s when I was younger, and there were no deaths or injuries involving forest workers, bushwalkers, horse riders, trail bikers or any others that I remember.
The training, laws and regulations of those days were not as strict as they are today.
So far as the idiot minority is concerned, this very small group is found in all aspects of society.
These few should not be the excuse to chip away further civil liberties of the majority, instead the law should deal with this minority and re-educate them to fit in as responsible citizens.
Don’t paint legal firearm owners, who undergo police checks as part of the process of firearm ownership, with the same brush as the criminals and idiot minority, who on the whole, acquire illegal firearms.
Paul Ziviani
Narooma