Congratulations Dan
I like to congratulate Dan Simpson on his achievements at Wollongong Uni. He has always been a wonderful person and student. I wish him all the very best for the future. It just reinforces what Narooma kids can achieve with support and effort.
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Jon Sloan, North Narooma
Great threat to koalas
The belated release of the final draft management plan for the Murrah flora reserves (Narooma News, December 13), is another blow to koalas. Produced by the Forestry Corporation NSW (FCNSW) and one of its regulators, the Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH), the document is best described as a koala extinction plan.
There is just one referenced quote to soil in the plan, from 'Soil Landscapes of the Bega - Goalen Point 1:100000 Sheet'. It indicates " . . . The steeper slopes are susceptible to erosion if disturbed (Tulau 1997)."
While few people would doubt this, FCNSW, the organisation that scheduled all of the flora reserve for logging when the federal government listed koalas, has not been required to estimate soil lost from erosion since 1996. When FCNSW was required to estimate soil loss, under its former Environment Pollution Licence, the volume of soil lost invariably exceeded the volume of timber extracted during integrated logging.
In 1996, FCNSWs other regulator, the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) introduced its current Environment Protection Licence (EPL). The terms of this licence require FCNSW to determine whether soils are dispersible.
The final draft plan for the Murrah reserves confirms the NSW government has no intention of addressing the greatest remaining threat to koalas. Rather, the intention is continue its unsustainable management and its long term opposition to scientifically based community efforts to help koalas.
Robert Bertram, Bermagui
Mayor provides promise
The latest edition of the flyer “Living in Eurobodalla” explains the council’s position on the categorization of 1000 coastal properties as subject to coastal hazards. Headed “coastal hazards explained”, the mayor assures affected property owners that the UNSW study signals the beginning of a process to manage coastal hazard risks in the Eurobodalla. The Mayor goes on to confirm that the council will come back to the community early this new year to find the most feasible mitigation solutions. Those solutions might include rock walls, new sand dunes and beach nourishment. Also possiby groins and “raise and fill” proposals.
In an earlier press release the council indicated that it had funding for the stage three mitigation program in its Eurobodalla Coastal Management Program to commence this month.
I commend the mayor for this clear statement of concern for the property rights of coastal residents and the move away from “planned retreat”. I also commend the staff and councillors who are standing up for those residents who find themselves in a position of owning a depreciating asset.
The NSW Coastal Alliance has never opposed risk planning, provided the risk analysis is based on hard evidence. The UNSW study falls short of expectations, but if protective works are to be the order of the day, the problem of exaggerated projections, and worst case scenario assessments, will be overcome.
It is now up to the mayor to turn her words into actions. We await her advice on the appointment of coastal engineering experts to examine and provide the mitigation/protective planning options and the program of community meetings to decide on the preferred options.
Most importantly, we want local member Andrew Constance to throw his support behind the mayor and advise affected residents on the availability of funding for the protection of private properties.