At a recent tree rally on Anzac Parade earlier this month many of us felt we had been sold out by those who ought to be protecting our beautiful heritage listed trees on Anzac Parade and Alison Road. Where was the outraged commentary from Centennial Parklands, or Royal Randwick, or even the City of Sydney, and why had the RSL been so nasty? And where was the covereage in the Sydney Morning Herald? Why hadn't this issue been on every front page since the trees had started to be felled? On reflection I guess the SMH were never going to get too involved given that they are so ridiculously propped up by both the horse-racing industry:
... and the oil industry:
Still notwithstanding the campaign to save the trees was gathering momentum on social media, there was a genuine sense of abandonement. But the ever-growing revulsion of our New South Wales representatives was totally justified today by Background Briefing's explosive expose of our dodgy government and 'vested' interests.
Acording to Background Briefing's report, that curly scrolly bridge in the above image (the massively controversial Tibby Cotter Cycling and Pedestrian Bridge) turns out to be suitable for vehicles up to 10 tons. Why, you ask, when to all intents and purposes the bridge was built for pedestrians and cylists? Well as Background Briefing informed us, it is considered to be highly likely that this massive structure is the early beginnings of a massive underground carpark The NSW government plans to completely commandeer our public lands and trees to build new stadiums and to create sporting precincts even for tennis which is so on the nose at the moment and may never recover. The government has been eagerly aided and abetted by the pathetic Centennial Parklands Trust and its trustees who have got completely confused as to what their brief actually is ... namely protecting the parklands and keeping them safely in trust for people now and in future to enjoy and use freely and naturally.
Goodbye Anzac Parade and Kippax Lake as we know it ...
... as we watch this out-of-control-government trash this unique
memorial and get ready to clutch their hearts on Anzac Day to feign
sorrow and gratitude.
For the benefit of NSW politicians, Background Briefing reminded us that the Anzacs marched down Randwick Road (later renamed to Anzac Parade in their memory) to Circular Quay and were bundled on to ships and off to war some of them never to return to Australia again ...
A sandstone obelisk designed and constructed by the city architect, RH Brodrick, was placed on Anzac Parade in 1917 to serve as a memorial to Diggers who did not return and as a meeting placed for those who did.
Yet even that poignant memorial was not safe from the machinations of a development-addicted government which under the premise of rennovation removed it indefinitely to some back lot of the Roads Department in order to build ...
... an entrance to a car-park ... so very disrepectful.
(Image: 1961 last day of Sydney trams on Anzac Parade, reservation Moore Park; Lindsay Bridge, Flickr)
And to think that if we hadn't got rid of Sydney's trams 55 years ago which we are now putting back at great cost and angst maybe this whole sorry saga might not have taken place ... Oh we have not been well served by our state representatives ... ... is it time to dispense with such a silly tier of government?
I am here because my traditional home environment is no longer adequate for my needs.
By allowing Big Mine and Big Corpa to mine the Hunter Valley into oblivion, you and your LNP government and other previous NSW state governments have taken away all my 'home' options.
We genuinely do not have a tree to turn to what with Warkworth, Bulga, Jerrys Plains, Mount Thorley, Mount Arthur, Drayton ...
... oh the list goes on, but suffice to say a couple of us have been checking out a spot near the river in Muswellbrook to move to (see top image) although I have to say word has already got out so that's getting pretty chokka too.
Please have a heart, Mr Johnsen and Singleton Shire Residents, you've all been part of our habitat destruction so please think responsibly about a solution to our shared problem.
(Sadly while we have coal this clip will always be relevant - I used this last year here)
The following is my submission of objection to the New South Wales government regarding Peabody's proposed expansion (write yours now! ... cut off date tomorrow, March 10 2016) ================== "That we are still being invited to write submissions on proposed mining extensions in this day and age beggars belief. What part of the climate science and climate change information available in the public domain does the New South Wales government not understand? Coal is history, and we must look to the post coal economy to find new horizons in terms of employment and viability of NSW's towns, villages, rural and outback communities. Everything is wrong with Peabody's request to destroy Wollar.
We all understand that they are a company with significant financial problems, and that in a bid to appease their fleeing share-holders they will do what it takes.
Black lung, among many other detrimental health conditions acquired as a result of living and or working near mining projects, has taken hold in our communities and has hit the airwaves - there is no denying the dire medical impacts of mining in terms of miners and the communities that surround mines any longer.
So why should an extension that we all know will make people sick be permitted? This mining company is questionably 'solvent' ... are they? ... and we have to wonder whether they could actually afford the costs of any catastrophic impact that their work might have on the surrounding environment. Just look at BHP and Samarco and Vale and the shocking devastation that they created, one could say wifully, at the end of last year in Brazil. This proposal from Peabody must be rejected.
The evidence and empirical data is in on coal mines, and it is dire - no-one is prepared to be deluded any longer.
Just as Salvage Companies back in the 18th and 19th centuries objected to 'Shipping Forecasts' being implemented because they were bad for business as they saved sailors' lives, so the mining companies will squeal and object to their business and business practices being rejected and mothballed. It is wrong wrong wrong, and you as the government are the trustees of our money and our state, and consequently you do not have my permission to grant this extension to this polluting, fossil fuel, community destroying company. Shame on you, New South Wales Government, for even wasting our time with this submission process"
Sydney is not happy with its chainsaw-wielding government.
This row of trees among many others (1,277 trees all up including 871 significant and heritage listed trees) is to be wood-chipped into oblivion.
So last Friday on the corner of Anzac Parade and Alison Road,
... a vigil was held for Sydney's trees ...
... to protest against the machinations of politicians too invested in bitumen and construction to be able to see clearly ...
... the havoc that their actions will wreak on this city.
Coordinated protests are set to continue as people from across the city and state come together in an ever-growing snowball as they discover that along with the ruthless planned decimation of our invaluable trees, the actual implementation of the CBD and South East Light Rail is projected to reduce public transport capacity by nearly 70% ...
... as well as ripping up another cycleway ... sigh Andrew Constance and Mike Baird need to pause and redesign the project so we can: Save our trees
Save our city
Save our souls
I have lived in Scone for 33 years and ever since I first arrived in August 1983 there has been talk of a bypass. Notwithstanding vested bypass interests, the coal boom is over, and infrastructure that may have been deemed necessary once upon a ‘coal’ time is obviously not needed now. If we have managed to get through the coal boom without a bypass or an overpass to date from here on in we are hardly going to need the road developments estimated to facilitate projected vehicle increases. In case you did not get the memo ... the coal industry has nose-dived. I wrote the following two pieces for my Scone Blog almost three years ago: 1. Now what else can we do to ruin Scone – a bypass, anyone? 2. Mushroom Club CEO briefs shareholders May 8, 2013
... and I’m submitting them both now as my feedback concerning the New England Highway.
We have suffered enough at the hands of the Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) after you foolishly removed our round-about and inserted traffic lights as the round-about’s replacement.
Again this gold-plating of road infrastructure was done with unfounded projections of our highway needs apparently underpinned by a mining boom that many of us knew was never going to last. As a result of your irresponsible decision to manipulate our high street, we lost valuable car-parking space, and traffic speed increased exponentially with that hard-wired desire that compels motorists to make green lights from wherever they observe them.
I am surprised that I need to tell you this given that you work for the RMS and I do not ... yet everyone else around the world appreciates that round-abouts are traffic calming and traffic lights are not.
The RMS failed us with the round-about v traffic lights debacle so as far as I am concerned there is no reason to trust you now with this latest New England Highway development proposal which if you have your way will plague our town for decades to come. When you have read through the two blog posts posted online almost three years ago, just reflect upon this sentiment: “Why should we trust you or the Upper Hunter Shire Council now?”
Dear Joel, Please make representations on my behalf to Barnaby Joyce to shut this trade in greyhounds down. It is despicable that he hesitates to close the legal loophole which he has the power to close. Did you watch the 7:30 programme that exposed this wicked practice? I couldn't, it was so barbaric and it made me weep even more to realise that it's basically all being done on our watch. Those poor beautiful creatures. If I treated my dogs like that here in Australia I would be facing jail time. It is unconsionable that we allow the practice to carry on knowing full well the fate that awaits those sweet sensitive dogs. Please, Joel, shut this wicked industry down. Yours sincerely, Sue Abbott
As it turns out, so I've been informed, the reference to the sale of the Scone Library in the Finance Committee's Agenda ...
... mentioned in my last post was the old Scone Library, not the new Scone Library! Who knew? I am drowning in a flurry of questions which have crazily consumed me over the last couple of weeks as I madly try and find out answers, some of which I've had to spend more $$$ on to find out ... which I think sucks when you think most of this information ought to be in the public domain. So ... Why was the 'old Scone Library' (aka Barwick House) sold when Syd and Percy Barwick gave it to the Scone community for the Scone community's use?
Yes the Barwick brothers gave it to the Scone community not the Upper Hunter Shire Council. Who said the Upper Hunter Shire Council could sell it when it had been so generously bequeathed to us? Was the old Scone Library (Barwick House) put up for tender? Was there a song and dance about it? I don't remember - anyone? Did the Upper Hunter Shire Council consult with us? Who or what bought it? (Ok so I ended up spending money on that question through the NSW Land and Property Information Division by doing a title search, and it turns out Transcare bought it in 2011, with conditions I think, for $380,000 - the 'price bit' I got for free through Google Earth, Six Maps and NSW Globe!) Who or what is Transcare when they're (really) at home?
We're told they're the old Upper Hunter Community Care .. so they had a name change? Why? Still got the same CEO though, but who are they? And we're also told that they're a not-for-profit company? Can you be a not-for-profit when you're a franchise? And since they're a franchise who is their parent company? Who do they pay their royalties to? And for their quality assurance, why would they use QAS International, a UK certificate mill ...
... and therefore perhaps ought not to be issuing certificates of compliance in Australia. So very confusing. Is this a question of health by stealth? And why doesn't Transcare list on their website who is on their board? (Again it really sucks that I had to pay a tonne of money to discover that our local mayor is a director on the board - why the secrecy and why make it so difficult for us to find out this information?) Why is the Upper Hunter Shire Council selling off all our libraries and buildings and to whom or to what are they selling them? What is happening to Scone?
