Our Children’s Future, when it comes to environmental vandalism is not only OUR concern, but Their concern. The Greens have given out their Bad Developer Awards recently. The Tweed Shire Council and the NSW Department of Planning have received dishonourable awards for the worst Government Department and the worst Council.
Perhaps you would like to see other recipients of these developer awards? Try Sylvia Hale’s website – it has all the details. And while you are there, why not give them some support for their work in trying to make our children’s earth environment a little safer, and more secure.
Environmental Advocacy collage reminding us that Caring for our Country is also about Caring for Our Children
And now, a poem about an innocent child, and the questions she asks of some developers, who are environmental vandals, and who are taking away her future safety by their actions, perceived intentions and lack of integrity.
Phantom Koala and the Crow
An earthmover grinding the earth to a pulp
ignored the quiet pleas of wildlife it gulped
A single white gum tree alone bare and frail
did little to stop it with it’s lonely wail
Phantom Koala had run to escape
the metal equipment that made the earth shake.
And the Crow flew above seeing real from the fake……..
The grey suited gentlemen clothed in their greed
surveyed the bare landscape – “We’ll spray all THAT weed!”
“We’ll build a great golf course, – town centre or two
we’ve got the approval – it’s from (YOU KNOW WHO)
We’ll plant it with trees from our nursery stand
The Tweed Folk will pay us back tenfold our grand”
Then suddenly out of the dust and the fray
A small child came playing – she was heading their way.
The crow looked on smiling – Pk laughed on too
THEY knew what would happen-what that small child would do!
She fronted the grey suited money men then,
she took out a notebook and proceeded with pen
“My classmates and I wondered why you all lie?
My classmate are asking which drugs make you high?
My classmates and me see you just as you are
takers, deceivers, your game’s ‘below par‘!!”
“My classmates are young yet our lives pay for you,
so my classmates are wondering WHAT IS it you do
with this fortune you take from our years, from our life?
Do you mean to keep taking and give the young strife?”
The grey suited gentlemen, now covered in dust
from the earthmovers’ rampage and their lives filled with lust
puffed up their fat cheeks to start lies afresh
but by now it was out and they’d been caught in a mesh
of innocence asking WHAT WAS IT they did?
and WHY where they hiding – WHAT WAS IT THEY HID?
Then as the grey men tooted plans, power, law, the child ran off laughing saying , “you are a bore!”
and Phantom Koala, who’d found a good tree,laughed at the grey guys, and gave the child cheer!
The Crow flew off with her, to her classmates in school
and they all got together to write a new rule
Let the freedom of children and life for the young
be respected by those with power far flung
let the food land and animals waken
each day to loving and caring- a more
honest way.
Links:-
NSW Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water : Summaries of Legislation (ACTS) that the Department operates under
“Administrative Law in an Environmental Context” search results at bluecray Environmental search engine
NSW Department of Planning : … and the legislation and planning instruments associated with it. Including Part 3A of the Planning Law and State Significant Sites.
The EDO (Environmental Defenders Office) has created a Major Projects Toolkit for the people of NSW, Australia. The Toolkit can be found at the EDO website. It is easy to read and understand.
Cumbersome Laws relating to Environment and Planning in NSW reflect a
complicated, alienated and basically not easy to understand environmental planning process.
The EDO Major Projects Toolkit is a simply presented 21 page downloadable PDF that outlines how people in NSW can interact and become involved in Major Project applications.
Duty of care and the precautionary principle : search results at bluecray environmental search engine.
Coastal Development & Sea Levels – some Australian Links:-
- National Sea Change Taskforce: Link to – Conference at Byron Bay 2-3 March 2010 “The program will focus on the complex issues currently facing coastal LGAs including sea level rise, the legal implications of climate change and ageing populations………Byron Bay has been selected to host the event because of its relevance in terms of coastal hazards, development pressures and issues associated with climate change impacts”
- The 18th NSW Coastal Conference 2009 – 3rd-6th November 2009 to be held at Ballina, Mt Warning (Wollumbin) Caldera Region, NE NSW. The Theme is “Staying Afloat – Rising to the Challenges”. The Conference involve government sectors, planners, consultants, engineers, community and user groups & will present awards for outstanding achievement in coastal zone management activities. ABC North Coast News has nice updates for local info, including this Coastal Conference.
- Planned retreat, climate change & biodiversity – Byron Bay :- this is a workshop by the EDO Northern Rivers on 3rd December 2009
- Sea level Rise Policy Statement by NSW Government (late October 2009), and
- the Draft Coast and Flood Risk Assessment Guidelines – that are now open for submissions at the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water NSW (Urban & Coastal Water Reform Branch). Closing date for comments are December 11th 2009
- National Sea Change Taskforce : “national body to represent the interests of coastal councils and communities experiencing the effects of rapid growth and development” – includes Conference, Committee, Publications & links to the Federal Parliamentary Coastal Inquiry (report released 26th October 2009)
- EDO NSW (Environmental Defender’s Office) also has the following publications available:- Climate change and the legal framework for biodiversity protection in Australia: a legal and scientific analysis & Climate change and the legal framework for biodiversity protection in NSW: a legal and scientific analysis
The TWEED COAST is also experiencing engineered non sustainable development:-
Maps for the Tweed Coast Area near Casuarina, Kings Forest, Cudgen, Cudgen Creek , Wooyung – in fact much of the coastal area of the Tweed Shire!
Koala planning habitat loss se qld - search results environmental search engine at bluecray
Koala planning habitat loss ne nsw – search results environmental search engine at bluecray
“A Balance of Faeries” 1989 by Alison Polistchuk :- a story about Koala Habitat destruction west of Brisbane, SE QLD :- Why the Koalas’ Habitats, when slowly taken from them, over time, piece by piece, leads to increased biodiversity loss on a much larger scale for many of the other Australian Native Wildlife and Vegetation Communities AND why it is important to respect the “LITTLE THINGS” in life.
Land and Water Stewardship : Rescuing Remnants .
- The Hinterland of the Gold Coast, SE QLD and the Scenic Rim Region of SE QLD adjoin NE NSW. The Mt Warning Caldera Region contains important habitat areas that are at risk to native wildlife. This Region is under increasing pressure from development and infrastructure implementation, as well as exceedingly poor land & water stewardship.
- The Koala is just one of many native Australian marsupials at risk by over clearing and fragmentation of habitat, largely due poor planning on the part of the Qld & NSW Governments.
- The concept of rescuing remnants and degraded landscape enhancement via participation of school educational systems, community involvement and dedication of State Planning Authorities lacks integration with developers of land, infrastructure and townships.
- The native Australian plant nursery and seed bank distribution industry for local endemic (provincial) native plants is largely unsupported by all sectors of Australian Society. Reliance is on volunteers and government funding for programs such as Remnant to Remnant to succeed.
- Developers of towns, urban and regional centres, infrastructure and recreational facilities rarely support authentic Land and Water Stewardship on a scale that is meaningful to lasting and real outcomes. This needs to change, and State and Federal Government planning is responsible, in a large part for implementing the change.
National Sustainability Initiatives at the Australian Government Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage & the Arts. This website page includes links to the related areas of :- EPBC Reporting, Indicators & Local Agenda 21, as well as to Ecologically Sustainable Development LINKS .
The Ecologically Sustainable Development LINKS page includes :-
- Conferences and Events
- Sustainability Networks and Discussion Groups
- State Government Sites
- Australian Government Environment Sites
- Local Government Sites
- Non-Government Organisations
Coastal Development : search reslults at Environmental Search Engine
Planned retreat, climate change & biodiversity – Byron Bay :- this is a workshop by the EDO Northern Rivers on 3rd December 2009. Whilst this is for Byron Bay, you may find some interesting information at the EDO website
Giri and the 22 Arrows of Truth – Myths for a Modern Age Part 3 A bluecray story about integrity and honesty and the machiavellian nature of a person who was once a key political “behind the scenes” player.
Kings Forest Project Development – sleepless days & nights to come for endangered species at Balance of Faeries bluecray blog
“Kings Forest and the future Tweed” – search results at Bluecray ENVIRONMENTAL SEARCH ENGINE – a search engine designed mainly for the Mt Warning Caldera Region, NE NSW and SE QLD. It’s up the top of the page, on the RHS – ENVIRONMENT SEARCH – can you see it? you may like to try your own “keywords” search. We are still improving it, to make it even more useful.
Syrma – Al Ghafar – a fixed star – relating ASAD, stenography and great fortunes and much more than meets the eye. The Sun is currently, as I write this, at approx. 1-2 degrees Scorpio. In a few days, it will reach a conjunction with this Fixed Star.
