Solar debate at Baringhup
As the Baringhup Solar Farm (RES Australia) debate heats up it's time to balance considerations.
- 44,000 households is about the size of Bendigo. That's significant when you consider the fossil fuels to power the same number of households.
- Prime agricultural land? That's debateable. Some local farmers say the previous landholders found it difficult to farm, on what some say, is marginal agricultural land.
- Fire risk? The proponents say they will "facilitate and fund on-site training for local brigades in the management of lithium-ion battery fires" ( http://www.baringhup-solarfarm.com/about-the-project/qa-community-event-25-july-2018). Let's hold them to account.
- Visual amenity is certainly something to be considered. This seems to affect one farming family. Plantings and buffer zones may be possible. The farming community of Rokewood negotiated a win-win fit for landholders and West Wind Energy. No reason why a solar farm won't be less amenable to negotiation than a wind farm.
- A community fund of $125,000? That's big for Baringhup. Who would manage it? How would it be spent? Could the Baringhup community negotiate some extra 'in kind' benefits?
Don't forget what's on offer here - 44,000 households powered by the sun ... not fossil fuels! Your children and grandchildren will be very grateful.
You can register your support for the project by respectfully contacting the planning minister at richard.wynne@parliament.vic.gov.au or the office of your local state members, Maree Edwards on 54444125 and Jacinta Allan on 54432144.
Peter McKean, Maldon
Fundraising concern
I am really worried about people's priorities when I read about the fundraiser for a high earner [Israel Folau] looking for money to take a sports agency to court to get even more money.
Just because he wants to have his religious opinions established.
There are a lot of people out there that don't have the money to pay for food or accommodation but these religious Christians will support a high earning sports person but not people in need.
How Christian are they really?
Heidi Griffin, White Hills
'Kings Bridge' credit
Travelling through Golden Square I often pass over the bridge near the Golden Square fire station.
I feel it has been neglected. It deserves a plaque outlining its history and, if I am not mistaken, it is the "Kings Bridge".
A sign to that effect would be appropriate.
John Armstrong, Castlemaine
'Protection' money
Customers, who are paying for the use of the internet, shouldn't have to pay extra protection money. They are being offered a free trial for a short period of time.
But if they don't go on and purchase the product, they are being plagued constantly with reminders and warnings.
It looks like an international scheme. If the users don't pay protection money, their computers are likely to be hacked, or bugged.
Jiri Kolenaty, Rushworth
A sad day for education at La Trobe University
The Bendigo based team in Education of La Trobe University has been decimated. Victims of cost cutting and a Melbourne-centric delivery policy, the loss of this proud and capable group will be most strongly felt among rural kids from disadvantaged backgrounds.
For many of these aspiring teachers, securing a university place represents a significant generational moment.
Stepping into a new world as first-in-family pioneers, they do so without a legacy built on experiences of higher education.
Relying on self to navigate through unfamiliar territory, the risk of drop out escalates as demands increase and compound.
This is where attuned, passionate, and local tertiary educators come into play.
Providing a personalized response with a 'country feel', they build supportive relationships through regular face-to-face contact with students, colleagues, and schools.
It is within this intimate and collective dynamic, that student difficulties are quickly perceived, assessed and addressed. It is within this space that potential is not lost.
Sad.
Jaroslaw Kotiw, Axe Creek
Coliban should only have released Class B water
Briefly, on April 24, 2019, Coliban Water said that the "Kyneton Water Reclamation Plant (KWRP) will not release diminished quality water in 2019" (Bendigo Advertiser).
On May 31, 2019, Coliban Water announced up to two megalitres of Class B water would be released per day into the Campaspe River from the KWRP (Coliban Water media release).
On June 6, 2019, Coliban Water announced it was now releasing up to four megalitres of a mix of Class B and Class C water into the Campaspe River (Coliban Water media release).
In addition, on both media releases the EPA had insisted warnings be included to downstream residents advising of the required precautions to take when using the water for domestic and livestock uses.
These warnings applied from Kyneton to Lake Eppalock.
The EPA did not approve the release of Class C water. The KWRP produces two streams of recycled water: Domestic sewage to Class B used on sporting grounds,etc., tap water, and Trade Waste to Class C used for irrigation, fertiliser. There is no flow in the Campaspe above Kyneton so the river is now loaded with fertiliser.
The effects are: short-term pain for residents and livestock producers who have lost their water source. Long term for river health as a fertiliser-laden river will produce toxic blue-green algal blooms in summer.
Coliban Water has acted irresponsibly in advising the community that no water of diminished quality would be released in 2019.
Only Class B water should be released.
Malcolm Shepherd-Clark, Edgecombe
