Become informed
I refer to council’s announcement for the development of the West Gippsland Arts Centre and the re-location of the council chamber.
Go to almost any municipality and you will find that the location and design of the council chamber and its associated meeting rooms limits their use.
There are exceptions to this of course; Whittlesea has a multimillion dollar complex, specifically designed and built to meet community demands and take a rural shire’s requirements into a developed urban future.
Geographically Baw Baw is a large municipality and any meeting venue has to service the needs of all residents equally and fairly.
A dedicated static council chamber/meeting rooms could unfairly favour residents who reside close to it. The City of Banyule overcame this by holding committee meetings in existing facilities and rostering council meetings in venues throughout the municipality.
If John Hart was writing a letter in 1960 in response to a plan to land a man on the moon I bet it would have the same tone as his letter last letter (Gaz 21/2) - “remarkable assertion, extravagant fantasy, absurdity of rhetoric, harmless nonsense" in response to my suggestion that Australia become a renewable energy superpower and that the cost of renewables have now become lower than new coal plants.
John, look up reports from Bloomberg New Energy Finance or ReNew Economy to find out that the levelised cost of energy (LCOE) for wind and solar is around $75 per MWH while the cost of new coal plant is $80 per MWH.
This does not factor in the externalities associated with burning coal such as the increased health costs, premature deaths and disability due to lung and heart disease.
If you don't believe in those then I suggest you read countless reports in the published medical literature or you can see reports on the Doctors for the Environment website.
If you want to read the engineering reports behind my suggestion for the renewable energy superpower status for Australia I can point you to the document published for Beyond Zero Emissions called, The Zero Carbon Australia Renewable Energy Superpower Plan.
John, you seem to think we have time to waste before acting to avert the worst of climate change. I wish you were right but you are just plain wrong.
Go and have a cup of tea with a climate scientist and see if you come away with the same opinion.
If you want a personal introduction let me know. Or just go and read the basic information readily available from reputable sourcesCSIRO, Bureau of Meteorology, NASA, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Don't listen to Ian Plimer as Marc Schellekens does (Gaz 28/2) or you will be as hopelessly misguided as he is.
Malcolm McKelvie, Yarragon