CBD’s amazing transformation

Congratulations to the shire for the amazing transformations they have achieved in revitalising the streets of central Warragul. A modernisation long overdue.

Warragul was beginning to look like a dull, dreary, old, boring little village --- all made worse by the domination due to the tyranny of cars. Floods of them.

Cars seem to have a strange new power of robotism ---their egos are manifold ---they seem to think they rule the streets ---their rights come first.

And now we can’t live without them-- people who once walked everywhere, across deserts, up mountains, through forests, now apparently can’t even do their shopping unless they are parked right outside the front doors of the supermarkets.

What are legs for? Once they were a vital part of us – first out of bed in the morning--- and they carried us around all day--- they were happy-- we were happy. They hated sitting on seats all day.

Now - what do we have - wow - gardens in the middle of the main streets and footpaths widened so people – real people -- can walk freely and calmly without always watching out for other pedestrians.

Shopping is starting to appeal - even just to wander around looking in shops. I looked for new shoes to wear when walking and found a small one-room shoeshop which stocked a fine variety of them.

All this is, clearly, a trend that has already spread -- many towns are doing the same --and Swanston St. in Melbourne looks good. People come first-- cars can sook in car parks outside the centre areas. They have tyrannised us long enough.

And the new sidewalks all done in pebbly grey, black and white instead of the old-fashioned white concrete which gets dirty in no time.

Congratulations to the shire staff who are clearly vibrant and alert to new ideas and to those who stand out in bright orange and who do the hard, heavy work.

Dawn Gough, Warragul

Hospital support?

On May 24 Baw Baw Shire mayor Mikaela Power was interviewed by ABC Gippsland. In this interview she was asked about the new hospital her response is as follows. “We’re still kinda caught in the middle in Baw Baw, There's a very good hospital at Traralgon and there are other services in Casey and closer into Melbourne and for the moment it looks like we’re stuck in the middle bit.

“There's also other works going on at the moment to extend the carpark and make it more accessible and some other works there I would like to see how those roll out then start the next stage of the campaign."

Just prior to this statement our mayor tells the interviewer that we are the sixth fastest growing shire in the state.

Now I am sure Cr Power knows how passionate our community is about a new hospital with a petition tabled in parliament with over 10K signatures.

If our mayor was representing the community’s thoughts on a new hospital she would state very strongly that we need a new hospital.

The community groups that have done so much work in advocating for a new hospital have literally been ignored. If our mayor is not advocating to the state government for a new hospital then who is.

Having a forum on radio be a good opportunity to voice the urgency of the matter, but she chose not to do so.

I feel very sorry for the WTF campaigners who have put in so much work in pressuring the state government for a new hospital it’s a pity our mayor cannot do the same.

Did she speak like this because she has political ambitions and doesn’t want to upset the government. If that is the case she should step aside from the mayoral role.

Otherwise advocate for what the community wants, a new hospital and improved infrastructure. Wayne Farnham, Warragul

Protect gliders

On May 21 this paper reported severe criticisms by Gary Backwood, our local state parliamentarian, of anti-logging protestors who blockaded a coupe for 11 days in the Noojee State Forest.

The action did not result in a permanent halt to the logging, but interrupted the earnings of the loggers.

The most relevant fact about the coupe was not mentioned - namely, the managers of the logging had been formally notified of multiple sightings of the greater glider which is a flying marsupial that is officially recognised as threatened with extinction

Those creatures may soon die because the clearfelling of the coupe continues and the gliders do not relocate. T

he obvious question arises - Is it worth pushing creatures into extinction in order to protect unsustainable practices of our logging industry? The way each of us answers that question reveals our individually held core values.

David Clarke, Noojee

Need for evidence

Despite Roger Mark’s assertions, the science behind climate change has no similarity with any type of religion. To clarify for the readers who might be swayed by this erroneous claim, the following descriptions may be helpful.

Religions are faith or belief systems. A belief is something you think is true. A belief does not require any proof.

Science is theory-based. Theories are supported by the available body of evidence help make predictions that can be tested. Proof is needed before a theory can be accepted.

Climate change is based on the work of many thousands of reputable and well qualified scientists, who have come to the conclusion that the climate is changing and a large part of this change is due to human activities.

Not all of the material provided by these scientists is easy to understand by the non-scientist. I’ve taught science for 40 years and confess that some of the math involved is beyond me. However, I can understand enough to be convinced that we should be concerned about how humans can affect our climate.

Anyone can scan the internet and find outliers (facts that are very different from others) that shouldn’t be used to draw general conclusions. Roger Marks is very fond of quoting these to support his beliefs. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, but this opinion should be backed by a body of evidence, not just a few anomalies.

Peter Gribben, Drouin

Bored or entertained

I must say I'm chuffed to find my climate change status, in the wild and wacky world of the redoubtable Roger Marks, has been elevated. ( Gaz, 28/5).

Last month I was a “'pleb'', but this month Roger has anointed me as a '”warlord''. Wow, thanks Roger. I love that movie ''The Last Samurai''!

I must be doing something right. What shall I be next month? Perhaps a demigod?

Of course Roger feels so intimidated, that he is '”not allowed'' to mention my name, but (nudge nudge, wink wink) we all know who it is. Childish stuff.

Sorry Roger, it's a desperate but failed attempt to avoid further accusations of hypocrisy, for here we go again.

Climate change scientists are all “drips'', all their claims are bogus, and The Wall Street Journal agrees with the prescient Roger, as he refers to the as yet unpublished edition of June 21.

The Wall Street Journal? That bastion of scientific research? That publication from the Newscorp stable which employs scientific luminaries such as Andrew Bolt and Alan Jones?

Of course it's all a figment' of our fertile imaginations says the man who promised us Weapons Of Mass Destruction would be found in Iraq, and SSM would result in perverts marrying their pets.

The recent Federal election showed us that even most conservative politicians have been dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century, by acknowledging the existence of global warming.They just don't want to do anything about it.

Roger however remains the last bastion of the ''flat earth'' society, rooted in the 1950s, with his imagination unwilling to be stretched beyond demeaning critics.

Ultimately Roger will quote his sourcesNewscorp shock jocks, and I''ll quote mine- climate scientists, and Gazette readers will have been either bored to tears or entertained by rhetoric repetition from irrelevant players. Shall we give it a rest now Roger? At least I have my warlordship as comfort. John Duck, Trafalgar

Be seen, be safe

Has anyone thought about the fact that when a person enters a building site, or active airfield, they are required to wear high visibility vests.

However, every day, there's a good chance we will see cyclists or motor cyclists wearing black clothing.

But hey motorists are the baddies aren't they? What a lop sided world we live in.

My compliments to the cyclists that go against this trend and also have good flashing lights mounted front and rear.

Ian Honey, Warragul

Lost historian

John Wells does indeed seem to have lost his way when Rediscovering McDonalds Track (Trader 30/5).

After travelling west from the WarragulKorumburra Road along that part of the Track shared with Grand Ridge Road through Seaview, he found himself in Yarragon. This suggests he missed the Childers turnoff from the later section of the Track shared with YarragonLeongatha Road.

He also seems to have missed the fact that, in following McDonalds Track along the northern boundary of Mount Worth State Park, he’d left Grand Ridge Road where it turns south along the western boundary of the Park, and thence takes an entirely different route through Trida and Hallston to Mirboo North and, eventually, Carrajung – well south of Narracan and Morwell.

It is difficult to follow McDonalds Track in places where it loses its identity in modern roads using the same route, and the Track is not always well signposted as such. However, nowhere are there TWO McDonalds Tracks. The labour required to cut the original 2m wide track – ‘a massive task’, as John Wells says – would’ve inhibited any duplication.

According to John Adams, in “So Tall the Trees”, George McDonald and his party cleared the track in ‘several months in mid 1862’, whereas ‘two years (some say four)’ is stated in the Gippsland History column. McDonald wrote a report to the Surveyor General (from which Adams quotes), so the discrepancy should be resolvable by recourse to State Archives.

John Hart, Warragul