Waste spoils free campsites
POO PROBLEMS
ON a day trip to fish a river near National Park I was disgusted to put it mildly at the amount of human excrement left at an informal camp site. This area is frequently used, judging by the amount of other rubbish left behind. The residents of Westerway will have the privilege of having the faecal matter and toilet paper deposited streamside during the next flood. This mess will also end up in the drinking water supplies of New Norfolk and Greater Hobart.
It is high time we joined the New Zealand model of banning free camping. I would ask the Tasmanian Government to ban free camping unless you have a portable toilet or campervan that has a toilet in it. To do nothing is to say this is acceptable. The waste was no more than 20 metres from the river and no attempt was made to bury the dumpage. I have no doubt that this is largely due to a local element, however I’m sure it occurs elsewhere throughout the state by locals and tourists. Do we want to be the Natural State or become Toilet State. While enjoying the outdoors should be encouraged so should respecting it be a priority.
Unbelievable
SINCE Bruny Island came under the Kingborough Council some years ago, services were neglected. Property prices rose and businesses moved in, bringing tourists with traffic and other problems. Residents and normal Tasmanian weekend holidaymakers are being forced to adapt and put up. To ask tourists now to carry around their poo in bags is an unbelievable idea. Surely Bruny Islanders are not expected to live in an unhealthy smelly sewer environment? Why not close Bruny Island to tourists and visitors until adequate serviced facilities are there for them?
Businesses might complain but instead they could help with council to speed up proceedings. On reopening the island, charge $20 per visitor. At least they get value for money instead of just receiving a poo-bag.
Bruny doings
IT seemed like a winner! After the call by tourism organisation Destination Southern Tasmania for residents and visitors to Bruny Island to use doggie poo bags for their own doings ( Mercury, January 14), I came up with the inspired idea of a book of Bruny Island toilet jokes. Alas, I quickly realised there was too little material to work with.
Crafty solution
BRUNY Islanders must be applauded for their resourcefulness in the face of rapid change. Confronted by a rising tide of human excrement and toilet paper in prime tourism locations on the island, and in the absence of the $8 million for roads, public toilets and waste management systems promised by the State Government in 2017 and again at last year’s election, a local resident has crafted a Bruny Bag kit for use by visitors who are caught short. The Bruny Bag kit is aesthetically pleasing and practical. The bag holder is crafted from a sustainable wood source and Mayor poo-poos tourism body’s doggie bag idea for Bruny visitors There is nowhere on Bruny accessible in a 2WD vehicle that is more than a 15 minutes’ drive from a public toilet. When you add the dozens of toilets available for patrons of local businesses (restaurants, tours etc) it is clear the problem is not so much infrastructure as effective communication. comes with a handle for all-terrain manoeuvrability. A disposable, lightweight, nappy liner bag can be attached via a unique system of rubber bands with lead sinkers for weighting the bag in windy weather. It has a capacity of 2kg.
Optional extras include a complimentary bag; accessories for attachment of different size bags; adjustable cords for users of different heights; sinkers of different weights for use in Bruny’s variable weather conditions; and coloured rubber bands for the fashion conscious. Exchanges and refunds are not available. However, an instructional app for mobile phone use is under way and I understand the inventor might be prepared to relinquish the patent for a suitable remuneration.
Doggie bag
SPORTS grounds are for sports, dog parks are for dogs. Why is this so? Dog urination on turf causes dead patches, higher thatch levels, and more remediation work to fix surfaces and divots and to re-seed and add soil. Winter months are harder, because grass won’t grow. This leads to unsightly, unsafe, discoloured grounds, closed grounds and negative comments to councils and their ground staff.
Let’s be honest, not all dog owners pick up after their dog, nor do they stop them digging holes. I’m a dog owner who uses facilities in all municipalities, designated beach areas and am a dog club member with access to off-leash areas. So please people, let’s be tolerant of all others and their needs and recreate appropriately.
Marketing in the bag
FREE doggie bags will certainly provide a world-first approach to marketing Bruny Island. But remember, no plastic ( Mercury, January 14)!
Jacqui leads the way
NOW Jacqui Lambie is going in the show I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here I’d like to see other politicians follow her as well, or ain’t they up to it.
Wrong way, go back
SURELY Jacqui Lambie is headed for the wrong TV reality show. Shouldn’t she be in I Was a Celebrity, Get Me Back in There?
Possible conflict of interest
SEEING federal parliamentarians aren’t allowed to hold dual citizenship passports owing to possible conflict of interest on where their loyalty lies, wouldn’t it also be good policy to put in place in state parliaments also.
O Canada
AUSTRALIANS might look with envy at Canada which has a prime minister and government that can make a compassionate and moral decision and take action in appropriate time. And to think it was done without a baseball cap in sight or even an open air press conference surrounded by noddies in safety vests. Jim Heys South nipaluna/Hobart