Following in footsteps of green-space campaigners

THERE is something about green leafy spaces that lifts the human spirit.

I have just spent some time camping with friends in the stunning Carnarvon Gorge National Park. A combination of searing bushfires followed by heavy rains has brought the place into a rush of light and dark green cascading into soft sandstone.

It would rival any cathedral. We truly do live in a very pleasant part of the world.

It is easy to become complacent about how the green spaces we love so much came to be.

Our mayor is rightly fond of stating that the freedoms we enjoy in this country do not come for free. We will stop to remember the efforts made to protect some of these freedoms this Thursday.

In a different context, I would also argue that the green spaces in our parks and gardens, bushland and national parks have not been created and protected without a struggle.

Places such as K’gari (Fraser Island) which is now a World Heritage site might not have been, if it were not for the efforts of the late Dr John Sinclair.

In 1971 Dr Sinclair founded the Fraser Island Defenders organisation. His efforts to protect the forests and lakes of Fraser Island from sand mining and logging saw him bankrupted when he took the then Queensland Premier to court.

Protecting and maintaining our green spaces matters in our cities as well.

The Kenyan capital of Nairobi, known as “the Green city in the Sun” is bordered by a national park with a series of public gardens and green spaces throughout.

Keeping the city green has not been without a struggle.

In 1989 there was a proposal to

‘‘ THE SAVE MT LOFTY GROUP WALKS IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE LATE DR JOHN SINCLAIR AND PROFESSOR WANGARI MAATHAI. ALL POWER TO THEIR ARM.

build a 60 storey building in Uhuru Park. Nobel Laureate Wangari Maathai and her green belt movement waged a successful campaign against the move and the park remains to this day.

Whilst the efforts of Professor Maathai were celebrated much later, at the time she drew the wrath of the rich and powerful in Kenyan society.

Much closer to home we have incredible organisations such as the Friends of the Escarpment working to protect and promote our local green treasures.

The Toowoomba Regional Council has given us an opportunity to have input into our local parks and gardens through Master Plans. At this moment the “Save Mt Lofty Group” has been diligently and comprehensively making the case against the Defence Housing Australia Mt Lofty Project.

Campaigns such as this can be too easily dismissed as a case of “Not in My Back Yard” or NIMBYism. This is no such case. Mt Lofty is everybody’s backyard and if the campaign is lost our region is the loser, not just the local neighbourhood.

The Save Mt Lofty Group has done its homework. They have demonstrated clearly that the financial arguments for the proposed development just don’t stack up.

Our region had taken on the tagline of “Rich Traditions and Bold Ambitions.” Nothing could be bolder than protecting the beauty of our escarpment and upholding our tradition as the Garden City.

The Save Mt Lofty Group walks in the footsteps of the late Dr John Sinclair and Professor Wangari Maathai. All power to their arm.