Eco Site Tour Meeting on 26 January Meeting on 26 January
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"The worst thing that can happen AMENDMENT 25 FINALISED is not energy depletion, economic The 5 December 2000 Council meeting saw Councillors collapse, limited nuclear war or finalise Amendment 25 to Local Environment Plan 1991. conquest by a totalitarian govern- This amendment has been many years in the making and ment. Terrible as these catastrophes now goes to the Department of Urban Affairs and Planning would be for us, they can be repaired for ratification. within a few generations. The one The Amendment was finalised on the casting vote of the process ongoing in the 1980-90s that Mayor, after Councillors had voted six-six on a BMCS/RAID learn. As The Hut's architect will take millions of years to correct is request that Council reinstate clauses that had been Nigel Bell said, good design the loss of genetic and species changed between the time the Amendment was on public starts with a site analysis, i.e. diversity by the destruction of natural exhibition and when it came before Council. looking at solar access for habitats. This is the folly our Councillors in favour of the BMCS/RAID request were energy efficiency, and so on. descendants are least likely to Clrs Greenhill, Burridge, Henson, Searle, Gaul and Kozelj. It's not just a matter of forgive us." (E.O. Wilson, Harvard Opposed were Clrs Hamilton, van der Kley, Kime, Myles, building with mud bricks. In Magazine, Feb 1980.) Egan and Angel. When announcing the tied vote, Mayor one book about healthy Angel announced that his casting vote would be to maintain design, called The Healthy Meeting on 26 January the status quo, which, in this case, was to re-instate the House (by Sydney & Joan Our January general meeting will be clauses that had been on exhibition. His comments were Baggs), it gives a good held on Australia Day. We will celebrate greeted with much applause from the large audience in the summary of what it's about: Australia Day and Blue Mountains chamber. "The aim is to provide living World Heritage with a special meeting. Amendment 25 will improve the level of Environment environments that are free In the first half there will be a guest (yet protection in the lands covered by LEP1991 — primarily the from pollutants, are in tune to be organised) who will tell us about land on village edges and the land between villages. with the needs, feelings and World Heritage and what it will mean to Much of this land is steeply sloping, has watercourses spiritual aspirations of the the Blue Mountains, and we will be on it, has rocky outcrops, or contains rare flora and fauna. family, and in concert with entertained by poetry inspired by the This Amendment recognises the importance of these features, and will limit the amount of land clearing and the nature around us." Blue Mountains. So, on January 21st, After supper, our guest speaker will subdivision that will be possible. The clauses that Council reinstated had previously been 2001, we're going to take a be David Geering, the coordinator of the little excursion, in a Regent Honeyeater recovery program. agreed by Council, had been on exhibition, and had drawn no adverse comment from the Community. By ensuring that community bus, and visit Australia is renowned for its fantastic the finalised plan was consistent with the version that was some of the examples of eco biodiversity, but so many species are in on public exhibition, approval by the State Government must designs, between Woodford danger of extinction. Here is a group of now be a mere formality. We are looking forward to seeing and Blackheath, and find out people who are trying to do something this Amendment included in LEP1991 early in the new year. for ourselves what a about it. In the Blue Mountains area, World Heritage Listing was announced just recently. difference this makes. It will regular tree plantings in the Capertee One week later, it would have been an amazing about-face be an interesting, informative Valley are increasing the Regent for Council to have passed a watered-down version of and inspiring day, to see how Honeyeater’s chance of survival. Amendment 25. passionate these people are The Regent Honeyeater was once a about their living spaces and common bird of the woodlands west of welcome. how much work and thought has gone the divide, but is now one of Australia's into it. Everyone is most welcome! rarest birds as well as one of its most Eco Site Tour Sunday, January 21 If you'd like to join us, please book beautiful. Aimed at preventing its Inspired by the Non-Conventional on Ph: 4782-5375 (Vera) or 4751-3671 extinction, the Regent Honeyeater Home Tours in Taree, the Enviro Ed (Vanessa). Places are limited so we'd Recovery Effort has been working for six group of the Society thought it might be like to know by January 10th. We'll years to increase our knowledge of this nice to do something similar in the meet at Wentworth Falls Station at 9.15 enigmatic bird. This knowledge is being Mountains. So we've got a substantial sharp. Please bring your lunch, drink, put to use in identifying causes for the list of places that have been built or hat. The community bus will take us species decline and devising ways to stop renovated using features such as solar first to Woodford, then we'll make our and reverse this worrying trend. passive design, composting toilets, mud way up to Blackheath and back to David Geering will outline the past brick, strawbales, solar panels, etc. Wentworth Falls by 3.30 pm. and current status of the Regent Honey- The more one looks into 'eco design' eater, the findings of six years of the more one realizes that there is a lot to research as well as the actions “Hut News ”, the newsletter of Blue Mountains Conservation Society Inc. currently being undertaken as part P.O. Box 29, Wentworth Falls, 2782 Phone 4757 1872 Fax 4757 1753 of the Recovery Effort. Email: [email protected] Web page: http//www.pnc.com.au/~bmcs The meeting at the President: Robin Mosman (Ph/Fax) 4757.1354 First Vice President: Meredith Brownhill 4782.4823 [email protected] Second Vice President: Imre Gahl 4784-3286 Correspondence Secretary: Conservation Hut, end of Fletcher Frances Love , 4757.2585 [email protected] Meetings Secretary: Heather Hull , 4739.1493 Street, Wentworth Falls, starts at [email protected] Membership Secretary: Ross Coster , (H)4759.1837 (W)4759.1247 (Fax) 4759.1095 7.30 pm on Friday 26 January. [email protected] Treasurer: Les Coyne , 4757.3327 (Fax):4757.2820 [email protected] Bring your friends, up for the long Publicity: Jim Wallace 4784.3305 Land Use: Lyndal Sullivan 4782.1635 [email protected] weekend. Visitors will be very Walks Convenor: Bill Graham 4759.1692 [email protected] Plant Nursery Manager: David Coleby (Ph/ Fax)4784-1395 National Parks: Lachlan Garland 4754.2796 Bushcare: Laura Hays 4782.7692 [email protected] Education: Bob Seaborne 4751.6100, [email protected] Bushfire Rep: Hugh Paterson , 4751-2303 [email protected] Projects: Kathy Gott 4739-8124 Martin Beveridge 4758.9829 [email protected]. Helga Esamie .4787.7690 [email protected] Mike Purtell 4751.2143 [email protected] Newsletter Editor: Christine Davies 4787-7246 [email protected] Hut News , No. 162, January 2001 — Page 1. nation WHC extensively. The result was think of, we've been fighting all the way. the unanimous vote in favour of the And of course, we campaigned in 1975 nomination when it came back to the when we'd won our Rainforest Campaign WHC at Cairns on 29 November 2000. [all the rain forests in the north of NSW], In putting forward the nomination, which were proposed by Neville Wran to the Australian Government promised to become World Heritage areas. Then, retain the area in pristine condition for all after that, there was Wollemi National time, and to restore any degraded parts. Park, very largely done by the Colo We should expect additional funding to Committee, with our support of course. be made available for environmental And then there was another drive for the restoration and protection. Yes, World Nattai National Park and the last one was Heritage Listing will also bring the Gardens of Stone National Park. We additional tourism to the area, but we started our Blue Mountains for World believe that the benefits form the Heritage campaign at the end of 1986. additional protection afforded by the Question: Was that the first time that it Listing outweigh the extra impact from was proposed to be listed? increased visitation. Alex: Well, it was the first time that we We often write to Government asking had thought about it and we spent a little for their support for our campaigns. It while organising a submission for the has been a pleasure to be able to write to park, which we did eventually. We asked our Local Members of Parliament and to for grants of course and didn't get others involved in the campaign, to pass them ...and anyway, eventually we on the Society's thanks for a successful thought we'd go it alone and we asked outcome. There have been many who Geoff Mosely [member for 7 years of the deserve our thanks, and comparisons are ISN World Heritage Committee and for World Heritage ——— At Last always difficult. However, there is many years president of the Australian At its recent Annual Meeting, held in absolutely no doubt that Keith Muir from Conservation Foundation] if he'd take it Cairns, the World Heritage Committee the Colong Foundation played a major on and we financed his book “Blue unanimously added the Greater Blue part in the successful outcome.