How are things at Apollo Bay ?

Because our so called public broadcaster is asleep at the wheel I 
published the latest news Here . 

Because the problem is bigger than the ABC  you need to listen right here also . https://youtu.be/2v8lq_vnklI 



The media don't know what they don't know and unfortunately
they are passing their
blinkeredness, blind cynicism , misanthropy and unrepentant incompetence onto our children.  

How are all these wind power mills going?

 Over the last day we have gone past 3 fields of wind farms from Cape Bridgewater to Yambuk  in the Western district .
 All the mills are Cape Bridgewater are stuck still with one fan breaking off as shown in the picture. Cranes are up replacing the 25 gearboxes at Yambuk as they have been doing in the newest mill fields at Mt Gellibrand 
Lots of the mills at Yambuk are leaking oil and lots of hydraulic cylinders  ( $80000 a pair ) are turning up at scrap metal merchants . . 
Nobody in their right minds expects these crude gearboxes to last very long. 

Question 4 polys ( just a few ) 

1. What is the standby payment for these things ( so often idle ) 
2. Who is paying for the replacement parts? 
   
3. What kilo watt per hour of heat are the gearboxes expected to dissipate ? 
4. Is anyone allowed to ask any questions about how we are going to power our toasters in particular in the morning?

Nothing like a good ride in the sunshine

 ..to counter the months of cloudy and wet that we have faced and face  over the next few months.. 

It seems we all like a good climb, especially the Mamils who occupied the steepest parts of the Tour de France yesterday . While the 850 metre climb to Marriners lookout is 17% , there are very few places in the Otways  where road grades are over 5% . Even the long steep road out of Adelaide up to Eagle on the hill has never been more than 5%.

 The popular bike ride  road from Lorne to the ridge ( slow down ) is a  consistent 5% . Colac is fun because few climbs are 3% and the climb are short .

It took a long time to get a road into Apollo Bay with that first road having a consistent grade of 4 % to make it easier for the horses . A bag of grain cost twice as much to carry up Wild dog as a passenger because the bag couldn't get out and push . The current road through Skenes Creek is not much less steep, but is less affected by landslides. 





LANDSLIDES maybe a natural feature of the area but our leaders still do not understand the risks with major avoidable and big landslides on the Skenes creek road and the new extension from GOR Cape Otway turnoff to Horden vale being in recent years . Ask me if you want the details . Clearly our current reps prefer to remain ignorant . 

Yes, its a good hope that we make less mistakes , and that our children understand the land and environment better so they can enjoy it rather than fear using or abusing it.

Early farmers were not the only ones to think flat areas halfway up hills was a good place to clear. I have had to say No to many wanting to build houses on the toes of the many big landslides like the above sites east of Wild dog river . and moving land on the Blue Johanna , the Heytesbury and along the coast . 

We shouldn't feel too bad about clearing, or even roadmaking , if we obey the understanding principles above. The tall timbered land east of Wild Dog River was busy moving in a big way long before any human being got near to Apollo bay. Now that we are all moving now more in the right direction we can still maintain the roads through this almost impossible country and do more drainage before the land is reafforested.

With understanding, the same applies to our work with road building. Some of the most sustainable roads in the wettest parts of the Otways ( wetter than France ) were built on very low grades with sound planning of crossfall and appropriate surface and cross drainage so that they will still be useful for our grandchildren ; eg Turton's track and access roads in the top of the West Barwon dam catchment .

YET  our Representatives still haven't learned the lessons they should have ,

TAKE THE WASTED recent EFFORTS TO IMPROVE OUR ROADS

VERY CLEARLY not enough surface cross drainage was used on the upgrade of the Princes Highway to Geelong and as the grass verges ( even in France as the footage shows ) have replaced graded edges, the need for more of that cross grade has increased.

If we had Provincial control of our own district , this slow ,error prone, ignorant and ineffective contract control of works@Joe McCracken @Bev McArthur MP @Sarah Henderson Richard Riordan MP Barnaby Joyce @Matt Canavan @ Dan Tehan MP would not be the huge and costly problem it now is.  @Representing South West Victoria

Our forefathers weren't as ignorant as we are now . They had to cope with clay surfaced roads that stopped all traffic. Even the flattest roads in the world need cross drainage and even some of the flattest roads can't be driven on when there is a bit of rain .

Please don't join the chorus of fools on the net and in Parliament who blame the weather.

The cost of water for our dams

 It 's mid November 2022(20th) and very few farmers in SW Australia have made hay or even silage.
 .
The weekly deluges highlight the very poor drainage of most of our soils and the impact of soil drainage and sun on slowing growth in springs like these. Farmers and cows can't get onto paddocks because they will get bogged. 
Our dams are full right across the SW of Australia with reservoirs like Dartmouth and the Thompson ( drought storages ) overflowing. It takes that rare time when soils are wet for the very rare flows in rivers. This is Australia Mate !

The only places I have seen with the bales done in our long trip through NSW and Victoria have been in well drained soils of Dune limestone in Warnambool ( picture here ) and a few places up near Mansfield . 

Those of us who have ever made hay in Australia know that the English expression " Make hay while the sun shines " is inadequate .
Most of Western Europe has better drained soils than ours. In the land of droughts and flooding rains, you get the mower out when it's still raining and even then you run high risks of losing it.
So much so that many farmers would leave hay making till this time of year when the weather was better , but the grasses had gone to seed and the feed quality poor.

Its a tough life so pay extra people . 

Our democracy is a complete mess

 I suppose I am not telling you, kind listeners, anything .
As one who used to be part of the system,  I know that it is not acceptable for councillors to say that they have no control.

 I hope what follows is at least helpful because that's what is needed to comprehend the mess and then do something positive to change it . Be can
do councillors .
 

Hundreds of examples in Colac Otway shire alone. And each case is really bad and unacceptably so because planning used to be a right and a blessing to good people doing the right thing and considering their neighbours in the shire.
It's got so bad that ONLY  those who have $50000 to gamble would try to run the gauntlet of our planning system  OUTRAGEOUS 

The above is the reason for my anger and this post
Common councillors -  continue the reforming process we have helped them start decades ago. 

I am forced to write this  TIME  this because of the difficulties of Andrew Beale to get a permit for use of a tram at his arts centre at Cooroooke. 
Where are the councillors talking about how they tried to resolve the conflict? 

 
When things go to a foreign court , we all have failed to make our community work ( that includes our Council and its office holders)

Things to change (  this is not a complete list - it will add to it if at least one councillor shows interest)
1. Reinstate ridings ( not perfect but better than pretending 7 people represent anyone except themselves ) IMO Councillor Costin was elected on this basis, even though a formal basis was not the rule. The criticism that people got elected to do things in their own area is not a good enough reason to permanent damage the process and its credibility. Let's face it if the road was made to your door these days, everyone would know about it on FB.  
While all 7 councillors do not have ridings we know that it's easy for no councillor to take any responsibility for what happens or to try and sort out the conflict in one area. This need not be so. First port of call if not the only councillor involved ! Otherwise who do we vote for?  
The loss of ridings was due to Small thinking small, so it's time to show more respect ( and a fuller less cynical logic ) for the increasingly unrepresented in OUR  regions. Let's be innovative , progressive and less cynical. 
2.  Rewrite overlay requirements    Call for the State to do it!
Colac Otway Shire about 10 years ago pioneered the reform of the overlay system. That is we citizens of Colac Otway were innovators of change at the State level Ammendment C70 .We can do it again.

3. Resist Nimbyism by meeting on site!  ( this is only going to happen easily if item 1 is adopted )


Let me not waste another word as I have not heard not a word from the incumbents who want to sit comfortably on their seats for 4 years. While this unnecessary fiasco remains.


And just in case you prefer to waste your time in meetings  over consultation  as was so well portrayed in "Utopia" reflect on a decades wasted  in chatter 

Easterlies have a major role in shaping our landscape

Its January 6th 2022 and  SW  Victoria is experiencing the effects of a deep low and easterly winds.
We here in south west Victoria are so used to getting weather from the West ,we forget to see how other rain can occur .
When it arrives as it were, out of nowhere, it needs understanding as these easterlies have a major role in forming the landscape --  particularly as the flows generated  can move the boulders and bedload in our few boulder streams ( like the Barham river ) and cause the high daily totals that create landslides  of mountain size proportions ( see later post )

Why do our governments continue to keep us in the dark ? 

Two very notable locals known as Paddy and Erwin helped me  understand the incredible erosion and floods in November 95 . The boffins at the Met bureau refused to accept their measurements ( official recorders BOTH) when they called before 9 am and said they had both recorded about 500mm in a day .

Why do our governments continue to keep us  and themselves in the dark ?
So much for reliable data on climate change 
The Met bureau keep changing recording sites even to this day . The Met bureau  dismissed long time observer Frank Minchington's great work for this country ( often mentioned by Edwin Maher on ABC news) by carelessly  MOVING  the official  recording station .

Why do our governments continue to keep us  and themselves in the dark ?
So much for reliable data on climate change 
Colac's recording station has moved that many times, its role in measuring long term climate change is useless . In some kind of mad fit ,the Met bureau now call Mt Gellibrand weather Colac's weather , which means we have to now measure our own. 

The people have every right to be suspicious of those who throw stones from their glass houses and screens in the city .
This is not the first time the Met bureau have supported such stupidity in our area . You can read one full story here by going back to 95 .

Why do our governments continue to keep us  and themselves in the dark ?
So much for reliable data on climate change 

Another example 
Toowoomba floods are a classic example of the above named phenomena . yet the media went after the dam managers and all sorts of other explanations. 

So how does it work ? 
Needless to say the very moist air will drop its load very easily if there is a little bit of uplift especially that caused by hills . If the wind is water laden ( recently well over 90%) and keeps being pushed over hills, it will keep raining , Most Clouds only carry enough water at maximum to give about an 1inch ( 25mm ) That's heavy rain if it drops  for one hour or even half an hour.  When being pushed upwards ,  clouds  can unload at 25 per hour for 20 hrs  because new clouds keep "arriving ". 

Get and keep qualified scientists in the country ! 


Believe me , unless you vote more carefully next election and educate YOURSELF , you will get more of the same panic driven ignorance and arrogance from those fanatics desperate to keep YOUR attention  .Go Blogger  Bookmark http://thiselection.blogspot.com 

Nothings changed -- but it can , if YOU keep our reps accountable

 

You'll note I haven't posted for quite a while . Been busy trying to put out spot fires as I did when I was being paid to do my job .

That work was and remains sustainable because it saves the country from the bushfire and emergency culture we now have . 

It's tough when we see our community being led by a growing number of reactive and unqualified law clerks running and meetings b meetings  in Torquay and East Melbourne 

Its hard for me, who used to advise  5 shires  ,  to watch our fresh local counsellors vainly trying to fix up the mistakes made by this ongoing domination of the city on how we should look after the environment .
 These experience  unqualified law of high seas law clerks don't know what they are doing and worse, ...they don't admit it . Ask some of their appointees,. 
And its all in the name of best intentions BUT with scientifically illiterate grandmas holding the purse strings. 
Its worse than you think , because 30 years ago,  the planning process was much more locally accountable. Now its a top heavy,  consultant driven and a  unaccountable  mess supported by all the mesmerized bench sitters in parties ;

Accountable ? They wouldn't know which columns to add up --


Take Joe McCracken's 's Front page concern to REVAMP the entrance to Colac MONDAY  . Many of us wrote and talked to people in Authority when the  cutting was being planned but to no avail .

Our democracy cannot survive REVAMPING what has just been REVAMPED 
The only  way anything works is if its done properly the first time and most of know and practice that or we would not get paid   Why doesn't our misnamed public service reach that Basic level of compliance? .
The only way anything works is  when it properly planned !
 While you are out protesting these incompetents  please remind them that their ideas of what's new are not welcome - even if THEY fund them. 
The achieve of education , consultation and  cooperation is clearly beyond them    


 Bookmark this site especially if YOU are young because the current fanatics in power can't sustain anything . for next election and make you vote count for good in this area .