Newsletter #12 - Cute, Cuddly & Destroyed
The big news this week is that our Koala reports have been finalised and we have sent them off to Parliament (The reports not the Koalas). It turns out that we have a minimum of 34 Koalas loving life in the hills around Woolomin. This is not new to any of us but we needed to prove it to Penny Sharpe and her minions at EnergyCo. Whether this will this be enough to stop Penny and her D11 Dozers from destroying our countryside and the Koala’s homes remains to be seen. What it will do is give you another point to add to your letters to the ministers and submissions to the Parliamentary Inquiry (more on that later).
Here’s a run down of what has been going on in our fight to move the power lines from our Valleys.
Community (DIS)engagement:
MEETINGS : Penny Pinching. Kevin Anderson has requested a meeting between Penny Sharpe & Valley Alliance. You may remember that Penny graciously invited VA to meet with her down at her offices in the big smoke (After a big write up in the Daily Telegraph) . We thought that was probably a bit rich and that it would be better if Penny travelled up the New England Highway to Tamworth to meet with us on-site and see who & what her plan is hurting. The invitations have been sent and we are waiting by the mailbox for news of her arrival (TIP..Don’t hold your breath)
EnergyCo: EnergyCo on the other hand did accept an invitation from Kevin Anderson as a result of the Woolomin Meeting on Sep 3. We will be meeting with them to discuss the TSR report (I use the word REPORT very loosely) on October 8 . Stay tuned.
Community Forum 3 October: Is the New England REZ broken? October 3, 5.30-7.30pm Armidale Bowling Club. There is a really great lineup of Speakers. You may already be familiar with some of them: Robert Parker, an expert on nuclear energy, Dr Welch who was instrumental in seeing the Doughboy Wind project fall over, Steven Nowakowski, a former Greens candidate, wildlife photographer who has seen the renewables he once supported destroying the countryside, has changed his mind and is changing others and no doubt you will be familiar with Megan Trousdale of Nundle, who along with her group, has fought for over 5 years against the Hills of Gold wind project. IT WILL BE A REALLY INTERESTING EVENING AND I ENCOURAGE YOU ALL TO MAKE THE EFFORT. FLYER
SUBMISSIONS & LETTERS:
Parliamentary Inquiry - Submissions are now open for both online and physical letters. If you do submit please ensure that you notify VA that you have so we can keep track of numbers. Please note that your objections have to me MORE than 250 words. This is to ensure that uni students arent being paid to support or object to projects and submitting 1 line support emails! YES it has been done by the opposition before! I can’t stress enough how important this is. I have a commitment from the chair of the Inquiry , that if we get enough submissions they will bring the inquiry to Tamworth so that we can state our cause face to face. WE NEED LETTERS SENT. if you need any assistance, we are here to help you at all steps of the process. You need to do this
PAUL SCULLY : Have you sent your objection letter? This is an email objection. If you would like some assistance please let us know. Please ensure you copy VA on the email so we can track numbers. Email address office@scully.minister.nsw.gov.au
MEDIA : It has been a pretty busy couple of weeks for VA raising our profile in Sydney. Barnaby was 100% correct when he said we have to “take the fight to their backyard” …So we did.
Links to different media:-
Daily Telegraph..25 Sept FRONT PAGE
Daily Telegraph ..25 Sept STORY
Daily Telegraph…OPINION
Ben Fordham Radio Show LINK to replay
Kevin Anderson in parliament LINK
Chris Kenny Sky News LINK
Channel 7 CWO blow out LINK
NEXT STEPS
Parliamentary Inquiry Announced: INQUIRY INTO THE IMPACT OF RENEWABLE ENERGY ZONES (REZs) ON RURAL AND REGIONAL COMMUNITIES AND INDUSTRIES IN NEW SOUTH WALES-
Submissions can be made online HERE .
Letters - please mail to:-
Portfolio Committee 4
Inquiry into the Impact of Renewable Energy Zones (REZ) on rural and regional communities in New South Wales
C/O- Committees Office
Legislative Council
Parliament of NSW, 6 Macquarie Street, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia
REMINDERS.
DON'T let EnergyCo on your properties.
DON'T talk to them on your own (Groups only).
DON'T sign anything (seek legal advice or a VA opinion)
THANKS : to everyone that has sent letters and emails already.
If you read the comments in the online news articles, you will see people are supporting us. We are moving in the right direction but it will all be for nothing if individuals DON'T ACT NOW
We are stronger together! Say NO to EnergyCo!