I loved reading the passion with which Jayne Apps expounded the dire effects she predicts the Rye Park and Bango Wind farms will have on the surrounding environments.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
I am sure Jayne would make a great debater where the purpose of one's address is to give a totally convincing (or biased) picture of the issue at stake, without conceding any merits in the opposing case.
Playing the devil's advocate, could it be that the small turn out at the recent Open Day is because the "silent majority" of Boorowa residents does not share her concerns about the impact of the proposed developments on the environment?
Maybe many even welcome it.
It's a long time since I lived in Boorowa but I visit often and, in my experience, it has always been a community which rallies around to oppose an unwelcome activity or cause.
Perhaps some of the vehemence with which the wind farms is opposed is a product of envy at not being offered the opportunity to host a turbine or two.
It seems somewhat precious to appeal to prejudices against so-called industrial development when almost all of the Boorowa region has prospered from a dominant industry whose foundation was the industrial transformation of the environment that existed prior to European settlement.
Examples include the wholesale clearing of trees, and grazing and other practices, that have caused serious erosion and degradation of soils and annihilated, or put at great risk, much of the traditional fauna and flora of the area.
Thank goodness for the efforts of locals in recent years in attempting to reverse or ameliorate the worst of the damage that has been caused by two centuries of farming practices.
It seems ingenuous to predict dire consequences from the wind farms when it could be argued that any damage they might cause would be minimal compared to the changes to the environment that have occurred since European settlement.
Jayne's letter would have been more convincing if she had explored some environmentally friendly alternatives, for example, solar panels with battery storage on every household roof in her area.
This already viable technology has resulted in an increasing number of households (like mine) becoming self sufficient in their electricity use and, in many cases, net exporters of surplus power to the national grid.
The resulting return on investment in many cases far exceeds that which can be achieved, for example, from bank term deposits.
But good on you Jayne.
Keep up the passion and may the eventual outcome take into account the overall best interests of the environment and the community.
