Tag Archives: March

Miscellaneous

The Say

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by Cagerattler

I’ve resisted the temptation until now to mention the Tasmanian Election but…regarding the Regional Forestry Agreement  surely the new government won’t cancel the whole thing after the mountain of work it took to reach an agreement. That would be an insult to everyone involved on both sides. This agreement required some fairly major concessions on both sides  and whilst not perfect by any means (the stated opinion of the various groups involved) it is as good as it can be.

Why do you think that a ‘mandate’ exists to pull apart this.  The election result was probably a result of many things, not just the RFA, and to use the mandate excuse is presumptuous at the very least.

I already know this new mob will struggle to implement many of their promises in the timeframes they suggest but this Forestry deal is extremely complex and difficult, and to say they will throw it out before there’s been any chance of seeing what might happen is pretty short sighted.

It deserves some sort of consideration surely. We’ll wait and see what happens next.

On a local matter… Now that the bottom reservoir is drained for safety reasons (apparently a gushing issue as a good friend was told) would someone from TasWater please put up more safety fencing. There is a very rickety walkway, a pretty steep drop and other matters there;  whilst it’s being repaired it could be a risk to small   children or pets especially. I only ask  because I know that any potential risk needs to be  identified. I hope TasWater can attend to this sooner rather than later as it would probably be considered a workplace and new regulations are pretty  uncompromising in workplaces these days.

What do you think? Rod McGiveron

Editions

46.21 March 27th, 2014

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Skyline Tier Project launch, Trivia Night at the St Marys Sports and Social Centre, ‘A Red Flag in Front of a Bull’, Break O’Day Jane Austen Festival, Break O’Day Regional Arts Workshops, ‘Faust’,  LINC 26TEN award winners, ABC Northern Tasmania broadcasts from St Marys, Cagerattler, Out Of The Woodwork…

Miscellaneous

Letter to Cagerattler

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Dear Cagerattler

I do enjoy your column “The Say”, even though I don’t always agree with your opinion.   But that is what’s good about the Valley Voice; there is such a varied  content.

I do however agree whole-heartedly with your last article regarding the Schapelle spectacle. The media frenzy which was stirred up about her case was ludicrous in the extreme, as was the amount of air time foisted on the  public; her appearances in court and the scramble through the waiting press, all leading up to the PAROLE.

Whether or not this lady was guilty is beside the point.   What was noticeable was the amount of attention paid to a very attractive young woman who should have known better than to travel to a country which banned the importation of drugs. I sometimes wondered if the guards enjoyed the opportunity to have such close contact with her to get her to and fro with each appearance!

The  melee to get the first pictures, the first ‘story’, the filming rights, the book (no doubt there will be one), not  to mention the money involved, made a farce out of the whole sorry drama. It became a charade and made my blood boil.

Sometimes I feel our media are pathetic in the way they approach a ‘story’.  Current affair-type programmes on TV go in for sensationalism, and often seem to prefer to show people screaming at each other over some believed insult rather than concentrating on the good that so many others quietly do.  And some of our politicians are no  better, for personal insults and derogative comments are often made in and out of Parliament, and unfortunately our media seem intent on making sure we hear/read all about it.  This encourages the ‘pollies’ who wallow in this type of interview to get more ‘air time’. Thankfully they are not all the same.

I could go on, but have said enough.  So thank you, Rod, for your column which I hope you will continue to write.

Many regards,  Toni Brewster, Chain of Lagoons.

Miscellaneous

The Say

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by Cagerattler

Isn’t it great to see the Recreation Ground Camping area getting used how we hoped it would.  It has to be good for the local businesses too.

The other night I was over there walking my dogs and got talking to one of the campers. He reckoned that he’d been travelling for many years and we were one of the most accommodating, friendly and best places he’d come across. The best part for me though was that most of our secret is word of mouth because campers talk to other campers. Isn’t that fantastic?

That’s the good news.  Now, Council… What about looking at establishing areas designated for backpacking campers too? Some do this anyway but the original idea was to have a sheltered area set aside to let the ‘tenters’ have a nice spot to pitch the ol’ tepee or wigwam… That’d be awesome and continue the good work already done, first by the original steering group and later by Council.  Establishing something that we can be really proud of.  This leads me to an associated issue…

The Streetscape – has it been thrown into the too-hard basket, deferred, cancelled or something in between? What’s the problem? If it’s good enough to find the money for a proposed new hospital site for St Helens (which I do think is needed but could be several years away) why not start work in St Marys, Fingal and other places? Funds were supposed to be set aside when the Council  initially agreed to improve infrastructure, quite a few years ago now. Quite frankly, Mayor and Council, it’s about time that at the very least a bit of good forward  action or plan could be made known to us all.

I wonder if the sticking point is the parking issue? MAKE A DECISION EITHER WAY ON THAT…and the rest of us will get used to the end result and accept it. It’s that simple.

It’s about time for someone to say or do something, otherwise five years down the track we’ll still be talking about it…It can be done. Look at the Recreation Ground utilisation as a great example…IT DOES WORK.

What do you think? Rod McGiveron

Editions

46.20 March 13th, 2014

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International/local skaters in Scamander, Fingal community group  to receive financial boost, New Title problem under SMC Planning Scheme,  the Whirligigs of St Marys, Artist Of The Month, The Quick Brown Fox Jumped Over The Lazy Dog, Working Backwards To 1747, Protected Mealtimes, Liberal commitments in Break O’Day, Circle of 4 Exhibition, Cagerattler, Letters to the Editor.