EcoRadio

Category: Sustainable Settlement and Agriculture

The Generator is founded on the simple premise that we should leave the world in better condition than we found it. The news items in this category outline the attempts people have made to do this. They are mainly concerned with our food supply and settlement patterns. The impact that the human race has on the planet.

  • No cheap fix on offer for Aged Care crisis: Greens

    MEDIA RELEASE

    No cheap fix on offer for Aged Care crisis: Greens

    “The Australian Greens are extremely concerned that neither of the major
    parties are showing any evidence of taking the emerging crisis in aged
    care seriously,” said Greens Health and Ageing spokesperson Senator
    Rachel Siewert today.

    “Tony Abbott’s message that, he admits there is a serious problem, but
    cannot commit to the kind of funding that is needed to fix it is a very
    short-sighted one,” said Senator Siewert.

    “He is missing the point that when aged care facilities go broke and
    shut their doors it will be much more expensive to care for residents in
    our hospital system – to the tune of around five times the cost per bed.

    “The cost of failure will be much, much higher.

    “The problem is not just about money, and sensible reforms to the system
    can help us deliver quality care more effectively in the longer term,
    but if either the Coalition or the government think that they can fix
    the current crisis- let alone get prepared for the significant increase
    in demand of coming decades, without investing significant resources-
    then they are clearly deluded.

    “Over the last decade, successive Federal Governments have presided over
    a widening gap between the costs of providing care to Australia’s ageing
    population and the level of funding being invested in the sector.

    “The Greens are calling for the immediate reinstatement of the 1.9% CAP
    indexation as an immediate short-term fix, and a commitment to
    comprehensive aged care reform.

    “Nothing coming from the Government or Coalition gives us any hope that
    this is about to occur.
     
    “Further investment is needed immediately for improved wages and
    conditions for care staff to address the crisis in skilled care workers,
    to begin building the aged care services and facilities of the future
    and of course meet the shortfall in funding for the provision of care.

    “In the longer term a shift to a greater focus on keeping ageing
    Australians healthy and mobile and providing them and their families
    with the kind of support they need to stay in their homes and
    communities and maintain their mobility and quality of life for longer
    can help to reduce the cost of providing residential care.

    “We need to act now on aged care reform so we can build the quality aged
    care system of the future that all Australians deserve,” concluded
    Senator Siewert.

    The Greens released a comprehensive discussion paper on aged care reform
    earlier this year, which has been very well received, and plan to
    release a final policy position based on public feedback and submissions
    shortly.

    _______________________________________________
    GreensMPs Media mailing list

  • Palm oil giant accused of rainforest destruction caught red-handed

    Palm oil giant accused of rainforest destruction caught ‘red-handed’

    Ecologist

    29th July, 2010

    Indonesia’s largest palm oil and pulp group, Sinar Mas, is continuing to destroy rainforests and peatland despite promises to end the practice

    A major supplier of palm oil and pulp (paper) to multinationals, including food giant Cargill, has been caught clearing orang-utan habitats and carbon-rich peatlands.

    The Sinar Mas group, which has supplied palm oil to Nestlé, Kraft and Unilever, had previously promised to clean up its act and claims it doesn’t touch peatland or forests of ‘high conservation value’.

    However, a Greenpeace investigation has photographed plant operators clearing rainforest in peatland areas (illegal in Indonesia since 2007) and in a known orang-utan habitat.

    Confidential documents obtained by the NGO also reveal that the company has ambitions to expand further into rainforest and peatland areas, which store vast amounts of carbon that is released into the atmosphere when they are burnt in preparation for plantations.

    Expansion plans

    Sinar Mas has one of the largest land banks in the world, with 1.3 million hectares available for plantation expansion. Greenpeace says any expansion will come at the cost of forest ecosystems, and is calling on the palm and pulp giant to release maps detailing all of its landholdings to enable analysis of which areas are critically important for biodiversity and climate protection.

    ‘We’ve caught Sinar Mas red-handed destroying valuable rainforests and breaching the limited promises it has made to clean up its act,’ said Bustar Maitar, Greenpeace forest campaigner. ‘This is typical of a group that has an appalling record of environmental destruction. Sinar Mas has to be reigned in if there is to be a future for what’s left of Indonesia’s rainforests.’



    Nestlé has previously responded to criticism of Sinar Mas by promising to cancel its direct contracts with the company. However, Greenpeace says Nestlé and others still source palm oil from the group through third party suppliers.

  • Urban sprawl at Moss Vale

     
    We will see developers looking at outlying areas including the Blue Mountains which has
    similar problems. Department of planning estimates that 7000 additional homes could be provided
    on the mountains, which is ridiculous and totally disagrees with the Blue Mountains City
    council’s estimates.
     
    Witness the Catherine Hill Bay project which will suffer severe water issues and stress the
    Commuter systems. The Tillegra dam, which was intended to provide water to these areas
    is now unlikely to be built.
     
    Urban sprawl is now encompassing what were peaceful havens for retired and semi-retired
    residents. If population growth is not controlled, this problem will worsen.
     
    Neville Gillmore
     

     

  • Catherine Hill Bay project gets go-ahead

     

    That development will soon be reconsidered under the draft development controls for land south and west of the proposed heritage area, and for land north of the nearby town of Gwandalan. Buildings up to nine metres high could be built on those sites.

    Lake Macquarie Council said the government had ”still not addressed the underlying issues”. A spokeswoman for the council said ”studies have not been prepared that prove that development of this land can be accommodated without significant social and environmental impacts on the area”.

    One resident, Sue Whyte, was pleased about the heritage listing, but vowed to keep fighting the development.

    ”It’s not everything we would have hoped for but … we’ve been able to push the developers away from the heritage areas.

    ”Now that there will be a new [development application], we really hope that we have a chance to bring those dwelling numbers down. It’s still 820 houses on top of 100. We argue this is overwhelming.”

    A spokesman for Brian Rose, of Rosecorp, said ”the significant heritage values of the village will be further enhanced by our proposal which will be put forward in due course”.

    The government is rezoning the land to remove legal uncertainty and is seeking public comment. It follows the revival of the state’s biggest residential development last week, Huntlee New Town near Branxton.

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  • Catherine Hill Bay, NSW- Development stopped.

     

    While Justice David Lloyd’s judgment only applies directly to those two sites, it will almost certainly unravel all development approvals involving memoranda of understanding and deeds of agreement with land swaps – where developers win approval in exchange for handing privately owned conservation land to the Government.

    This article was replicated from SMH. For the full article, please see catherinehillbay.org.au

    Surfrider Foundation Australia’s Hunter Chapter congratulates the communities involved with saving Catherine Hill Bay from over development.  Surfrider, through the efforts of the local Chapter representatives, have been working to support the campaigns to conserve the region for future generations, and applaud the Land and Environment Court for its perspicacity and diligence.

    The Chapter has been active in letter writing, media presentations and helping stage activities such as International Surfing Day at Catho, and while we have played a small role in this fantastic achievement, we are fully stoked to work with the Community to achieve such a win!

    We remind all, that while this is a positive move toward acknowledging the importance of our coastal environments, and identifying the need for vigilance relating to planning and development decision making processes, the battle continues along our cherished coastal zone, and we encourage the Community to be aware of the issues and campaigns around them.

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  • NSW backflips on Catherine Bay Heritage

    NSW backflips on Catherine Bay heritage

    By Adam Bennett, AAP July 28, 2010, 4:40PM

     

    Residents of a Hunter Valley coastal hamlet have welcomed news that two villages may soon have heritage protection but say it will do nothing to stop their fight against overdevelopment of the area.

    Catherine Hill Bay and Middle Camp will be listed in a new cultural precinct on the State Heritage Register, in only the second listing of entire communities for protection under the scheme.

    Residents of the mining villages have for years battled the state government over development in the area, south of Newcastle.

    Last year they had a victory in the Land and Environment Court, which blocked a decision to allow a series of developments around the villages.

    The developments, approved by former NSW Planning Minister Frank Sartor in 2008, would have led to the addition of about 800 new homes in the area.

    President of the Catherine Hill Bay Progress Association Sue Whyte applauded moves to heritage-list the villages but said she expected the fight against overdevelopment to continue.

    NSW Planning Minister Tony Kelly on Wednesday released a proposed State Environmental Planning Policy (SEPP) for lands south and west of Catherine Hill Bay, and north of Gwandalan, which opens the door for the blocked developments to be refloated.

    Mr Kelly also announced that new development proposals for the Coal & Allied estate north of Newcastle, and the estate west of Catherine Hill Bay, had been again declared major projects and potential sites of state significance.

    Ms Whyte said residents were not against development in the area, just development on the scale previously approved.

    “We always knew that they were going to go again,” she said.

    “What we’re hoping is that we hope that we can bring those numbers down.”

    Heritage listing for the towns was the culmination of 10 years of campaigning by local residents, she said.

    “This government by doing this has acknowledged the importance of Catherine Hill Bay, and we can only applaud them for that,” Ms Whyte said.

    The Heritage Council is now seeking public comment on the government’s proposal, which would protect 126 homes in Catherine Hill Bay and Middle Camp.

    “If supported, the listing will mark just the second time – following the listing of Braidwood in southern NSW four years ago – that an entire town has been placed on the State Heritage Register,” Mr Kelly said in a statement.

    “Some of the small cottages in the two villages date back to the 1890s, when coal first began to be shipped from the area.

    “They form pleasing streetscapes which evoke the settlements’ origins as a 19th-century mining community.”