Benefits for Manilla – Fact or Fiction?

Posted on January 1, 2014 by Anne Rouen

The Namoi River Community Group Inc. have grave concerns over the history of the Strathfield developers. Photo courtesy Flopp (Matthew) Fletcher.

The Namoi River Community Group Inc. have grave concerns over the future of this beautiful river, given the history of the Strathfield developers. Photo courtesy Flopp (Matthew) Fletcher.

A historical fiction writer must study historical facts; and research is a big part of my life. Many months, even years, are spent delving into the period setting of a book, including the news of the day; what people wore, ate, talked about, believed; how they lived, spoke, dressed, went about in society and conducted their business.

HF authors are, by necessity, investigative: you can find out a lot about people by the way they behave in their dealings with others.

It is easy to see clearly, in hindsight, the mistakes of the past; to pinpoint the exact set of circumstances that caused something to go wrong. So much ends in tragedy that could, so easily, have been avoided.

As a member of the Namoi River Community Group Inc. and faced with the ‘pros and cons’ dilemma of the huge proposed development on Strathfield, I decided to research it as I would a novel. But plotting the future is much more difficult than the past.

In trying to sift the facts from the miasma of rumour, contradictory statements, misinformation and apparent games of ‘smoke and mirrors’, my research has thrown up some disquieting questions. The group has already compiled a disturbing list of facts about the track record of the developers. You will find it here.

Believe me, I don’t want to have to write an unhappy ending!

So, if you think it may be worth sacrificing the health, safety and comfort of all the citizens of Manilla for perceived benefits to the business end of town, I would beg you to think again:

About questions such as the viability of having to wait a full 180 days for payments for goods and services (having outlayed in advance for them); and the wisdom of signing contracts that bind one party hand and foot, but allow the other to escape on a legal technicality. (Including ones you’d never dream of!)

Then there’s the question of employment: a succulent carrot for any small town. “600 jobs,” proclaimed our mayor.

Great for Tamworth! But what about Manilla, Mr Mayor?

Before you make up your mind about the truth of this statement, take a look at this and ask yourself: Who will get the jobs?

Do the words of Deputy Mayor Webb add credence to the, as yet, unconfirmed reports of Tamworth houses fitted out with bunk-style accommodation for imported workers?

And, while I’m about it: Here’s a question I would like to ask our mayor on behalf of all the citizens of my town:

Councillor Murray, would you approve a development of this type and magnitude in a sensitive catchment area above the Tamworth water supply?

The people of Manilla await your answer.

A Warning From History

Posted on December 16, 2013 by Anne Rouen

Migrating Geese. Wild birds must be kept away from chicken farms. Strathfield is a haven for wild birds. Photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.com

In plants, it is called monoculture; in animals: intensive production. In humans it has many names including overpopulation, overcrowding, high density and/or tenement living.

History has proven that where there is a large population of genetically similar individuals, the potential for destruction of that population by pathogens is a terrifying reality. A time bomb, ticking away.

Many times through history, food crops have been wiped out by disease. In 1845-6, a fungal blight destroyed the entire potato crop in Ireland, resulting in starvation of the population. Many died, others were forced into mass migration to survive.

In the overcrowded and unsanitary living conditions of 14^th Century Europe, the Black Death cut a swathe through the population greater than any other known epidemic or disaster. The depraved murderer was a germ Pasteurella pestis spread by the fleas on rats.

Bird Flu is probably the greatest threat to our chickens farmed in Australia. It has a number of strains, some of which are capable of passing from birds to humans. Fortunately, the latest outbreak was not one of them. The closer the bird populations are to each other, and to wild bird populations, the more the risk of infection.

This calls to mind the proposal of putting a huge, intensive chicken operation (70 sheds, almost 3 million birds) on Strathfield, one of Manilla’s most iconic and productive irrigation properties. Being on the river, it is a haven for bird life.

There is an old saying about the foolishness of putting all your eggs in one basket; and another about your chickens coming home to roost. Sadly, in this case, I fear the consequences will be felt by many more than the proponents of this lunacy.

When the developers find that our beautiful Strathfield is unsuitable for their proposed intensive development(as we have been trying to tell them), they could do no better than to learn from these historic examples and seek advice from the intensive farming families of our district.

I commend these families for their excellence and best practice in their attention to:

– animal welfare

– biosecurity

– environmental responsibility

– and consideration for their community.

One family has gone to the expense of building their own road so as not to inconvenience the townspeople. This speaks for itself: Compare it to the disregard shown to our community by the ‘big business’ proponents of this hideous Strathfield development. These families are an asset to our district and valued members of our community. They should not be made to suffer for the wrong judgements of others, when they themselves are more than doing the right thing.

History has shown the unwisdom of having large populations in one location. Would it not be smarter to spread the farms around the district (on the abattoir side of town; and NOT in a sensitive catchment area): perhaps in the care of separate farming families who have a vested interest in the safety of our community; and thus minimise the health risks to the populations involved, both bird and human? It might have an added benefit of security of income for those on smaller properties in these difficult times.

My plea to the would-be Strathfield developers is this:

Heed this warning from history and don’t put all your chickens in one area. Because they won’t just come home to roost on your doorstep: It will be on mine and that of every other citizen in our community! And yours, too, Councillor Murray.

The Dreyfus Affair

Posted on December 4, 2013 by Anne Rouen

Captain Alfred Dreyfus – an innocent man subjected to shocking injustice.

At its simplest, the Dreyfus Affair was the heart-wrenching story of an innocent man, framed by the real culprit, for selling secrets to an enemy; and an illegal cover-up by the military to hide its mistakes.

On a deeper level, it became the issue of the right to freedom of the individual being subordinated by the state, with Dreyfus as its symbol. Its incredible and far-reaching consequences tore apart the fabric of French life, including dramatic changes to the French constitution, the separation of state and clergy, and deep divisions between right and left that still reverberate today.

Depending on your point of view it was either the most shocking miscarriage of justice, or the acceptable sacrifice of an individual for the security of a nation. For many in a country that, one hundred years before, had fought a hard and bloody battle for freedom and fair treatment, this was not to be borne. Feelings ran so strongly that the whole country was polarised. The conflict, reflecting issues of anti-semitism, anti-clericism and anti-republicanism, was often violent.

Everyone living in France between the years 1894 and 1906, was forced to choose a side. There were two camps: Dreyfusards and Anti-Dreyfusards.

My characters, Angel and Elise, with their shared passion for justice, were, naturally, Dreyfusards and worked tirelessly behind the scenes with Dreyfus’ wife Lucie and family to free him.

Dreyfusards (pressing for the exoneration of Dreyfus) were mostly anti-clericals, Jews, left-wing intellectuals and radicals, their cause represented by Georges Clemenceau’s newspaper l’Aurore.

Anti-Dreyfusards( prepared to sacrifice Dreyfus for national security), mainly anti-semites, nationalists and conservatives opposed to republicanism, found a mouthpiece in the newspaper La Libre Parole, owned by Edouard Drumont, an anti-semite.

There is as much drama in this story as any fiction writer could desire; and movie makers were quick to take it up. A short summary of events include:

1894 – Captain Alfred Dreyfus convicted of treason for selling military secrets to the Germans and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil’s Island.

1896 – Increasing evidence that another officer, Ferdinand-Walsin Esterhazy was the culprit.

1898 – January – Esterhazy tried and acquitted of treason. In response Émile Zola wrote his famous letter J’accuse, published in l’Aurore, for which he was found guilty of libel.

1898 – August – A sensation caused by the confession of Major Hubert Henry that he fabricated important evidence against Dreyfus. Esterhazy immediately fled to England. Henry committed suicide.

1899 – September – Dreyfus retried and found guilty of treason in an infamous court-martial at Rennes. The President, Émile Loubet, pardoned him to resolve an inflammatory situation.

1906 – Dreyfus finally exonerated by a civilian court of appeal. He was given the Legion d’Honneur and a rise in rank to major. He had lost twelve years of his life, his career and his reputation. How could it be given back?

I find it touching that one innocent citizen’s ill-treatment by a corrupt military galvanised a country into action. Fair-minded people, revolted by injustice and racial/religious prejudice, took up the cudgels in defence of a principle: the right to freedom of the individual.

Liberty, Equality, Fraternity: I love it. Vive la France!

Strathfield Development: Environmental Disaster?

Posted on November 4, 2013 by Anne Rouen

Environmental issue: flooded creek crossing in Strathfield making Crow Mountain Road impassible. This creek drains the paddocks where most of the chicken sheds will be situated.

Environmental issue: flooded creek crossing in Strathfield making Crow Mountain Road impassable. This creek drains the paddocks where most of the chicken sheds will be situated. Note debris in rising water. Photo:Geraldine Wrench

Here I am in Strathfield, once again, contemplating with horror the proposed intensive development, housing almost three million chickens! I cannot bear that this jewel of our district, formerly resplendent in amber, gold and emerald, is about to be reset in ugly, grey metal and filthy odours.

Will my daily route pass bins of dead birds awaiting collection for disposal? The putrefying remains of those whose delicate systems are unable to survive such crowded conditions, even for the short eight weeks they are given: the unbearable stench an ironic substitute for the fresh country scents of summer grasses and drying hay.

Over seventeen years of daily travel, I have seen Strathfield in many guises: A changing tapestry according to the season. At winter sunrise, glittering rainbow-bright with frost, a mundane pipe-leak transformed into a magical crystal fountain; shadowed and silvery in moonlight; literally, in rain, hail and shine. But never have I seen it ugly!

Strathfield is dry now, its great centre-pivots and lush fields nothing but longed-for memories. Strangely, in what amounts to famine, my thoughts turn to flood. I wonder if the developers have taken into account Strathfield’s unique geographical setting which makes it subject to huge cloudbursts, causing severe local flash-flooding? This phenomenon has to be seen to be believed: the sheer volumes of water mind-boggling. And the roar is deafening.

Would effluent pools or dams have the capacity to deal with amounts of this magnitude? Definitely not possible! They would overflow in minutes!

Torrents racing down the hillsides; waterfalls gushing from high gullies, gaining impetus as they spread out, flooding paddocks and roaring into creeks to carry debris into the river, a few short kilometres away. Anyone familiar with Strathfield knows of these sudden, spectacular inundations during the storm season.

I have witnessed this remarkable occurrence several times, driving through water up to the door sills as the road becomes a river(Yes, hills and all!), all the way to the creek that drains the paddock where forty-two of the proposed seventy sheds will be situated. The creek rises with terrifying speed, and then we have to wait … and wait …

Do the developers know this? Do they care? If not, we must do the ‘caring’ for them.

Since this creek dumps the water (and whatever else it gleaned on its journey across the paddocks) into the river above the Manilla water supply and directly into Harry Burrell’s platypus pool, the risk of pollution is not just too great — it is inevitable!

For this reason alone — the incredible volumes of water involved in a matter of minutes — I believe the proposed development should not go ahead. The property is unsuitable for intensive production.

Strathfield is a historic and beautiful prime agricultural property with a unique microclimate: A bright jewel of our district. Please help us keep it in its true setting. Say ‘No!’ to this heart-breaking development.

How Much Do We Love Our Town?

Posted on October 16, 2013 by Anne Rouen

Safety issue: Too many B-doubles on our narrow, winding Namoi River road.
Image courtesy Freedigitalphotos.net

I’ve always loved Strathfield, a historic property with wide, sweeping valleys and beautiful riverland, tucked between the ranges. At least twice daily I drive through its magnificence to access my farm. As I go through fields of waving grass, cattle resting by the water, horses lifting lazy heads, I recall that it has recently been purchased by a major intensive chicken producer.

With dismay, I try to envision seventy chicken sheds springing up like metal toadstools from what is now rich and productive farming land. I think of millions of chickens living out their short lives – dust and feathers – where generations of farmers have produced golden harvests of wheat and barley; baled an abundance of sweet-smelling hay; sowed emerald fields of oats to winter their cattle; and I grieve.

I feel strongly that this proposed development is inappropriate for this wonderful property. Chicken sheds can be built on unproductive land, leaving good soil free for traditional production. Strathfield has been selected for its situation and its water, with no consideration given to the unconscionable waste of an increasingly rare and precious commodity: prime agricultural land.

I worry that, on my way to town on our hitherto quiet country road, I will run the gauntlet of B-doubles and staff vehicles; and that on the way home I may encounter them going back again. I shudder at the thought of meeting one or more on any of a series of tight bends on the narrow strip of bitumen or gravel road. Multiple, narrow curves; steep waterways; school buses having to stop where the road is barely wide enough to pass in a car; this is totally inadequate for the volume of traffic that will be required to maintain this huge, unrealistic number of chicken sheds.

The prospective safety of all who travel this road, including our children, has been jeopardised and is now a major issue: One which I intend to pursue!

My heart goes out to the neighbours and those who’ve built their dream homes on small-acre lifestyle blocks along this scenic route. How could they not be horrified at the prospect of noisy trucks roaring past at all hours of the day and night, exhaust brakes screaming on the bends? What will have happened to their lifestyle that they’ve worked so hard to achieve? And their investments that have already been severely compromised?

And our Upper Namoi, pristine and beautiful: In the place where Harry Burrell studied platypuses frolicking in deep, clear pools, will we see huge pumps, sucking out the lifeblood of the river, reducing production even more for those dependent on it for their livelihood?

Manilla, too, will likely suffer increased water restrictions, amongst other ills. Our bridge, a marvel of modern engineering in the 1880s, while still an amazing structure, is inadequate for traffic flow in the 21^st century. There will be noise, odour, protracted waiting, traffic snarls, prospective accidents and more. All the things we love about our town will be only nostalgic memories: life, as we know it in Manilla, will be over.

If you don’t like the above scenario, then I am happy to tell you that it does not have to be. If enough of us speak up, this development will not proceed.

I call on all who love Manilla to raise their voices before it is too late. Please join us in protesting an enterprise of a magnitude that can only be detrimental to the future comfort and prosperity of our district.

Drunk and Ugly? Not Australia

Posted on July 23, 2013 by Anne Rouen

Drunk and Ugly? Not Australia. Picture from FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The phenomenon that is social media. I came to it late. It still gives me a thrill to send messages to friends and get replies within seconds. I feel their warm presences on the internet and I love it. We can share, chat, keep in touch, advertise. It has a multiplicity of purposes. How easy to drop a quick hello to a friend, letting them know you are there and you care.

The Prime Minister is using it to the hilt. And why not? In the same spirit, I would urge him to stop prancing about, issuing challenges to debate the Opposition leader.

We don’t want to hear your clever phraseology, Mr Rudd. We want you to get on with governing the country. We want to know if we can trust you with it. And we don’t need to see your shaving cuts either. It’s not a good look. I know Norman Gunston made a mint out of it, but …

Recent and recurrent personal attacks on celebrities show this wonderful tool has a dark side. I am amazed at the extent of the venom against Julia Gillard, for example, when she was PM. Again the personal attack. Does the office of Prime Minister of Australia hold no inherent respect?

Could the disrespect shown to her by her own colleagues have more to do with the way she shafted Kevin Rudd than the fact that she is a woman? Who disrespects Aung Sung Su-Kyi: the ultimate female politician?

Whatever the reason, personal vilification on social media must not be tolerated.

The Windsor and Oakeshott families called it ‘ugly Australia’, having at great personal cost borne the vilification of the political decisions of Tony and Rob.

We can all get up on social media and vent our spleens. Does anyone listen? Does anybody care?

Well, under certain circumstances they might. Print laws have not caught up with digital media. But they will. And your words will be up there forever, haunting your future. A snare to bring you down when you’ve reached the top.

Maybe we should have a breathalyser on the mouse or the on-button of a tablet to stop disgruntled ramblings after a night at the pub. Young people also need to be protected from using the internet as a photo diary to bare all. Remember, it is up there forever.

There is the much-publicised tweet by a disgusted viewer of the appalling spectacle that is now Question Time in Federal Parliament, telling Australia to ‘go home.’ How embarrassing!

I can remember (just) when politicians were hysterically funny. Question time in the House was high entertainment. They beat each other with fine wit and humour. We admired their clever use of words, enjoyed their ‘duels’.

Then we got ‘scumbags’ etc. The days of gentlemen (and women) in politics were over, with personal vilification entering the lists. Back then, they played the ball. Now they play the ‘man’. Has it filtered down into all our lives?

Just lately, I’ve heard too many criticisms of our beautiful Australia. Drunk, childish, irresponsible, whatever … And all because a few frustrated, incontinent people cannot control their verbiage. Trolls on the internet. Spite and malice are ugly, not Australia. Individuals are drunk, not Australia.

Let’s not forget the doctors, nurses, carers, vets and all the kind people who don’t get on social media and shout their prowess or their complaints to the world. They don’t have time. Like the farmers, they are too busy doing what they have to do for those in their care.

Twitter (Oxford Dictionary) – a succession of light tremulous sounds. I would add: pleasing to the ear.

Let’s not have to rename it.