01.03.2017
AMID the uproar about the Museum’s facebook page, did anyone notice there are at least four other hot issues on the boil which each have potential to impact on the people of our district into the distant future?
Submissions closed on Friday 24 February into the proposed amendments to the Murray Darling Basin Plan that will affect how much water goes through the Macquarie Marshes. This impacts both the environment and the production from a large area in the west of Coonamble Shire.
Submissions have been invited on Santos’ 7000 page Environmental Impact Statement which, for all intents and purposes, is the final step before approval is given to the massive Narrabri Gas Project in the Pilliga Forest.
The final alignment of the Narromine to Narrabri corridor for the Inland Rail project is nearing the time when it will be submitted to the federal government for approval.
The Inland Rail will come through our district. There are questions about how the negative impacts will be managed and minimised, and how our local economy can benefit, if at all.
Finally, our own local Council is inviting us to have input into the Community Strategic Plan which helps set their priorities for delivering infrastructure, facilities and services to us (the residents and businesses) for the next 5 years. So far, our participation has been pretty poor.
What are your opinions? Where is the facebook chatter? Letters to the editor?
Do we not care or are these issues in the too hard basket?
Is it a matter of not knowing enough to be able to form an opinion, ask a question or comment?
Do we think that perhaps our various governments – local, state and federal – know best what is good for us without us having to tell them?
Or have we been so disenfranchised that we now think that it doesn’t matter what we say on the big issues, no-one is listening anyway?