farmdoc's blog post number 447

It’s mid winter here in Mole Creek, so there are no flies about. But I’d love to be a fly on the wall in the office of Victorian Planning Minister Justin Madden. As this Age article explains, a company called Nelson Place Village Pty Ltd plans to to build 369 apartments, in four towers of up to 12 storeys, on the former Port Phillip Woollen Mill site in the Melbourne bayside suburb of Williamstown. As expected, the project’s being opposed by many locals, including former State premiers Joan Kirner and Steve Bracks, who live in Williamstown. The so-called developer, 25% owned by Grand Prix Corporation Chairman Ronald Walker, has approached the Hobsons Bay Council and the Government, asking them to refer the re-zoning and development decision for the controversial development to ‘a third-party, external panel’. The developer’s managing director Ashley Williams said the company had approached the Council and the State Government requesting the decision process for the site be referred from the Council to an expert ‘priority development panel’ which would produce ‘the best outcome’. One must ask: ‘The best outcome for whom, sir?’ The Council’s refused the request. It’s a real Mexican standoff. Like in Reservoir Dogs. Yipppeeeee. It’s mid winter here in Mole Creek. With nothing much to do but look for flies on walls. I can’t wait to see what happens. I’ll let you know.

farmdoc's blog post number 399

Way back in the foggy blur of my schoolboy years, bolt upright at his desk beside me, sat my classmate and friend Demos Dimitriadis. Even at his then tender age, his olive-skinned good looks personified the Greek heritage he was so proud of. His name Demos, he said, means ‘the people’ in Greek; and his ancestors gave the precious gift of democracy to the world. Demos, the exultant young Greek Australian, was right, of course. Democracy – government by the people – is a precious gift. And a gift so fragile it must be continually cherished and nurtured. Or it will wither and die. Which is a consequence too terrible to contemplate. A major reason for my passionate involvement in Save Albert Park is the Grands Prix Act’s removal of democratic rights. It’s ironic how governments – which govern at the pleasure of the people – are so intent on eroding the full force of democracy. The latest governmental onslaught – in Victoria and Tasmania – is on planning. It’s too easy to remove democratic checks and balances in the name of expediency. How could anyone reasonably object to cutting red tape? But removing public input from planning decisions diminishes their rationality and increases the likelihood of political cronyism if not frank corruption. I wonder where Demos Dimitriadis is today. And what his ancestors would make of all this.

farmdoc's blog post number 382

In the 6-7 years I’ve been farming, one important lesson I’ve learnt is that the time spent planning a task is more than repaid – by the task taking less time, with less chance of things going wrong. In the not-so-good old days, Sharon – my sharefarmer, friend and neighbour – and I didn’t plan much. And we paid the penalty, with Sharon frequently frustrated, and me upset by her frustration. But over the years we’ve both become wiser, so nowadays we plan more, with the result that we’re much calmer because chores are quicker and only rarely go awry. But in farming, as in all human endeavour, the outcome’s not always optimal – sometimes for reasons within our control, and other times not. And so it was last Sunday when the Mole Creek and Chudleigh Fire Brigades went to do a hazard reduction burn of about six acres of head-high blackberry near Mersey Hill Road [1]. With two appliances and a dozen well trained and equipped fire-fighters, we planned our burnoff tactics carefully. But try as we did, using all the tricks we knew, we couldn’t get any fires going – the blackberry was too damp and green, and there was no breeze to fan the flames. We gave it our best shot, and we failed. But we didn’t get frustrated or upset. After a nice barbecue lunch, we packed up and left. We didn’t take it personally. Conditions were agin us. As they sometimes are. That’s all.