Reckless Energy Co and outraged communities
Outraged Tamworth residents and our surrounding towns are getting bombarded with renewable energy projects daily that are being forced upon our farms, our families and our homes with little or no consultation process.
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Last week we saw of another example of a reckless renewable project: Kingswood, Calala and Tamworth are fighting the BESS (Battery Energy Storage System), this is also on top of the Nundle Wind Farm, and the Loomberah Village raging against thousands of planned solar panels on farms next to their homes and prime agriculture land.
Now Energy Co wants to ruin the beautiful Dungowan Woolomin and Duncan's Creek Valley's with high voltage transmission lines (HVTL) zig zagging their way through our farms, our homes and our Communities.
Energy Co's transmission lines are hideous, they scar the region forever, and there is no going back. Imagine a lovely drive through the country and then, like a massive overpass, there they are, 85 meters tall, demonic monsters reaching as far as the eye can see.
Energy Co's HVTL will not attract tourism to the Tamworth region, it will kill it. We don't want to be driving under HVTL when we head to Nundle, Bendemeer, Armidale or Dungowan.
Don't risk the impact to Tamworth's tourism, equine, farming and our burgeoning industrial sector.
There is a better way, run the HVTL through crown and public land or upgrade and use the existing HVTL corridors to Liddell.
Campbell McIntosh, Dungowan
Restore Ray Walsh House
The TRRRA is a non-profit association whose charter is to represent to Tamworth Regional Council (TRC) and other government bodies on behalf of TRC residents on matters that affect their interests by any person, organisation or government body.
The below comments are made as a matter of public interest to assist Tamworth Regional Council in its decision making.
Tamworth Regional Council (TRC) has advised it will defer a decision about the future of Ray Walsh House (RWH) until after Council elections in December 2024.
TRRRA has established a Facebook page with the intention of providing the Tamworth regional residents access to information about Ray Walsh House and its significance to the recent history of Tamworth.
TRC has some 600 employees, where the bulk of the indoor staff could be comfortably accommodated in a refurbished RWH.
In the TRC records, RWH is valued at $50 million and is written down to $28 million after amortisation. Its replacement value then is at least $50 million. There is mixed information about the extent and cost of remediation of the asbestos problem.
Recent works undertaken for $2 million was publicly stated to have remediated the internal walls of RWH and that there was largely no asbestos in the walls. The asbestos is apparently located in the ceiling in the lagging of the air conditioning. It is unclear what refurbishment cost would be.
In 1976, PTW Architects designed the Peel Cunningham County Council Chambers, Tamworth. A PTW Architects Brutalist project completed in 1976 to house the council offices, chambers, committee rooms and a computer installation.
The structure has two street frontages and consists of a ground floor, four upper floors and a basement carpark.
In addition to its numerous local government functions, it was the authority for the distribution of electricity to residents of Tamworth and surrounding districts.
RWH is an iconic example of the brutalist architectural style. The building was opened by the late Queen Elizabeth II in 1977.
At the very least there needs to be an objective, verifiable consideration of the cost of refurbishment for RWH, the cost of building new premises in a new location, including the cost of purchase of land and the costs of continuing to operate as presently in renovated premises scattered throughout the city.
The prospect of internal dislocation and continuation of silos and fiefdoms would also have ongoing costs.
We believe it is a very poor decision of TRC if they decide to sell RWH or otherwise deal with in manner that does not restore it to its original working condition.
From the little information made available we understand that but for the asbestos issue, the building is structurally sound, RWH is centrally located in the CBD and should remain as the seat of regional local government,
We ask all residents of the Tamworth region to register your support on the Facebook site, Save Ray Walsh House.
Tamworth Regional Residents and Ratepayers Association
Urgent law reforms needed
Australia has the highest plants and animals extinction rates in the World.
Urgent Law reforms are needed to address Australia's extinction crisis. Such reforms were strongly indicated to be enacted promptly by Prime Minister Albanese at the time of the last Federal election.
To date the people of Australia still await a clear vision concerning how Australia's ever increasing animals and plants extinction rates will be dealt with.
In the meantime countless animals and plants will continue to add to extinction statistics.
Not good enough.
Brian Measday, Kingswood
