Tracy's Column April - June 2009
Issue 25th June 2009
If you've been thinking about installing solar panels on your roof,
the State Government's announcement of its feed-in tariff scheme will
be of interest. The scheme will pay 60 cents per kilowatt hour of
extra energy that you feed into the grid. This is a net tariff
scheme, which means that you'll be paid only for energy that you
don't use. As many households would use more energy than their solar
panels could generate, the net feed-in tariff is unlikely to offer
any real incentive to move to solar power. This is why the
environment movement has been arguing for a gross feed-in tariff,
which would pay out for every kilowatt hour of energy produced,
regardless. Parts of the world (including the Australian Capital
Territory) that have adopted a gross feed-in tariff scheme have seen
a real difference in the uptake of solar panels. But a net feed-in
tariff is a small step in the right direction, and for those
households who both install solar panels and dramatically reduce
their energy use, there could be significant savings.
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Now, on to the bin-liner question. After admitting in a recent column
that I still use plastic shopping bags as bin liners, I got this
response from an interested reader: "If you recycle everything
possible and compost all vegetable and garden waste you should only
have dry material in your bin. Just put it in without any liner,
perhaps use some paper to wrap if necessary. Then tip the contents
into the wheelie bin, and there is no need for a liner. This works
for me."
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Local environmental engineer, Ashley Bland, has teamed up with Blue
Mountains ecologist Dr J. Mark Dangerfield to write a book called
Awkward News for Greenies. The authors promise it is an environmental
book like no other, with a mix of facts, stories and ideas. They say
it will leave the reader with a new found respect for the earth, the
way nature and humanity work and the way individuals can choose a
sustainable future for us all. I'm looking forward to seeing a copy!
The book will be launched at Books Plus tomorrow (Friday, June 26)
evening at 6pm. To RSVP, call 6331 5994.
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A little-known fact about the new shopping mall is that a bike path
runs down the length of it on Bentinck Street. At the moment it just
sits in all its isolated glory and cyclists have to take their
chances getting to it, but once there, they can enjoy a few moments
of pure, unadulterated cycle-path pleasure.
Issue 18th June 2009
Brrr, it's cold! Our veggie garden has completely fallen over.
Blackened stalks of summer basil and the last of the cherry tomatoes
dotted among yellowing leaves are all that remains of its former
glory. It's lying fallow, waiting for spring. If I were more
motivated, I could be growing broccoli or chard or lettuce – there
are lots of frost-hardy vegetables that will happily grow through a
Bathurst winter. But it feels more comfy indoors.
Organic farmer Janny Berry has two one-day winter organic farming
workshop for kids coming up on Wednesday July 15 and Wednesday July
22, during the school holidays. Janny Berry has been conducting these
workshops for over a year now, with some kids returning to experience
the cycles of the seasons. The workshops are held on Candlebark Hill,
the Berrys' property on Billywillinga Road, a twenty minute drive out
of Bathurst on sealed roads.
"Having the workshops on a farm gives these kids an opportunity to
have a real hands-on experience, not just with plants but with
chickens and cattle," says Janny.
Through the workshops, the children have the opportunity to
appreciate the benefits of home garden production: whole, unprocessed
foods, uncontaminated by chemicals, preservatives or colouring. The
workshops are connected to the international Slow Food movement,
which works to counteract fast food and fast life, the disappearance
of local food traditions, people’s dwindling interest in the food
they eat, where it comes from, how it tastes and how our food choices
affect the rest of the world – people, communities, animals, plants
and the environment.
To find out more or register for one of Janny's workshops, call 6337
4147 or check www.candlebarknsw.com.au.
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It looks like the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) is dead in
the water, having failed to secure support from Greens and
independents in the Senate. Maybe it's a good thing. It would have
locked us into a system that, through enormous subsidies to the big
polluters, would have defeated its stated purpose: to use economic
levers to wean us off fossil fuels.
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BCCAN will be presenting Garbage Warrior, a feature-length
documentary about New Mexico eco-architect Michael Reynolds, at the
Metro Cinemas next Wednesday night at 7pm. Tickets $11.50; no need to
book. There'll be coffee and conversation in the foyer afterwards.
Issue 11th June 2009
Confession time: I'm still using plastic shopping bags. My use of
cloth bags is intermittent. You see, it's the bin-liner question. Our
little kitchen bin has been constructed, I'm sure, with plastic
shopping bags in mind. You tie them off and head out to the wheelie
bin and that's the end of the story … except for the niggling guilt.
It's almost making me want to write to someone in Adelaide (where
they banned shopping bags in last month) and ask: what do you do for
bin liners?
In New Mexico in the US, there's an eco-architect by the name of
Michael Reynolds who has taken the garbage question into his own
hands – literally. He uses Coke cans, old tyres and water bottles in
the construction of weird and wonderful looking houses that are fully
self-sufficient and off the electricity grid. He calls these houses
earthships. An earthship is a passive solar home made of natural and
recycled materials using thermal mass construction for temperature
stabilisation with renewable energy and an integrated water system.
He has coined the word "biotechture", a combination of biology and
architecture, to describe the profession of designing buildings and
environments with consideration for their sustainability.
Film maker Oliver Hodge shot footage of Michael Reynolds over three
years in four countries as he went about his work and came into
conflict with local authorities and big business. The result is a
feature-length documentary, Garbage Warrior, that will be shown at
the Metro Cinema on Wednesday, June 24 at 7pm.
The film got the thumbs-up from the ABC's At The Movies critic David
Stratton when it first came out in Australia last year. Stratton gave
it three and a half stars and recommended it as a film that should be
seen widely. The film won the Audience Award at Vancouver
International Film Festival in 2007 and was also nominated for the
Kyoto Planet Climate For Change Award that year.
The evening is a fund-raiser for Bathurst Community Climate Action
Network, so it will also be a great opportunity to meet some people
and find out what we are on about over coffee in the foyer
afterwards. Tickets are $11.50 and there is no need to book – just
show up.
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BCCAN is also coming back to the question of how kids get to school.
We are currently negotiating a partnership with welfare students at
Bathurst TAFE who will work with schools to identify the barriers to
kids walking or cycling to school, in preparation for next year's
Ride to School Day. If you're interested, call Judy Walker on 6331
1925 and she'll put you on to the right people.
Issue 4th June 2009
This will annoy some people, but I'm going to say it anyway: I like
the Bells Line of Road just as it is. I like that it is winding and
slow and that there are places to stop and buy apples and antiques.
Last week, I used it to get to Sydney to meet friends at the zoo. On
the way back the next day, we came up through Lawson on the Great
Western Highway. There was the beleaguered town hall sitting on the
edge of a precipice, surrounded by cyclone wire and all the
paraphernalia of road construction. Further along, charming old
houses were stuck on the edge of the gouged earth, ready no doubt for
demolition. We have one road being widened and straightened at great
expense – why do we need another?
The answer is Development with a capital D, as though a particular
type of progress is always and inevitably a good thing. But is it?
Development that depends on big fat roads is often charm-free,
generic, barn-like, encouraging more and more cars and trucks and a
drive-thru way of life. Development that is based on what is local,
unique, charming, healthy and green can be so much more rewarding in
the long run. Bathurst is attractive compared, say, to Penrith,
because it escaped the sort of rip-and-tear development that reduces
the streetscape to a great box-like shopping mall surrounded by a
dying high street full of forbidding roller shutters. Preserving
charm can be part of a long-term economic, as well as social and
environmental, strategy.
In these days of climate change, I'd much rather we spent money on
upgrading the rail system between Bathurst and Sydney to make it a
viable competitor for private road transport. I came back to Bathurst
with friends from the UK; it was a rushed but lovely visit. On the
Friday, they were due to get on a plane at the International Airport
at 3pm. It would have been wonderful if they could have got on a nice
comfy train in the morning from Bathurst, changing at Central to get
to the airport. But there's no direct train to Sydney from Bathurst
in the mornings. Doing the Lithgow buses thing with luggage and a
toddler would have been so unfun I didn't even mention it. Instead, I
drove them all the way back to the airport, emitting carbon dioxide
all the way.
Issue 28th May 2009
I'm off to Taronga Zoo to catch up with friends and see the snow
leopard. I saw a show about snow leopards on ABC TV a couple of weeks
ago and fell in love. I love those gorgeous big feet, long, fluffy
tail and amazing skill and dexterity. It will be hard, though, seeing
this magnificent creature in a zoo environment – even though, as zoos
go, Taronga is one of the best. It is sobering to think about the
extraordinary animals we have on earth today and the likelihood that
many will succumb to a combination of climate change and habitat
destruction. Some will remain only in zoos, on display like pictures
in a photo album, reminders of a vanished world.
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On a more cheerful note, we would like to salute all those involved
in the community garden in Forrest Place off Rocket Street. The
garden is tended by a keen band of volunteers who get to enjoy the
fresh vegetables it offers. Judy Walker, the convener of the Bathurst
Community Climate Action Network's community awareness subcommittee,
visited the garden recently and took some photos. She reports that
the project began when local residents expressed a desire for a no-
dig garden. As time went on, the vision was widened to include water-
wise gardens around the whole Department of Housing complex.
The Bathurst Information and Neighbourhood Centre (BINC) helped the
tenants apply for a grant to help bring the vision into reality, and
were successful. Along came Conservation Volunteers Australia with
design and supervision for the project, while the BINC Neighbourhood
Gardens Team provided the labour.
Today the complex boasts a thriving vegetable garden, attractive
native plants that will continue to enhance the area as they grow and
swales that hold surface water on the site, help stop erosion and
provide water for plants. There are also underground water harvesting
and diffusion boxes that collect water from the rooves of the
complex. There is no need for an irrigation or watering system, as
the water automatically diffuses.
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Would you like a speaker from BCCAN to address your workplace or
community group with a short slide presentation and question and
answer session? We are currently developing our presentation and are
looking for guinea pigs! Write to us at PO Box 1339 Bathurst NSW 2795
or email Judy Walker at judygreg.walker@gmail.com.
Issue 21st May 2009
Have you ever heard of biochar? I hadn’t either, until recently. But
it appears that we should give the substance careful consideration,
especially after Dr Tim Flannery’s ringing endorsement of it in
Bathurst last Thursday night. Dr Flannery is the author of The
Weather Makers, a book about the history and future impact of climate
change.
Unless I’m missing something, biochar seems to be a fancy word for
good old-fashioned charcoal. Charcoal is created when wood burns in
the absence of oxygen. My mother uses it to draw pictures; we see it
lying around after fires. Charcoal’s attraction in these days of
climate change is that it traps and stores carbon very efficiently.
Plant material can be burnt in pyrolysis machines and then dug into
the soil, where it will keep the carbon from emitting into the
atmosphere for hundreds of years or longer. The soil, in turn, is
enriched by the addition of biochar, potentially making food
production more efficient and profitable.
At one point last Thursday night at the BMEC, Michael Kiely asked Tim
Flannery a curly question. He said, “If you had to choose one method
for paying back our carbon debt, what would it be?”
Dr Flannery squirmed a little and then named biochar as his current
favourite. Michael Kiely, who has a property on the Cudgegong River,
is known around the traps as a “carbon farmer” because he is working
on ways of commercialising carbon storage on family farms.
Dr Flannery added that there was no one way to tackle climate change
and that biochar should be seen as part of the mosaic of possible
solutions. But once he'd named it as his favourite, it became a hot
topic during question and answer time.
Using biochar for carbon sequestration is still in its infancy, but
it is a growing area of research and interest around the world.
For some, it is being regarded with caution: if it is seen as a
panacea, we could end up putting good animal habitat through the
pyrolisis machines and developing monocultures of trees grown just
for burning.
For others, particularly working farmers looking at a future
increasingly affected by climate change, it is a possible revenue-
earner.
For more information about Michael and Louisa Kiely's carbon farming
initiative, see www.carbonfarmersofaustralia.com.au.
Issue 14th May 2009
I've been mulling over the news that by the time I get to retirement
age, I'll have to be 67 before I'm eligible for the pension. Will the
labour market still want me when I'm 66? Then again, if 40 is now the
new 30, then maybe by then 70 will be the new 60 and we'll all be
feeling so much more vital than our parents' generation.
But what will the world look like when I'm 67? This week's Federal
Budget gives a nod to the future but is mainly concerned with getting
out of the tangled mess of the present. So there will be $2.4 billion
for "clean coal" as well as measures designed to blunt the worst of
the global financial crisis. The $2.4 billion can only be read as
money for wishful thinking, as all the evidence so far is that coal
is fundamentally dirty and that cleaning it isn't viable. However, on
the plus side, there will be $1.5 billion for solar initiatives – a
welcome boost for the fledging sustainable energy industry.
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Speaking of dirty coal, BCCAN has made a submission to the State
Government opposing the Stage 2 expansion of the Moolarben Coal Mine
at Ulan near Mudgee. If approved, the expanded mine will produce 17
million tonnes of new coal per year for 24 years. The coal from the
new mega mine would, when burned to produce electricity, produce over
700 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.
As an interesting side-note, local green groups have pointed out that
Brett Whitely paintings on the wall of a cave in the area (he
famously painted them while nude) are threatened by the new mine.
They are also concerned about the removal of over 11 km of creek
habitat in the Murragamba Creek and Eastern Creek valleys, including
two groundwater dependant ecosystems. There are also five Aboriginal
heritage sites of high significance and 16 sites of medium
significance in the area. More information about this is available at
www.savethedrip.com.
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On Sunday from 11am to 4pm, the Rahamim ecological community at 34
Busby Street is hosting a Changing the Dream symposium which will
explore ways to reach an environmentally sustainable, spiritually
fulfilling and socially just future. For details call 6331 4500.
Issue 7th May 2009
Rudd sounded so good a while back, talking about the need to take
decisive action on climate change. But now, surrounded by a swarm of
fossil-fuel lobbyists, the global financial crisis and swine flu,
he's decided to put his head in the sand. The Carbon Pollution
Reduction Scheme can wait until after the next election and the big
polluters can have a billion dollars in extra handouts.
But even with his head under the ground, Rudd can't escape climate
change. Over the past few years there has been a growing interest in
the way soils trap carbon, creating the potential for new income-
streams for property owners. It's called carbon farming, and there is
going to be a two-day conference about it at Georges Plains on May 18
and 19.
The conference will explore ways to build and trap carbon levels in
the soil and then sell them in the emerging soil carbon trading
market. Speakers will be from the Department of Environment and
Climate Change, the Catchment Management Authority and Michael and
Louisa Kiely from Carbon Farmers of Australia. I saw the Kielys in
action a couple of years ago – they are entertaining as well as
knowledgeable speakers. They're out there doing it on (and in) the
ground.
What's interesting about this conference, and others like it, is that
the world is starting to vote with its feet, exploring ways to adapt
to and prevent further climate change. This is a movement with its
eyes firmly on the future – not the next election or the one after
that, but the future that is waiting for the next generation and the
ones after that.
The coal lobby, despite its Armani suits and BlackBerries, is all
about the past. The future is as narrow as the time it takes to
realise the value of current investments. We need to allow this
industry to go through the pain of readjustment to the new world. If
there's clear government leadership, the money will be forced out of
its dependence on fossil fuels and into the new green economy.
The longer we put up with coal lobbyists, the more we'll lose
opportunities opening up in healthy, renewable energy sources and
climate-friendly industries.
For more information about the soil conference call Adam Hook on 6339
4915.
Issue 30th April 2009
Reading Donald Duck comics as a child, I was interested to see that
all US dollars were green. It was quite a contrast with our own
rainbow-coloured paper currency that then included the now-defunct
green two-dollar note.
If you're about to get one of the Government's $900 stimulus cheques,
this could be a good time to make your money go green by choosing
climate-friendly ways to spend it. We are being urged not to be like
Unca Scrooge and hoard it, although there are some who would argue
that unfettered consumerism is what caused the current financial
meltdown in the first place.
If you're going to heed the call to spend, the Australian
Conservation Foundation makes the following suggestions:
Install a water tank. You might even be eligible for a government
rebate.
Sign up to a Government-accredited GreenPower electricity provider.
Put the money towards installing insulation or a solar hot water
system. You may be able to get extra help via the Government's Energy
Efficient Homes Package.
If you're planning on upgrading appliances, remember to look for the
stars and efficiency labels.
Lash out and buy some really good quality clothing. If this one's a
little surprising, remember that high-quality, long-lasting clothes
are less environmentally damaging in the long run than frequent
purchases of cheaper pieces that don't last. The ACF points out that
every new t-shirt on the shelf has used about 1.5 kilograms of
chemicals (pesticides and fertilisers) in its creation.
(If your long-lasting piece of clothing goes out of fashion, remember
that, like stove-pipe jeans or halter tops, it'll come round again
eventually.)
The Australian Conservation Foundation's site at www.acfonline.org.au
gives lots of other green shopping hints if you want more ideas.
If you're feeling flush, you might wish to do so a little more
conservatively with a greener loo. Bathurst Regional Council is
offering a subsidy for new dual-flush toilets.
If you're feeling particularly green and generous, BCCAN is keen to
buy a set of demonstration renewable energy models. These hands-on
interactive displays can be taken to schools and community groups to
show how solar, wind and hydro power actually work. A little bit of
stimulus money would certainly help this worthwhile project! If you
are interested, contact Patrick Forman at pforman@csu.edu.au.
Issue 23rd April 2009
This morning I got up, grabbed a coffee and settled down in front of
the computer to write this column. But first a quick check of the
email. This sent me off to You Tube to watch a video about how the
world is changing so rapidly that we will soon be facing problems we
haven't even thought of yet. As I was only two slurps into my coffee
I quickly filed this in the mental "too hard" basket.
If you feel the world is going nuts, there is a simple, user-friendly
way to join in. Grow nuts! The other day I crunched over a bounty of
walnuts in a driveway in Mitre Street and over at the agricultural
research station there are rows of handsome hazelnut trees. Nuts are
a great source of protein, allowing householders to add to the food
they grow themselves and thus cut down carbon-emitting food miles.
Australia imports 95 per cent of the hazelnuts consumed in this
country when, here in Bathurst at least, we could easily grow them
ourselves. Hazelnuts like a cool climate with a winter chill, they
are hardy and once established don't need much extra water.
Bathurst Community Climate Action Network has a great deal on offer,
if you have a bit of space in your garden. In conjunction with
Hazelnut Nursery Propagators, we are offering Bathurst residents four
trees plus one year's membership of BCCAN for $60. Additional trees
can be purchased for $13.50 per tree.
Hazelnuts are a small tree or a large shrub, usually growing to
around four metres high. They are very adaptable, growing as
individual trees, or as a hedge, or espaliered or trained to fit a
limited space. Do you have a west facing wall that needs shelter from
the hot sun in summer, but want the light and warmth in the winter?
Would you like a healthy nut supplement from your garden, instead of
heading to the shops for a plastic-wrapped stale equivalent? A few
hazelnut trees could be the answer! Hazelnut trees need to be planted
in the vicinity of others for successful pollination. You can share
your four trees with a neighbour if you like. Visit www.bccan.org.au/
hazelnuts for more information or see BCCAN membership officer Wendy
Grundy at the Bathurst Visitor Information Centre.
Issue 16th April 2009
The view from the roof of Deirdre Stuebe's Rock Forest home is
magnificent, and clearly the kangaroos enjoy it. You can tell they've
been grazing up there because you can see their droppings.
The roof, a couple of metres thick, is made of the earth from the
side of the hill into which the house has been set. With its back
tucked into the hill, the front of the house sports generous north-
facing double-glazed windows. Each room has a vent for a pipe running
underground with an outlet in the bush further down the hill. All of
these elements, engineered by Deirdre's late husband Walter, ensure
that the house is kept at a comfortable temperature year round. The
earth against the house regulates the temperature with its thermal
mass; the air moves through the vents by convection, creating a
fresh, temperature-regulated flow. On top of the roof, a bank of
solar panels gathers energy to run the house's appliances and there
is a satellite dish connecting this bit of the bush to the twenty
first century.
The home is an inspiring example of what can be done when ingenuity
and creativity are applied to living spaces. It is comfortable,
energy efficient and very personal, unlike the ticky-tacky sameness
of so many new housing estates. But not everyone has the time, energy
or skills of the late Walter Stuebe, so if we want to spread these
ideas around, we need options that are "doable" by the average
homeowner.
Looking around at our new housing estates, it seems unbelievable that
homes are still being built without much regard to energy efficiency.
From the simple point of view of energy bills, it's surely madness;
add to that the threat of climate change and we have a picture of
true insanity. The NSW government's building sustainability index
(BASIX) requirements were a great start when they were introduced,
but are now regarded as outdated and inadequate by green groups.
So it is very heartening to see that Bathurst Regional Council has
committed $300,000 to the construction of a model "green" home that
will demonstrate a range of environmentally friendly options: thermal
efficiency, green power electricity, grey water re-use and rainwater
harvesting. No kangaroos on the roof, but we can't have everything!
,,,
Thanks to Deirdre Stuebe for her kind invitation to tour her eco-
friendly home.
Issue 9th April 2009
Chicken Little ran around squawking that the sky was going to fall in
and everyone ignored him. "What a hopeless alarmist," they said. And
then the sky fell in. Well, that's a bit of a re-writing of an old
story, but it's more or less what happened to seismologist Gioacchino
Giuliani in Italy this week. He had been recording changes in radon
gas emissions near the town of L'Aquila and was certain that they
predicted an imminent earthquake. When he drove a van round town with
a loudhailer telling everyone to evacuate, he was dismissed as an
imbecile and forced to remove his findings from the Internet. Then
there was the earthquake, with massive loss of life.
Giuliani's experience is being repeated across the globe as
scientists amass evidence about climate change. The ice-sheets are
melting, they tell us; the temperature is rising; sea levels are
rising. These are not predictions but compilations of data recording
what is happening right now. Their conclusion is that climate change
is happening and that is caused by human activity. They're certainly
not being called imbeciles – in fact, their views are considered
"mainstream" – but the response, compared to the possible danger, is
happening in slow-motion. "Gee, that's terrible," say politicians,
who then approve another coal-fired power station and bury their
heads in the fantasy of clean coal.
Last month French glaciologist Claude Lorius said he despaired of
getting the message across. "At first, I thought that we could
convince people," he was reported as saying to a gathering of
scientists at Copenhagen. "But there is a terrible inertia.''
The problem is that we look outside and everything seems quite
normal. We go to work, do the shopping and generally proceed with the
next indicated thing. Our daily lives don't give many hints that
we're courting disaster. It would be depressing to walk around
feeling like the sky was falling in.
The sky isn't falling in and it is not helpful to run around in a
panic. But we do need to listen carefully to our scientists and
demand that our politicians support changes that will really make a
difference. Saying no to the coal lobby would be a good start.
Issue 2nd April 2009
A couple of years ago I stood on the coast south of Newcastle and
used the zoom in my video camera to get a closer look at the coal
ships waiting in the water for their turn at the loader. It was like
a long, slow, polite feeding frenzy. To speed things up, Newcastle is
spending millions updating its coal port, the largest in the world.
We mine our coal, we send it away and we spend the proceeds. But what
happens when it reaches its destination? We're kidding ourselves if
we think our buyers are burning it "cleanly".
In the latest Quarterly Essay, former Liberal Party staffer Guy
Pearse writes that we will not be dealing with climate change as a
nation "until we deal with the carbon liabilities we export to the
world." Over the past few years, Pearse's political support has
evolved from the Liberals all the way over to the Greens as he has
grappled with the issue of climate change. To those who say that it
is lunacy to give up our economic life-blood, he answers: "A far
greater lunacy than contemplating coal's demise is continuing to
export it in ever greater quantities knowing it will not be used
cleanly in time on any meaningful scale."
He also points out that mining, while important, is not the economic
panacea we think it is. In the 2008-09 financial year, it is expected
to account for about 4 per cent of GDP. With the effects of the
global financial crisis, that is expected to take a tumble. Pearse's
essay, Quarry Vision, is published in book form by Black Inc.
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National Ride2School Day was a great success around the country, with
1000 schools registering to participate. While Bathurst had no
official registrations, BCCAN took a moment last week to celebrate
those children who already ride to school. BCCAN would like to work
with any schools interested in coming on board for next year. For
details contact Patrick Forman by email on
.
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It is an open secret around town that BCCAN President John Kellett is
a former Uniting Church minister. If you'd like to hear and discuss
the underlying philosophy that drives his involvement in community
organisations, you can join a seminar at the Rahamim Ecological
Learning Community in Busby Street from 10am to 4pm on Saturday. To
book, call 6332 9950.