Environmentalists and organisers of the Australian round of the World Rally Championship are still trading blows, even though the event is just three weeks away.
Rally Australia says that an independent ecological review commissioned by groups opposed to the event is flawed.
Connolly – you’re wrong.
Council’s own officers had misgivings about Dr Phillips’ report, and no-one is questioning Dr Phillips’ knowledge of koalas.
However, the original terms of reference were very narrow, and peer review by Dr Steven Ambrose and Mark Graham reveal many significant deficiencies in the original report. Both reviewers are well qualified, and both have recommended that this issue be referred to the Federal Minister of the Environment, Mr Garrett.
This is the second most biodiverse area in Australia, and it is simply NOT APPROPRIATE for car rallys.
While Dr. Phillips should know the breeding season for koalas, he certainly didn’t mention it in his report. No doubt because he was only asked to comment of car strikes and only for one year. Ommision of trueth I believe is little better than a lie. Like all the other reports paid for by Repco…(ooops taxpayers) it’s not what the reports say that we question, it’s what they don’t say!
Like everything that comes from Connelly’s mouth, they contain little more than spin.
Mr Connelly has accused us of being bullies, but note he is quite happy to leave the police to deal with residents, most who are over 40 and who live nowhere near Nimbin, who are fighting to preserve the beautiful natural environment they call home from speed and greed Your idea of environmentally friendly REPCO we don’t need or want…take your circus somewhere else where it will be appreciated, but remember to ask the residents first next time.
No, Mr Connolly, there are not “just a few” who believe the rally is inappropriate for this region. In this more enlightened era of eco-awareness rallies are dinosaurs anyway. The two independent environmental reports simply point out what you have chosen to ignore. The World Heritage Gondwana Rainforests of Northern NSW will NEVER be acceptable as a race track.
Is this an appropriate choice for a high speed car rally, we don’t think so, this is our reason, what do you think?
Sargents Road Community Koala Watch
The Community Koala Watch (CKW) is a project that has grown from local resident’s interest in the koala population of Sargents Road and an idea to document what we see. The project records information about the koalas seen in our area and encourages local knowledge and awareness of the presence of koalas. What we have found has been fascinating and it seems as if we are only beginning to get the picture. Since the beginning of this year we have been watching the koalas along about 5km of road, this accessible public space gives us a small and narrow window into the territory of the koalas as well as having great views to the mountains. Without identifying ear tags or a radio collars to locate the koalas, they are found by luck, patience. or not at all.
We record out sightings as digital images, these are uploaded to a web album for each individual animal. The web albums can be accessed by anyone who has this link,
The Koala Gallery
http://picasaweb.google.com/k.komodo
it has been useful in enabling independent experts to look at an image and give a basic assessment of the koala. Over time and seasons, the images will display the changes in each of the animals.
Each tree that a koala has been seen in is also marked on a map of the road using Google maps, the marker show the type of tree (where known), the date, time and what the koala was doing and occasionally the weather if it is extreme. The map shows how often the koalas revisit a tree and which trees they prefer. The Community Koala Watch offers us the opportunity to encourage local interest and participation in protecting koalas in the wild.
The map
http://maps.google.com.au/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=109568289111964004596.00046521d16e29439745c&ll=-28.573367,153.074913&spn=0.066332,0.11055&z=13
The ‘few’ objectors of this rally that started alerting us 8 or 9 months ago has risen to hundreds if not thousands. I personally have spoken to over a hundred people an d only 3 or 4 were for it. some even changed their mind when I mentioned the cars would be racing through National Parks.THIS NOT THE RIGHT PLACE OR TIME.