Community ………………3 to

Community COMMUNITY EVENT Sunday July 25th , Vol 16 September 15th 2017 Long Beach Community Vol 28 December 7th, 2017 Vol 48 April 27th 2018 Association are holding a Christmas in July Market from 10AM to 2PM at the Sandy Place Reserve

Come and Join Us at this Community Event

Stalls offering everything from hand-made goodies to wooden

now postponed to a future date

Gadfly 186 By Robert Macklin The first ‘grown-up’ book I read has stayed with me ever since. It was The Cruel Sea, by Nicholas Monsarrat. I also loved the film, and o en mes when I’m walking along Coila Beach at Tuross in the late a ernoon, the sea has that slate grey of the cover illustra on. And the waves have the same threatening rise and fall with the white foam curling down their face as in the black and white movie. In the story, they surround the good ship Compass Rose, whipped by the cold and fierce winds of the North Atlan c; and when the Nazi torpedoes strike the convoy she’s protec ng, they freeze the survivors to death. While at Tuross, in only the last month the waves have torn away hundreds – perhaps thousands – of cubic metres of sand, so at high de the ocean now reaches across the beach to Lake Coila as part of the inexorable sea rise of climate change. But of course, in neither case is the sea ‘cruel’. It merely responds – as science says it must - to the idiocy (and cruelty) of the men who invent the wars and who refuse to slow or prevent further hea ng of the planet. These are the same fana cs who claim they are going to war in the cause of ‘peace’ and who refuse ac on on climate change in the name of ‘prosperity’. They are the living proof – if any further were needed – that the human mind is a precision instrument of self-delusion, par cularly when given over to the wacky extremes of religion or na onalism. Add to that the iron law chanced upon by Lord Acton in a moment of rare clarity that ‘all power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely’ and you have a world – a planet - teetering on the edge of catastrophe. But all is not lost, at least for the planet itself. The solu on resides in the concept of Gaia, wherein ancient Greeks and Romans held that the Earth itself func ons as a single system so that, according to the MerriamWebster dic onary, ‘the living component regulates and maintains condi ons so as to be suitable for life’. It should be no surprise then that just as the world plunges into an existen al crisis of climate hea ng from the mad exploita on of its resources, a wild bat exploited in a so-called ‘wet market’, should deliver a ny virus to enter the fray. And when, through mul ple muta ons it spreads death and disaster to the great economies the rate of expansion of the devilish gases - CO2, Methane and the rest - will fall to a level that returns the atmosphere to healthy levels. The only ques on facing us now is whether we’ve already lost control of Gaia’s response and the muta ons will outpace our capacity to kill them before our species vanishes from the blue planet and returns it to the cockroaches. So it was pleasing this week to see that the EU was taking a quantum leap by pu ng a carbon levy on goods from recalcitrant governments - like Australia’s - that refuse to throw their full weight into the ba le against climate change. Pleasing but my no means decisive. Australia’s leader is both a religious extremist and an absolute power merchant. So as the world teeters on the edge, he’s throwing his weight behind the fall. What’s more, he looks to be growing new hair, strand by strand, on the top of his head; and in another li le book I read, it only needed one to break the camel’s back. robert@robertmacklin.com

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A Contemporary Fable, by Solastalgia. Once upon a me, not so long ago, and not an awfully long way away, in beau ful river valley close to the sea, lived a small community of very busy people. So busy in fact, they had no me at all to think of anything else but their own affairs.

The workers in the Shire spent all day, every day (except weekends and holidays) a emp ng to interpret the instruc ons that came along every minute of every working day, (or so it seemed) from the huge office in the city, which looked something like a colossal barrel but was really a humongous balloon that resembled a pig. The workers did their very best to understand all these instruc ons but there were so many it was easy to get them muddled up. Which it is why it is not surprising when the farmer and his wife asked for advice, what they were told was not quite correct. ( And the li le fish, in the river-which-looked-so-beau ful, cried out “help me please” but no one heard) Now the farmer and his wife had so much land and so many ca le that they had to work from dawn to dusk every day, (no weekends or holidays for them!) just growing and harves ng food for their ca le, to keep them healthy and fat so the butcher would be pleased. They had no me to fence all the way around their farm, which le a gap far away at the end, near a very busy big road. This was such a worry to them they put a gate across the very li le road right beside the very big road to stop the ca le from straying on to it, which the workers in the Shire had told them would be quite alright. And it was very good indeed when the gate was closed, but no good at all when it wasn’t. (And the li le fish, in the river-which-looked-so-beau ful, cried out “ please someone, help, I can’t breathe”, but no one heard) The anglers, and their friends, who only did enough work to earn enough money to buy new fishing rods, and reels, and lures, and creels, and tackle boxes, and collapsible stools, and waders, and nets, and baskets, and bobbers, and sinkers, and pliers, and fishing line, and sun glasses, and first aid kits, and very, very old hats (no one has ever seen an angler with a new hat) and at least one spare of each of these as well, spent all the rest of their me day and night and weekends and holidays going to and fro to the river-that-looked-sobeau ful along the very li le road which crossed the farmer’s land that led to the river bank where they could fish. (And launch their li le boats: I forgot to men on they also had li le boats, with oars for the very smallest, and noisy smelly motors for the larger ones) (And the li le fish, in the river-that-looked-so-beau ful, cried again “I am terribly ill, and very very weak,” but no one heard) Now some of the anglers were careless, and forge ul, and le things behind, and lost their way and trampled through crops, and dropped their plas c bait bags - did I men on they usually brought bags of food with them, some for the fish, and some for themselves? I must have forgo en - just like some of the anglers who couldn’t remember if the gate was open or shut when they drove along the very li le road that crossed the farmer’s land that led to the river-that- ….. but I told you all this earlier. (And the li le fish, in the river-that-looked-sobeau ful, whispered, “my children are all dying” but no one heard) These careless anglers annoyed the farmer and his wife terribly because they could never be

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certain whether or not their beau ful ca le were in danger from treading on or ea ng sharp fishing tackle, old plas c bags and wrappings, discarded fishing line, or even the occasional very, very old fishing hat - or even worse, straying through the open gate across the very li le road because some angler had forgo en to close it, and colliding with a …. school bus …. on the very busy big road far away at the end. So they put a great big lock on the gate. (The li le fish, in the-river-that-looked-so-beau ful, gasped “ we are all dying, my family and me” but no one heard) This big lock annoyed the anglers so very much that they shouted and complained and protested to the workers in the Shire and demanded that the workers who had told the farmers it was alright to put the gate across the very li le road should now tell the farmer that the gate must immediately, preferably sooner, be taken right away and mustn't be seen by anyone ever again - ever! - never again - never! The workers said they couldn’t do anything of the sort, they first had to wait for instruc ons from the enormous great balloon, and the farmers said because they were told it was alright, they would not remove the gate, not ever never! So the anglers threatened to take the ma er to the great and wise panjandrum who was so very important that he could wear a most outrageous white wig and no one even dared to laugh, because he could order people to do whatever he decided, and smack people very hard if they disobeyed. And so they all started shou ng at each other and jumping up and down with agita on. (The li le fish, in the river-that-s ll-looked-so-beau ful, was silent, because It and all its family were dead, and they were never ever seen again - never, but no one no ced so no one asked why - ever) The end.

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August September 2021 issue of ‘Recollec ons’ is OUT NOW The August September 2021 issue of ‘Recollec ons’ is OUT NOW.

Vol 16 September 15th 2017 Vol 28 December 7th, 2017 Vol 48 April 27th 2018 Recollec ons Editor Peter Lacey says "We hope you enjoy reading it and discovering a li le more about the absolutely fascina ng history of the NSW South Coast. Paper copies should be available in the usual outlets. It’s also accessible at www.bit.ly/Recollec ons29 so please let all your friends, neighbours, workmates know that it’s now available.

Peter told The Beagle "We have pleasure in presen ng the August- September issue of ‘Recollec ons’. We hope readers will enjoy discovering a li le more about the fascina ng history of the area from this issue. "Any feedback you may have will be VERY welcome." "Could we again ask that readers to demonstrate their support of our ac vi es by becoming a member of the South Coast History Society, if you are not already a member.

The demand from our local community for copies of ‘Recollec ons’ is ever increasing – meaning that we are con nually faced with a not-inconsiderable challenge of having to find more and more money to pay for every new issue produced." "The dona ons and membership fees from supporters are therefore ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL to the community projects we undertake (the principal one, of course, being the regular produc on of ‘Recollec ons’!) - and we can assure you every instance of support that is received by the Society is GREATLY APPRECIATED and EFFECTIVELY USED."

"Details of how YOU can help us are outlined on page 4 of the a ached August-September 2021 ‘Recollec ons’. We hope you will now choose to do so."

Dear Editor, What do we really want in Tuross… a safe friendly community that appreciates and enjoys every aspect of the place or more roads, cars and developments as we slide into unstable climate?

Tuross Head is my home and I love everything about it. I love the land and surrounding waters, home to unique plants, animals, people and even cks. Yet with the wind in my face, sun on my back and tears in my eyes, I witness the march towards progressive destruc on. I refer to the proposed urban subdivision development of all the land between Anderson and Andrews Ave through to Coila Lake and along to the Men’s Shed and Chauvel Crescent. This would add an extra 71 houses with their accompanying roads and infrastructure. At present it is a large green peaceful space that many play walk and cycle in. It is also a 'swamp oak floodplain forest’ and ‘salt marsh’ both threatened ecological communi es listed under NSW Biodiversity Conserva on Act and Commonwealth Environmental Protec on and Biodiversity Conserva on Act. An urban development here would destroy all this as well as further compromise the waters of Coila Lake's sea grass meadows, fish and prawns. The development site is a natural bird sanctuary of great diversity and contains many varie es of rep les and other na ve animals. How could a subdivision improve life for all the human residents and where do all the na ve species find new homes. What are we doing here?

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Tuross has an elderly popula on that enjoys the slow pace and lifestyle of the area. We can provide a be er and more sustainable solu on than a new subdivision.

This land was bought in the 1980s for development. Now 40 years on we know how to look a er each other and the planet. This land could be turned into a nature reserve, restored and protected like Pamboola wetlands (h ps://www.panboola.com) at Pambula. At one level Pamboola now provides local and tourism opportuni es for passive and ac ve recrea on with walking/cycle tracks, picnic tables, seats and bird hides. It is a community project that connects people to the cultural and natural heritage of the area and creates research and study sites for present and future genera ons. At another level Pamboola now guarantees invaluable ecological services, and displays conserva on restora on at its best. These services include water filtra on, storing soil organic carbon, reducing erosion and water run off and reducing toxic pollutants downstream. Other services include offse ng greenhouse gas emissions, preserving archaeological remains, providing habitat for living organisms such as plants, animals, insects and microbes, holding carbon dioxide in solid and liquid forms and enhancing the natural food chain. All of this enhances biodiversity and provides a more resilience environment. To make proposed subdivision a Pamboola type project would create community and ecological benefits for all.

Cheers Heather Colman