The Bywong Soapbox

I wonder if anyone in the Bywong/Wamboin area has noticed the little yellow airplane that’s been buzzing around at low altitudes the last few weeks.

In the skies over Bywong

Well, it’s a geologic survey aircraft, VH-KPY, owned by Fugro Airborne Surveys that does magnetic geologic surveys for mining companies and whoever else has enough money to pay for their services.

VH-KPY A Geologic Survey Aircraft

“So what?”, you all say?  Well, this little gem has been sighted for the sixth time in a few weeks, flying low altitude patterns over Bywong, especially around William McEnally’s old mining area, ‘Macs Reef’.  One or two passes might be the norm for a simple survey, but they’re making these low passes a habit, so I’d assume they’ve found something interesting in their survey.

Keeping in mind that at today’s petrol prices and pilot fees, it costs a hell of a lot to spend a few weeks flying low altitude passes over Bywong. Must be something REALLY interesting in the ground around here.  Does everyone have their panning dishes handy?  In 1852 the NSW Government geological surveyor, Rev. W. B. Clarke, concluded that “gold in profitable quantities will hereafter be found in some part of the district of which Bywong Hill is the centre”.  Perhaps Fugro is about to make the same statement in 2010..  The price of gold in recent months HAS made the smaller deposits look profitable again.

“Big deal!”, you all say?  Well…  Eventually, their mining company client will apply to the NSW Department of Primary Industries for an exploration permit.  They’ll then rock up to your door and expect to drill some exploratory bores or dig a hole here and there.

How is this possible?  If you take a good look at your Land Title papers, you, like everyone else in this area, will find a little caveat that states the mineral rights belong to a mining outfit in West Australia, who just happens to hold the mineral lease on your property.

Yes folks, you only own what you can see.  What’s below the surface of your paddock, belongs to this outfit in WA, and there’s nothing you can do about it.  So, if you’ve been digging holes in your property, everything you take out, actually belongs to them.  So.. any nuggets you find…  you’ll have to turn in to the proper owners.  Right?

Go have a read of the Landholder Rights, pursuant to the the provisions of the Mining Act 1992.

http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/minerals/titles/landholders-rights/mining_act_1992

Know what they can and cannot do. Know your rights and you can use the miners to your advantage.

How would Bywong look as a Strip Mine?

Now, I’m sure that if some large reserve of Gold, Silver or Uranium (Heh heh.. now wouldn’t THAT piss off Earth Mother Moore?), were found in Bywong, the Shire’s pillar of honour, Stainless Bascomb, would be soon filing writs of Compulsory Acquisition on everything the Shire could get it’s hands on.  And you could be sure that Bywong would become an open pit strip mine from the Lake George escarpment to Kowen Forest.

One good thing…. It would get rid of all the noxious weeds in the area..

There’s an interesting article on the Bywong Community Association website that talks about the Macs Reef Road Tip and the vote to turn it into a Waste Transfer Station.  Here’s an excerpt:

“Last Council meeting in March narrowly voted for the waste transfer station proposed for Macs Reef Road but it could still come unstuck if money is not found to build it. Discussion by Councillors about the 2010/2010 Management Plan to fund works will be happening soon. Bywong Community Association would like to urge all Bywong, Wamboin and Sutton residents who want a local waste management facility to contact all the local Palerang Councillors to urge them to follow through on their agreement to build a new facility at Macs Reef Road. Email all Councillors via councillors@palerang.nsw.gov.au”

“If the money is not found to build it”?    WTF!

Palerang Council

All the council has to do is backcharge the local resident Building Contractors who have been filling the tip with contractors rubbish from Canberra  for the last 20 years..  You see… if you have a residents tag, you can dump all your contractors garbage from your Canberra building sites in the local tips and bypass the need to pay a fee at the Mugga Lane Tip in Canberra..  where the shit belongs in the first place.

Find the money… indeed!  Cough it up  ‘Palerang Council’, as it’s your turning of the blind eye for so many years that created the problem in the first place.

The Federal Trade Commission will try to regulate blogging for the first time, requiring writers on the Web to clearly disclose any freebies or payments they get from companies for reviewing their products.

Take 'this' FTC

“Hello There!”  Would you like to try ‘this’?

Wonderful!  Try it today!

Try it tomorrow!

It’s BAD for you, but try it anyway!

These Federal guys are beginning to sound like Australian politicos, always trying to squeeze a few more dollars from our pockets.  What will they try to ‘regulate’ next?

The Council elections are looming in Palerang Shire. The local rags are abuzz with allegations of this & that, the apparent lack of interest from the public to actually seek a seat on the council… ad nauseum…

I was mulling over the reasons why anyone would want to cop the abuse from the public for being a councillor and the only really poignant reason I could come up with, was money. Why else would you want to devote your precious time to the administration of a shire that was doomed to fail due to amalgamation?

Then, I had one of those ‘light bulb’ episodes… Why not pass a law making ALL political donations a form of bribery and punishable to the full extent of the law? I’m talking about the hundreds of thousands of dollars big business pours into the current political parties. I’m also talking about every donation, luncheon or cigar passed to an elected member, whether they be Local, State or Federal members.

Make their income details public and accountable.  If they want to ‘serve’ the people, them let the people see from which plate these politicos dine. If they don’t want to offer up their financial details, they must have something they want to hide.  In which case, perhaps another candidate would be more suitable.

If the source of corruption dried up, I can’t help but wonder if Australia would lose it’s politicians, but gain a few Statesmen….