Site Meter

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Lignitemare

Mataura pre-mine















I made it back from the 'Keep the Coal in the Hole' summer festival, by sheer force of will! My bicycle and my muscles were willing, but the 90km ride was made more difficult than I'd hoped it would be, due to a combination of rain and wind but I did eventually pedal into Riverton, many hours after I left Mataura and the excitement of a weekend of listening to and talking with, experts on the subject of lignite mining. The caliber of the invited speaking guests was very high and their presentations powerful. I was asked to take Gerry Ford's place as MC for the public meeting in the town hall on Sunday and I enjoyed that very much. It was easy working with quality 'talent' and an intelligent crowd. The large, modern hall was full and the programme covered by both TVOne and 3, along with Radio New Zealand, Radio Southland, the Southland Times, ODT and several fine local newspapers. The message was clear - leave the lignite in the ground. That unequivocal stand was overlaid with the message that Solid Energy was not presenting its intentions and the situation in a realistic way, and that there is a need for the public to demand clarity from them. Plans were laid for such a revelation. I had a great deal of interest in the comments from one of the speakers whose field of expertise is carbon sequestration, who said, no, they can't do it. I was not surprised but appreciated hearing from someone who knows for sure.
As to the camp, it was fascinating. There were 4 MPs staying over the weekend, all Green, as well as Jeanette Fitzsimons and her husband, Harry. The remainder of the 'tent city' was made up of young, experienced campaigners from all over the country and a number of Southlanders who wanted to show, I suppose, that there is tangible support for the national movement here, on the ground, and at least to suffer some discomfort along with those from further north, who must have been doing it harder than we were. It was wet at times, and windy, but everyone was bright and positive. I learned a great deal from the camp and look forward to the next stage of the programme to stop the mining of lignite in Southland. The Solid Energy security people were there too, by the way, and the police, who swarmed on occasion, but had nothing real to do. There will have been a Solid Energy mole or two among the campers, I imagine, but as the camp and its activities were open and freely communicative, they needn't have been furtive. The 'no surprises, communicate intentions to all agencies' philosophy of the CANA organizing team is one I fully endorse. It seems an enlightened way to go about business.
Thanks, btw, to all involved and that certainly includes the cooks, working from their flapping tents - your work was superb and the food excellent.

7 comments:

Farmer Baby Boomer said...

Sounds like it was a worthwhile event for all open minded folk to attend regardless of which side of the issue they favoured.

I am sorry wasn't able to make it.

Were there any recordings made of the meeting which could be made available?

robertguyton said...

Yes, FBB - every interview done in the Southland Radio caravan at the camp and at the public meeting will be soon available as a podcast. I'll post the link as soon as they are done. All of the presentations were videoed and sound recorded as well and they too will be available. I was surprised by the openness shown by all concerned, when it came to broadcasting, having photos taken and so on. I did two interviews myself, though you probably already know what I think :-)
It was indeed a worthwhile event, profoundly so, I reckon.

Colin McIntyre said...

John Purey-Cust has an excellent Letter to the Editor in todays Southland times.
His letter raises many salient points,not the lest of which points out that apparently there was not a Gore District Councillor in sight at Sundays "Mataura Coal in the Hole" meeting.
Did they feel that their attendance would have been another of the supposed conflicts of interest that many of them have to declare at the various council meetings?
It is apparent that Christchurch District Council is not the only Local Body that may require some attention.

wildcrafty said...

I wish I could have been there too. Such an important event. It will be good to see the audio/video.

wildcrafty said...

Robert, commenting via openID seems to be disabled. The comment pages just keeps reloading and telling me I haven't put the word verification in.

robertguyton said...

Colin - John's letter is nicely written and timed, as his letters invariably are. I admire his skill. I think I'll post it here for others to read, thanks for the 'push'.
I suspect the councilors were fearful of attending, though it has to be said, by the end of the day, 2 had called in to the hall for a listen, one of whom I have admired for some time for his open-mindedness. Personally, I think it was irresponsible of them not to be there, but I cannot accuse them of that, as they may have had their reasons for not being there, I don't know. I'm equally disappointed that there were no Environment Southland councilors, aside from myself, in attendance. I especially noted the absence of our chairman, Ms Timms, and the representative of the Gore electorate, Peter Jones. It's a very important issue and they ought to have been there. Perhaps they too were otherwise indisposed. Peter did come to hear James Hanson last year, and good on him for that.
Where, I wonder, was mayor Tracy Hicks, Gore District Council?
Perhaps a letter-writer might ask these questions. I have a letter in for tomorrow's Southland Times 'Your View' section, that seeks to share some of these things with a wider audience.

robertguyton said...

I don't know why that would be, wildcrafty. I've tinkered around out back and something may improve, or not...