Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

We need regulations I don't want any development to just come along and be allowed to be put anywhere. The problem is that when regulations come along as in this case that basically put a handbrake on the use zoned use of the land, ie farming. Even that is not really the problem.

The problem is that our civil servants have forgotten that they are there to serve us. On the one hand they need to be there to create and enforce regulations otherwise people being people things would run amok. However, just as much as it is there job to enforce various regulations the intent of the the regulations is to make things better for everyone. When you have situations were the regulations don't make things better then they obviously need to be changed and the people responsible for enforcing said regulations should be much more proactive in fixing any problems that they have created.

First of all this problem should have been foreseen but everyone makes mistakes. Once it has been brought to the attention of the underlings they should bring it to the attention of their bosses and so on until it gets to a decision maker who can fix it. The approach of sitting back and doing nothing until there is one hell of a stink is just crazy. If a company were to wait until a significant number of their customers were angry with them they would lose serious market share. Unless they had a monopoly. Which I guess government does.

Meeting with senior council planning officer and business development manager did not go well.

Everyone is saying "thats terrible", "thats so unfair", "we want this to go ahead but there is nothing we can do".

Have you gone to one of the current affair program's. You may have to swallow something and move to a state where you can do what you want to. Old CanDo Campell is changeling every law here to suit business.

That all really sounds ridiculous. Honestly where did the system go wrong and why can't it be fixed....and before the problems 18th birthday.

Geez 18 years to fix an issue (and apparently not ashamed to mention it)

YEAH EXACTLY.

I couldn't believe she said that so matter of factly. So many people in government are tutt tutting and there is no acknowledgement that they (the collective governmental they) have done this to us and it would so many others as well.

It is just as well we are not in a war with decision making processes like this. It almost makes me feel sorry for politicians because they can only inact change to the extent that their instruments (the various government departments) are willing to implement change. They see their job as pushing the paper in front of them rather than acting for the greater good of the community and serving the public interest.

This may be why you don't tend to see this attitude as much in the health system (you still do just not as much) because people in health have their focus on the patients rather than the paper work. It is much easier to find Dr.s and nurses that are willing to bend the rules to the need at hand and while the admin types can be a little officious they to see that the system is there to help the patients and their families. Which isn't to say that there isn't some shocking bureaucracy in the health system, it just doesn't seem to be as bad.

A really good example happened to us a few years ago. We live on a little dirt road only about 40m past the bitumen. During one winter we were having to call an ambulance as many as 6 times a week for our son. A number of times the Ambulance got bogged because it could not get traction and the wheels would just spin on the clay surface of the road. This meant that a second ambulance had to be called out to get E. to hospital plus the CFA and police to give the ambulance a push and get them back in service.

Obvioulsy this was bad for our son because it delayed getting him to hospital but it also meant that if anyone needed an ambulance there wasn't one because Daylesford only has two. All that was needed was a load of gravel dumped and spread on the road maybe $2000 worth. We didn't have it so I called the council and suggested that it would be a good idea for them to organise it. I was told that it was not their responsibility. I explained that it was a council road and that if two ambulances were attending E and someone had a heart attack in Daylesford then an ambulance would have to come from an adjacent town the closest of which is over half an hour away. In the interest of the greater public good wouldn't it make sense to drop a load of gravel or two so that this didn't happen again. Again I was told it was not their responsibility. Which is what you would expect from a bureaucrat.

Anyway I told one of the local paramedics at which point he started swearing and went into the council offices to ask them to fix it. He was told that it was not their responsibility. His reply was that it wasn't his job to get this problem sorted but it was his responsibility to get it fixed. He went on to say that it was the councils responsibility and the councils officers job and since they had been informed of the situation if anyone died as a result of an ambulance not attending them in time in Daylesford or indeed surrounding regions because their ambulance was in Daylesford instead of being where it should be they would be held responsible. The paramedic was told that he was being alarmist and that the council couldn't be expected to maintain every dirt track. If this was to be an ongoing problem then maybe the parents of hte patient should consider upgrading the road or moving. Some swearing ensued.

Anyway the paramedic got on to his boss but unfortunately his boss got the same response. The attitudes of the paramedic and the Ambulance Victoria are what we should see in all our civil servants but unfortunately it is the actions of the council officer that are more prevalent.

That attitude is utterly ridiculous. Our council has clearly labelled our intended development as "non complying" yet is literally bending over backwards to assist our project and offering as much help as they can give.

Stuart, perhaps enquire with VicRoads if the speed limit has any bearing on the slip lanes they want you to build. You may be able to petition with your neighbours and with the backing of council to reduce that speed limit if doing that will negate the needs for slip lanes. My Dad worked for the SA equivalent for many years and a lot of the requirements like slip/turning lanes are often speed related.

Yes we have and it will have an effect instead of the BAR needing to be 135m long and the BAL 62m long at 100km/hr at 80km/hr the BAR and and BAL would be 120m and 50m long respectively. They don't want to drop the limit to 80 and they will absolutely not drop it any lower not hat it would make much difference anyway.

Going to be on ABC Ballarat radio this morning.

Wish me luck.

Give them hell mate, let us know how you went and best of luck.

How did the radio thingey go

yeah how did it go?

The interview went well but its only one step in fixing the problem. I did get a call from Ballarat City Council and they may have two alternative sites for us. I really don't fancy moving or commuting but if it is a choice between getting started or not I'll take the commute or we will move.

Had a look a two alternative sites today.

One is on the old calder (taradale) highway that has been bypassed by the new multi lane highway. Under the standard we would still have to add turning lanes but there are no trees in the way and they would not have to be as big since the road is already rather wide. This site is flat and has three phase power very close with water as well. However, taradale is a good deal warmer in summer than Little Hampton.

The second site already has planning approval (with council signage) for a farm shop and we have been told we could get the GHs approved as "GH for existing farming operation" and so avoid the left and right turning lanes. Now I'll be very clear I don't think that we would need turning lanes for this site as it has a history for being operated safely and the adjacent farms have much more traffic than we ever would and are also safe. However as much as it seems that we could get through the planning process if our previous site was not safe without left and right turning lanes then this one is less safe. I still think it is good enough but it is just so dumb that the site we end up with is going to be on a section of road that is less straight and the straight that is there is the bottom of a basin. Ie you come down a hill and the road turns onto the straight and then it goes up and turns off the straight, with the straight bit being about 200m long (the previous site had a straight that went over 440m.

No good news but I'm about to meet my federal mp, on wednesday my state mp for the third time and some time this week the gm and ceo of the shire

Well it is official.

The site that we had lined up will not receive usable planning permission. If we wish to go ahead we will have to have done roadworks that will cost a minimum of $100,000 as required by VicRoads.

Council has not been very forthcoming about whether they can give us any confidence about whether we can get permission at another site without being required to do roadworks at any future site.

We are not dead in the water but we are not making any headway either.

I might just rejoin the conversation about water melons and the evils of government.