The Beagle Editor, COUNCIL DECISION MAKING LEAVES SOUR TASTE
One would expect, that to observe councillor deliberations, would inspire trust and confidence in those elected to represent our interests, and in the procedure under which they operate.
However, the Aug 9th meeting regarding discussions on Native Forest Logging in our shire, saw these expectations sour.
My forbearance of proceedings vaporized during discussion on Clr Worthington’s first(of 5) recommendations:
“ Eurobodalla Shire Council ..... notes the growing evidence that native forest logging by Forestry Corporation of NSW (FCNSW) in our State Forests is both economically and environmentally unsustainable.”
Such was my feeling of angst and exasperation, that to persist in watching the webcast would have resulted in my laptop being hurled from my veranda into the creek below.
Following Clr Worthington’s comprehensive and scholarly introduction, our very own resident ‘dinosaur,’ who had been squirming in his chair for some time, was finally granted the opportunity to speak, launching into his own misguided, uninformed and discriminatory attack on this ‘green’ proposal. His assertion being that, should council support this motion, “there will be no income to FCNSW from their holdings in this shire,” and that we would be, “denying them their main source of income.”
BOLLOCKS!
Does he not listen?
Apart from the fact that this is an ‘advocacy’ recommendation, Native forest logging is subsidised by plantation harvesting and taxpayers!
Also of note is:
“Forestry Corporation suffered a $20 million loss last year, with NSW taxpayers forced to pay $441 per hectare to log critical native forests.”(SMH, Mar 15th)
In addition, the motion does not preclude FCNSW from generating income in our shire - nature-based tourism assets/activities and recreational opportunities.
Clr Worthington raised a ‘point of order’ regarding these speculative assertions made by Clr Pollock. According to procedure, this had to be dealt with before discussion could continue. There was some confusion at this point.
It became apparent that clarification was required. The Chair deferred to the General Manager saying, “I’ll let Dr Dale, did you want to comment?”
I thought she was going to provide advice on the point of order, as is her role.
But she didn’t.
She inserted herself into councillor discussion/debate re Clr Worthington’s recommendation. THIS IS NOT HER ROLE.
She referred to Forestry’s input during the bushfires, saying they were, “vital and instrumental in removing trees.”
Apart from being irrelevant to the motion, does she not realise that ALL agencies require training and certification in tree felling and that ALL agencies were involved in felling trees to maintain access and for safety purposes.

Above: National Park fire fighters removing tree on Araluen Road 11th Jan 2020 As if this departure from correct procedure was not enough, the General Manager then inserted the Infrastructure Director into the discussion saying, “Mr Sharpe, you might want to talk about that.” Regarding the bushfires, Mr Sharpe’s added, “there were no better efforts than Forestry.” What an shameful statement to make. Apart from being totally irrelevant to the recommendation being discussed, it was divisive, inappropriate and subjective, particularly considering the extraordinary contribution made by our RFS VOLUNTEERS.

Above: RFS volunteer fire fighter, Andrew Stojanovski with National Park fire fighter, Adrian White in Deua Valley during the bush fires. Personally, I am not a fan of Forestry operations. However, during the bushfires in the Deua Valley I saw, first hand, ALL agencies working together; Forestry, National Parks and RFS. Efforts of these agencies during the Black Summer Bushfires should not be compared, but collectively applauded. There were further comments made by councillors and staff, praising the efforts/achievements/attributes of Forestry, all of which had no relevance to the recommendation being discussed - that of the economic sustainability of Native Forest logging which is subsidised by the citizens of NSW. Remarks were also made espousing the good intentions that Forestry representatives had impressed upon councillors in a briefing: improving forestry practices, planting nurseries of koala feed trees, identifying and documenting hollow bearing trees, blah, blah, blah. I believe acceptance by councillors of these assertions to be naive, as FCNSW continue to be caught out and fined for their numerous and ongoing breaches of the EPA Act in our native forests. Councillor Worthington, you deserve high praise for remaining calm, composed and persevering with your proposal while colleagues and staff misunderstood, misrepresented and deliberately contributed irrelevancies/falsehoods into the discussion of your motion. I found the following remarks from Clr Pollock particularly offensive: * the motion was ”philosophically driven”- intimating that protection of the natural environment was not the focus of the motion, but simply a ‘green’ ideology. * “it’s just a philosophical partisan piece of zealotry.” Such a statement merely illustrates Clr Pollock's own partisan bigotry against anything he perceives as ‘green,’ or proposed by a Green. Councillor Worthington, I wish to congratulate and thank you for your comprehensive, articulate and astute address to council in support of your motion to advocate to the state government for an end to native forest logging in Eurobodalla Shire, and for a plan to transition to ecologically sustainable plantations. I am so pleased and proud to have you as my representative on council. Patricia Gardiner Deua River Valley