Places of last resort in a bushfire

Three years ago I published this .Its not perfect or complete .

Our Shire are sitting in the safest place of all

Its 29th December 2011 . Its now 2 years on from the biggest preventable natural disaster of the new millennium at Marysville where over 150 people died from being where they should not have been in a bushfire. It seems  we have learnt very little because
Our public spokesman speak with forked tongues about risk and what they have done about that risk . After saying safer places  didn't exist and weren't presumably going to be created  Rob Small; has just yesterday listed  some safer places.
Last month there were no safer places,  but  this week Rob Small is saying there are some ; Its easier when no one else is speaking up,  to say nothing:  last week Surfcoast Shire spoke up and nominated exactly where several were.
Rob Small is not credible about the reasons he hasn't named and created safer places in the Shire. Is the implication in his statement recorded in the CH on December 28th that it is hard to design a safer place,  or is it , just , in his opinion, so very hard to cut some trees down?   His oft repeated claim that his  staff are always too busy doing more important things (like tree preservation )just doesn't mesh with his so called concern for people; The job should have been done before now !
The reality is that if we are going to protect people on roads, more open space areas will need to be created and nominated alongside roads  . The job of the Shire is not only to name the places of last resort , but to create them.and the directions to them . Why is it so late in the season that , after months of saying we haven't got any places of last resort we might suddenly get some?   Until the government stop shurking the responsibility and saying nothing , I have listed some places of last resort for visitors to the area on otwaysonline.blogspot.com.

Will cricket work today

The most important questions are dealt with HERE. Last Sat was wet - drizzly wet . These summer lows take a bit of understanding as the rain "coming from the north " is much less common than the weather coming from the west ( normal).
Time though, with all the info on the net , to take weather interpretation into our our own hands.
Well not entirely- these blokes at BOM should be respected .
Seems the general district forecast is supported
ie SW  cloudy risk of isolated showers esp on the otways . Radar at 10 supports the expectation that rain with mainly occur to the west and on the hills ( the sensitive nature of orographic effects when the air is filled with moisture like it is today )

SO HERE IS my forecast ( made 10:45 am Sat 26th Nov 2011)

That there is a 90% chance that drizzle will not occur at South Colac ( where it matters) but rain south much more likely as slight northerlies raise the air into the Otways .
There is 80% chance that cricket at South Colac will be OK because the warm air from north will continue till 5pm keeping air clearer than it might be at the head of the front . Showers and cloud expected  but not expected to be uncomfortable like it was last week at Birregurra . Expect a clear photo of the north to be taken at 4pm .
I could be wrong .
See the charts for yourself. 2pm above and 5pm below

Unsustainanable reactive approches

The beach is almost gone and the rock treatments are bigger than ever. The erosion of the beach ridge system is completely avoidable, but the works which caused it have not been dealt with . No mistake has been admitted and money has for the fifth time in a decade been thrown at a solution which fails to deal with the basic problem ( not mentioning it here because noone since 2006 has raised it with me )

Many people want to be called conservationist, but they don't really know what that means - its means preventing problems from happening , not trying to fix up " damage" How can our Shire Call itself conservationist when they try to solve environmental problems with more and more engineering solutions.If land is soft we make it hard with rock--- well if you are real simple and see things in only 2 dimensions its completely rational .
Conservation just becomes a matter of money and people are just allowed to do what they like. Our leadesr are afraid to mention the word mistake and mistaken .At least Labor talked about planning - Libs appear not to really believe in it .
Care is not something you do ahead of time but something you do after an accident or a tragedy . Many new age conservationists are really techno tragics - hooked on the idea that a price on the problem will fix the problem .

Some people at Apollo bay now have Ocean views after that annoying dune washed away .
Mr Mulder will no doubt fund some more works to repair the damage that rich and unthinking people have created on the foreshore . Who needs a beach to sit on when when you can have rocks . Note this problem was identified here in 2006 . http://otwaysonline.blogspot.com/2006/12/welcome-to-our-beautiful-rocky-beaches.html
Why should anyone vote Liberal when they fall for the same old reactionary non science that plaqued their predecessors.

Pelicans come back to Colac

While plenty of birds have been making their homes on the southern shores since last year , pelicans have been coming this year .Large families of Pelicans were noted feeding tonight off the pier.

Our region missing out on leading science solutions

Officers paid to talk about big problems have been stopping us from using lakes (and many other areas) for recreation for years 

When you next hear someone worried about an environment issue ask them-- is a threat or an opportunity?  . 

For too long now we hear people being paid to worry us about the threats , when many of us as applied environmental scientists focused on solutions ( http://designwithnature.blogspot.com). 

Many of the algal blooms in recreational lakes can and should be managed, not left,  like the greens suggest,  in a 'no touch zone" . 

Algae will form part of our energy future when Departments employ scientists and not narrow focused problem driven project managers

Ordo Amoris: Literature to Fuel the Imagination

Ordo Amoris: Literature to Fuel the Imagination