Will Fred Nile be the saviour of the Newcastle Train line?

Hello Fred!

In a frabulous about-turn of pre-conceived notions, Fred Nile, the anti-gay and anti women's right-to-decide guy, has become a magical rabbit who is heading a parliamentary inquiry into the plan to close the railway line before it gets into Newcastle. (The latest proposal is to stop trains at Hamilton/Broadmeadow, even further from the city).

Fred has actually been hassled from bigwigs to Not conduct the inquiry, which has got his bristles up! With his nose twitching, sniffing out corruption, it looks like he might be a new hero!

Let's help Fred catch his carrot and put some submissions into the inquiry.

Parliamentary inquiries are actually pretty cool because all submissions must be read and addressed.
I know you have probably already written lots of letters, so at least you can cut and paste and it will be an easy process.

Drop your message to the government here:

https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/newcastleplanning?open&refnavid=x

Hand drawn website

There is currently a peaceful protest in Gloucester to stop the gas mining, and while I was zipping around on the interweb looking for the latest info on it, I found the lovely hand drawn EcoShout website, which was advertising the upcoming free concert by Anthony Albrecht at the protest site ( or you can buy a ticket to see him at Dungog at the Uniting Church 3pm on the 13th September) I'll be at the gig in Dungog and at the protest the next day!

 

 

 

 

Image from EcoShout

"If you do not keep the existing rail, prepare for a long and uncomfortable aftermath as we, the residents, will pursue you and your decisions"

Image from an article on protests in Maitland;

 published in Newcastle Herald,  04.09.14

The NSW Government has a plan to 'truncate' the railway line at Wickham. This means STOP the railway line at Wickham, and passangers would have to change to a bus into the city.
Here is a copy of a letter one Newcastle resident sent in to the government in response to this proposal:

Before making any changes to the existing rail line to Newcastle CBD, planners should take into consideration the full scope of corruption allegations currently being proven here. There is no legitimate scenario in which Newcastle residents would benefit from the proposed changes. They are contrary to the wishes of the majority of residents ( including me), they are contrary to the overall planning of the city ( eg the expansion of Newcastle University campus to the inner city) and there is evidence to suggest that they are contrary to the future prosperity of Newcastle ( as distinct from some vested interests). If you do not keep the existing rail, prepare for a long and uncomfortable aftermath as we, the residents, will pursue you and your decisions.

If you would like to make contact with the government on this issue too, you could send a handwritten letter to the NSW Minister for transport and the Hunter Region, 
Gladys Berejiklian,   
Level 35 Governor Macquarie Tower, 
1 Farrer Place, 
SYDNEY NSW 2000. 

As well as your local state member 

For further information or to join the campaign, go to Save Our Rail website

The pleasure of taking your bike on the train all the way to Newcastle City...

photograph by David Mist from the Powerhouse Museum Collection, Photograph collected from great Bicycle blog, Sydney Cycle Chic

..is now under threat! The NSW Government has a notion to build a Wickham Transport Interchange and 'truncate' (PR speak for 'cut off') the Railway line so you can no longer take a train into Newcastle.

I think this is a completely bad idea. So do some of my friends. Here is a copy of the letter Maryann wrote to the government:

To Whom It Concerns,

I am a user of the rail line between Newcastle station and Maitland. I want to be able to continue catching a train all the way into Newcastle beach.

I also want to be able to take my bike and children's bikes on the train to Newcastle beach. Buses won't let me do this.

The proposed interchange at Wickham is hopeless and not a solution.
What government gets rid of existing infrastructure that can only benefit a growing population ??? A short sighted government that is pandering to developers.

Please do not cut the Newcastle rail line.

Maryann Lees

If you would like to make contact with the government on this too, you should send a handwritten letter to the NSW Minister for transport and the Hunter Region, 
Gladys Berejiklian,   
Level 35 Governor Macquarie Tower, 
1 Farrer Place, 
SYDNEY NSW 2000. 

As well as your local state member 

For further information or to join the campaign, go to Save Our Rail website

Bicycles at Newcastle Baths (From Sydney Cycle Chic)

The easy train ride from anywhere with your surfboard to Newcastle beach

...is under threat....

As the NSW government considers a plan to "truncate" (PR-speak for "cut off") the railway line at Wickham

I'm not the only one who thinks this is silly. Here is a letter that another friend wrote to the government.

We left Newcastle (my phone wants me to write Beefcake) 10 years ago. Developers were lobbying to close the rail then, 10 years before that, and still today. Ironically, you marked out the old tracks in the honeysuckle "refurb", and the tram line (?) -- Just marked it mind, in that typically Australian false sentiment.

Keep it open damn you! Further, put the red rattler back on it. Build a perfect wave reef off the break wall. Make Hunter St one way out and King St one way in. Increase parking, paths, parks and cycleways.

Flush out your dead head business precincts and their negatively geared visions. Resist the Sydney plebs and their shit ideas. Find a real visions and back them for at least 10 years. renew newcastle proudly.

We might move back then. Good luck.

If you would like to make contact with the government on this too, you should send a handwritten letter to the NSW Minister for transport and the Hunter Region, Gladys Berejiklian:  Level 35 Governor Macquarie Tower, 1 Farrer Place, SYDNEY NSW 2000. As well as your local state member 

For further information or to join the campaign, go to Save Our Rail website

 

The beautiful train trip from anywhere to Newcastle City...

...is under threat....

As the NSW government considers a plan to "truncate" (PR-speak for "cut off") the railway line at Wickham.

Image from roys photography blog

As this is presently a project under consideration,  you can make your own submission, expressing your views or evidence, by emailing a response to this document.

Include your name and address in your submission and the subject should include "Wickham Transport Interchange"
My friends have been sharing the submissions they have been making to Transport NSW about this proposal.

Here is What Mara said:

Please Please ... sir

 I beg with all my heart ... not to close the train travel between Newcastle and wickham ..

Everything outlined in your future proposal supports the continuation of a train between wickham and Newcastle

I am a 56 year old grandmother with 2 grandchildren plus i am a bike rider ,,, rather than a car driver .

I have  used public transport of all types  over the years in various cities, country towns and suburbs .

The only one .... i repeat the only one that serves the needs of both the very young and elderly is the trains ..

Cancelling trains and replacing them with light rail ..

Straight away ...

I am  not able to take my bike on board a light rail or Bus !

This will indeed take away my independence or   increase my costs of travel exponentially ..

Try travelling with a double pram with two young children ...

Its difficult enough without being impossible to travel  with a pram outside of off peak hours .

Trains allow me to do this ..

Easy to get on , children can stay safely in the pram and i am not sooo stressed .

This is not possible and not supported by drivers or even the public if there is mild congestion of bus travellers or light rail travellers .

Trains allow people to enter the carriage , wide aisles  with supports available till seating is found and then after a whistle .... the train leaves the station ..

Buses consider their responsibility to the passenger finished after the door closes .

Movements are jerky as they enter the traffic  and time is not allowed for passengers to make their way down a narrow aisle to find seating ,, plus access is denied other people when a pram is parked in the aisle ..

Bus drivers are genuinely compassionate but must be committed to their schedule . Time . Budget .

Trams ... Staright away bikes are not allowed /

Prams are not encouraged .but while your at it grandmother , if you choose to board a tram with your grandchild without a pram ... keep them well behaved and pay your fare now befor sitting  !!!

Trains take this frustration away and instead develops a sense of being nurtured and  valued by society .. our  city ... our community .

I always see happy families travelling by train ,, enjoying the scenery and interacting with their younger accompianents

Is a city or region just to provide services  to the working sector ??

Trains are part of tourism  too .

As i mentioned and pleaded befor ..

your  Vision statement  wholly supports train travel into Newcastle   ...

As quoted here

 Vision

“Newcastle will continue to grow and

evolve to strengthen its position as the

Hunter region’s capital. The city centre’s

location and setting between the river

and ocean make Newcastle a compact,

people-friendly city with unique

attributes.

Newcastle city centre will be a vibrant

regional hub and attractive destination

for businesses, residents and visitors,

providing accessible and suitable

employment opportunities, a choice

of retail and other services, and local,

national and international investment

opportunities.”

Newcastle Urban Renewal

Strategy, 2012

This is not a vision excluding  people with prams . people with bikes , people with small lap dogs ,

 people with disabilities , or people who need to travel  seated in a wheelchair .

I beg you ....

Please please don’t cut the train  system  between wickham and Newcastle ..

Lets be the most people friendly city with unique attributes ...

Thank you for allowing me to voice my opinion

Best solar power lights I have ever tried

D.Light

Cheapest option is the "S2"

Which has 25 Lumens strength

I sell it for $20 plus postage.

Boosting my electricity supply via pedal power

We run entirely on solar power (off-grid) , with plans to include a wind turbine into our system. I want to use my exercise time to add power to my 24V batteries, particularly on cloudy days. So I have started my research into using pedal power, and the best web location I have found on the subject... and very interesting! is from

LOW-TECH MAGAZINE : Doubts on progress and technology 

Any good ideas for me?

Less is More, yet More is not Less

Thank you Ludwig Mies van Der Rohe and Robert Venturi, your thoughts combined provide a great guideline.

best result for your dollar, energy efficient windows

Here is my rule of thumb for best result for your dollar, energy efficient windows, for the east coast nsw, hunter valley...

1. Windows to the north should be big, and MUST have a 500mm overhang directly over the WINDOW
they should just be regular glass, single glazing

2. windows to the south and east should be smaller/ less area of glass to wall ratio, and should be "viridian comfort plus" single glazing

3. Windows to the west should be bare minimum opening, if at all. they should also be "comfort plus". Any large windows to the west needed eg. for a bedroom, should have a screen ( eg lattice or battens), set away from the window about 1m or so, so the room does not feel not boarded up, but the screen will cast a shadow over the window when the sun hits the west.


 IMAGE OF FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT'S AVERY COONLEY PLAYHOUSE:
one of my favourite windows ever!

4. Double glazing is to keep a house warm in the cold. Not really necessary in this area if the house is well  designed. Yes argon filled double glazing is the best, but so expensive! Instead, spend you money on foil under the roof, R2.5 batts in the ceiling, and R1 with foil in the walls.

5. Still cold? then get into curtains with pelmets for the winter. Curtains are such an under-rated house fashion item... you can wash them and pack them away for summer, (or still use in summer to keep cool- however external blinds are better for this...) and you can change your curtain prints with your fashion tastes!

Sustainable by design- free tools for solar analysis of window shading

I'm looking on-line for a link to my favorite programs, THE SOLAR TOOL , part of the old Ecotect suite. Its great that lots of these old separate building analysis programs are now built into CAD type programs, but that's a bit annoying if you don't want to load up and run a massively complex program and just do a quick test of an overhang in the totally cute SOLAR TOOL. In my search for it in the depths of cyberworld, I found a great site of Christopher Gronbeck, a sustinable architect in USA. He has developed and provides free (or with voluntary donation) a stack of simple analysis tools...and a very Wright-inspired website too! Find it here

 

Made In China

I personally prefer to pay more to buy things ethically produced. I know that workers in AUS, usa, Canada uk etc will get at least reasonable pay, have some kind of workers rights, and standard conditions. When companies claim "made responsibly in china" I some how doubt that. In what way is this so? what are the workers paid ? do they have any workers rights? sick leave? maternity leave? etc. If the companies selling these products made in developing countries, I would rather they described exactly what the workers conditions are, how they can verify this, and how often they check. I like many stores because of their environmental ethic, but personally I am convinced that a social and community ethic is intertwined with environment. And I am prepared to pay more for environmental products, because that is my way of voting with my dollar for a sustainable economy. But I do not want my money to support the business of keeping people in paid poverty.

Cycling in the city

Steven Flemming rides into our work on various bikes all very handsome (the bikes, that is). Maybe in the pursuit of handsome, I have noticed Steven wearing outfits to match his particular bike choice of the day. That would be helpful for me. Today I chose my outfit to match the lovely hand-made felt handbag I got at St. Vinnies. But dressing to match my bicycle...seems more suitably post-consumer!
Steven has written a book which should be very interesting. Have a look below. He needs to get some funds up to support it so if you are a cycle in the city type...you can support it and get your name up there in cyberspace as a cycle-space supporter!

Print out a house

WikiHouse explores the idea of anyone designing a house and printing it out on a giant machine which basically takes a sheet of plywood or MDF(toxic!) and burns out shapes which you then assemble yourself. Kind of like those dinosaur things from (my) childhood, but a real-size building!!

Don't really know how liveable, costly,  long lasting, weatherproof, sustainable, sanitary etc these things would be but its a fun start!

Grow Potatoes on your Lounge

And more community care with food at http://www.apricotcentre.co.uk/category/community/

YUMMO

dream bus journey on vege oil

This cute bus wants to run on recycled vege oil and take its own personal band on a tour and looks like they would like a few coins to help them on their journey. Here is their blurble:

"Los Angeles, CA - Hell&Lula, the commanding electro-dance group from Los Angeles, is doing a PledgeMusic Campaign, with goal of the campaign is to raise enough money to modify their "Cool Bus" (a converted school bus) so that it can run on waste vegetable oil from restaurants instead of diesel fuel. PledgeMusic is an online platform that allows fans to fund creative projects....In addition to being influential in a musical way, Hell&Lula is influential in a social way. Adding to their most recent plan of converting their bus to be more eco-friendly, they have also developed a Recycled Merchandise Program, and have helped spread the message of their friends at Falling Whistles, a non-profit organization dedicated to spreading the word about war in the Congo and vying for its peace."

Sounds good. Maybe one day we will see them in reality. To visit them virtually and donate visit here

Vote your best green architecture

Dear everyone,
Are you as fully engaged in other things as I am...too busy to read all the latest goss? how lovely to find on (one of my fave sites...I've said it before!) --INHABITAT -- a shake down of the best 6 green arch stories of the year, nicely presented and ready for you to vote on your fave...

Hobbits will go WILD!

http://inhabitat.com/top-6-green-architecture-stories-of-2010-vote-for-your-favorite/

Stripping and waxing

Naked: The handsome Edo Rocking Chair by Thos. Moser
Ahah!
Now someone would like to know how to stain and finish some furniture, rather than paint.
Well I say....
If you are going to strip paint off, then BioPaints also do a stain and clear finish.
But you could also think about what to do after you have stripped the paint back. The timber might already be a lovely color in which case you can skip the stain. If you want to stain, there are more natural alternatives...like black coffee!!
Then.. do you really need to varnish? You might consider leaving the timber raw.. it has a lovely feel and a bed doesn't get the same workout as, say, a floor or a chair... the parts usually in contact are covered by a mattress!
or what we did on a beautiful 150 year old kauri pine floor, was to sand it, apply a polish made of equal parts of boiled linseed oil (you buy it boiled), turps and vinegar, and then wax it. The result was beautiful and hardwearing.

So my suggestion..
1.Sand back the furniture (do it outside and wear a dusk mask!!)
2. Rub down the wood with turps to clean it up.
3. mix in an old jar equal parts turps, boiled linseed oil and white vinegar, (no need to heat, just put on the lid and shake vigourously) You can also add essential oil for extra yummy smells eg eucalyptus, lemon or lavender.
4. Rub this runny stuff into the furniature. It may make the timber darker. Let it soak in. Do a couple of coats for best effect.
5.The next day you can finish it off with a natural beeswax furniature polish... you can still get it in some shops or on-line or make your own: in an old metal pot break up some natural beeswax, if you want a harder polish add a small portion of Carnauba Wax, say 1 part to 15, pour pure (not mineral) turpentine over the top to cover , then put the whole pot in another pot of water on the stove(ie. make a double boiler). Mix it all together as it melts. Should be the consistency of unrefrigerated butter. Vary the turps to make the consistency.
6. Rub the beeswax polish on and then get a workout by buffing it by hand or find your gandma's old floor polisher to do the big bits!

Non-Toxic Paint

Making your own paint with help from Earth Pigments.


Recently a mother-to-be asked me about what kind of paint she could use in her nursery to paint a baby's cot. I think that everyone, of all ages, should only have to be exposed to non-toxic paint.

Non- toxic paints are not only safe for when a child likes to suck, lick, chew(?) furniture, but also paints generally have substances in them known ans Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC's), which release harmful fumes into the air. This is also known as "off gassing". You know that new car smell? Thats a toxic smell of VOC's and breathing them in is bad for you, causing respiratory problems and long term kidney problems. In Europe, most paints containing VOC's have been banned, as they are more advanced in health studies which show breathing in paint fumes (lasting for years after the paint has dried) have long lasting health issues. So of course you don't want a tiny baby exposed to the stuff.

So what to do? Lucky there are lots of good paints now available.
I personally like BioPaint, its one of the better priced non toxic paints (yes these non-toxic points can be more expensive but if you are just painting a cot its OK!) You can get non toxic paint in some eco type shops or on-line at somewhere like:
Colours by Nature
or
The Enviroshop
or
The EcoShop

Most big paint manufacturers also make low VOC paints, just look on the tin in the hardware store... but its what the paint is actually made from which adds to your thinking. The bio and natural paints are usually sourced from natural and not synthetic or chemical ingredients.

If its all to tricky... how about making your own paint! You can make traditional "Milk Paint"-
its just made of milk powder, lime, vinegar and some kind of coloring if you don't want white!
I made it once and it is great... but not smooth like a gloss paint... more textured like a light render. But at least you know what it is made of and its cheap!!!
there is a nice recipe at:
Earth Pigments

Good luck with your painting adventure!!
Jo

Where (near you) to recycle everything - from cans to computers

So exciting! A really super dooper site for Australia!
http://www.recyclingnearyou.com.au/
Just put in your postcode and the website will tell you everything you need to know about all your local recycling, re-use, hazardous waste collection services! Hooray! They even tell you where to take stuff, where to shop for second hand goods locally, what EXACTLY your council collects... eg: what have you been doing with all of those pesky envolopes with windows? The site tells you if your council recycles them or not.
Hot tip! Don't crush your aluminum cans!