What a Terrible Waste
At a time when governments are offering incentives for farmers to move off what has become marginal land and discussions are being held about relocating our food producers northwards to take advantage of more fertile high rainfall areas the NSW State Government and its Hunter Water Board are intent on destroying forever 3,500 hectares of highly productive farmland in a high rainfall area to build a dam to store water that no one wants and no one needs – Tillegra Dam.
The Premier and the two Ministers responsible for this tragedy are prepared to callously force those affected farming families from the lands of their forefathers forever happily destroying not only their fertile land but the lifestyle, history and irreplaceable skills and experience gained over the past 150 years including in some instances fifth generation descendants of those early pioneers still successfully deriving a living from this land.
The beautiful Williams River Valley will be irreversibly changed and native animals including platypus will suffer an even worse fate than the farmers facing almost certain death as their habitat and food source is destroyed.
Dungog and the country can ill afford to loose the farming skills of the displaced families at a time when the country has to import feed and food costs are spiralling out of control. The shire and business can ill afford to loose the income derived from those residents who will be removed from the area.
Little has been said of the enormous upheaval that these families will suffer as they are forced off the land that has served them so well over many generations farewelling in some cases forever a lifestyle, relatives and neighbours in exchange for a life in an alien environment.
It would appear that Mr Iemma and his comrades have no affinity with the land or understanding of the feelings of people brought up on the land and perhaps this is because many of them have not lived outside of the city or even been in the country long enough to understand the enormous pleasure and satisfaction gained from being self sufficient, deriving a living from the land and being to be able to feed a family.
Any plaque placed on the future dam wall should clearly identify that its construction resulted in the destruction of a beautiful valley and river system and name and shame those politicians responsible.
Geoff Berry
Wallarobba