What's wrong with the world today

[kiwigeo]

Im tickering away here at work on a 15 year old HP41 calculator......I think that definitely makes me the biggest nerd on this forum.

[adrian]

There is another alternative and that is to stop wasting the ratepayers' money on useless things like bush fire maps and public land use policies and try spending it on the things that really matter, like what to do with all the poo.

The really basic things are being overlooked because of pressure from the state & federal governments, the insurance companies, and the greenies. I suppose if they let the sewerage pile up enough, there will be little threat of a bush fire. Never mind the stench.

I think the purpose of a local council is to look after infrastructure and to leave the lofty ideals to others.

One thing you might want to try, to aleviate the sewage problem in the short term, is to contact the council and demand that they smoke test the sewage system in your municipality. Many councils have more than adequate sewage treatment but the system is flooded by stormwater in times of heavy rain. This shouldn't happen if the stormwater and sewage systems are kept separate.
The only problem is that you wouldn't want to make it known that you were the one who caused the council to act. I know you're a country boy and many of your neighbours will have smoke coming out of their ears as well as their downpipes.

[adrian]

You jumped too quickly It's up to us to make sure that these local bodies are used appropriately .
I am extremely careful and caring of the enviroment but I dont rush in and defend any and all groups that are supose to be pro green just because someone critizes them. The thread was on how councils can waste money & my arguement was that some departments are set up and do just that by running around answering frivolous complaints to justify their budget .

I can see your frustration with the situation you found yourself in but you can't just pick and choose what types of environmental pollution you allow councils to deal with.
For instance, how would you react if a combined fire station and ambulance station were to be built next to your house. We have that fight going on in Port Macquarie at the moment where just such a station is to be built very near to a large retirement village. Imagine moving away from the city to spend the last few years of your life in a seaside resort only to be confronted with the sound of sirens day and night. I think you would get very noise intolerant and would complain at the slightest noise and you would also hope that there was a body set up to deal with such complaints.

It's easy for you to say that the complaints were frivolous because you had intimate knowledge of the amount of noise you were making but these council and state groups don't have second sight or a crystal ball. They don't have the right , nor should it be mandated to them, to pick and choose what they will investigate and what they should ignore.

[journeyman Mick]

................Is there such a thing as too much regulation? ...

You bet there is!

Mick