Editorial by Ruth Parnell
From "Maple Street Co-op News", Jun/Jul 2005
Hello again. I've recently spent a number of hours flying over much
of southeastern Australia and was amazed to see the dryness of the land
below. This has inspired me to run an item that touches on local, state
and national water challenges (see Environment section).
Since our last reports, protest actions against Cornerstone and the
proposed Woolies supermarket for Maleny have been revving up. Rumour
has it that Cornerstone will begin construction on 20 June, so keep
your phone
tree numbers at the ready and be prepared for more non-violent demonstrations!
Things are also hotting up in Montville, where most residents do not
want the proposed Links golf course/housing development in their backyard.
It's recently been revealed that the adjoining Skenes Creek catchment
is home to the endangered frogs, like the Cascade Tree Frog, whose lives
and habitats will be further threatened as soon as poisons are used
to eradicate weeds at the proposed site. Now, the world's most popular
herbicide, Roundup, has been found to be lethally toxic to frogs (see
EcoHealth News).
If you're going to be in Sydney during 29–31 July, make sure you
visit the Australian Organic Expo at Darling Harbour. It's the nation's
first major organic expo. For info, go to http://www.organicexpo.com.au.
Meantime, happy Co-op shopping!
Cheers,
Ruth
[From "Maple Street Co-op News", Feb/Mar 2005; published by
The Maple Street Co-operative Society Ltd, 37 Maple Street, Maleny,
Qld 4552, Australia, tel (07) 5494 2088, email maplest.co-op@serv.net.au,
website http://www.maplestreetco-op.com.au]