Bayside Bulletin October 8, 1996
Consider next generation
FOR those of you making comments in the space provided in the Vision 2005 brochure, please think carefully and consider the next generation of Redland Shire residents. Emphasis will continue to be on development, high density commercial in Capalaba anyway, in order to generate jobs, but if there is no balance between environment and development, sick people aren't going to be all that beneficial to the economy.
For those who did not read the article in The Courier Mail (10/2), 1 would like to point out the future predictions of American biologist and author Professor Jared Diamond at a meeting of Australian and New Zealand Association for Advancement of Science delegates, and I quote: Australia was following the example of many extinct or struggling societies by combining population growth with self-inflicted ecological havoc. He further stated there are already too many Australians and that you will have to hold your growth in population. He described the theory that population growth increased the prosperity of societies as a fantasy, and that a multitude of societies with similar low-rain environments which had either died out or were struggling to survive in now arid conditions, and said Aborigines realised that agriculture in fragile, arid environments could he lethal as the few tribes which took steps towards agriculture over 40,000 years didn't survive. So it is ironic that immigration is encouraged here even though there were far more people to he supported off the land than when Aborigines were struggling to survive before Europeans arrived. However. he also said modern societies had the advantage of knowing the consequences of ecologically unsustainable action and the ability to help repair the damage, unquote.
Dr Wollard, AMA, stated on air this week that with continuing population growth, being encouraged in Redland Shire, respiratory disease is on the increase from pollution, resulting in many deaths, and particularly at risk are asthmatics, the very young and old.
Local government has got to keep a balance between development and environment for residents and wildlife by encouraging efficient, affordable public transport, keeping creek corridors free from development, cleaning up waterways. preserving open space in high-density areas, thereby keeping, to some degree anyhow, the lifestyle most of us moved here for in the first place.
Amy Glade, Capalaba
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