Dereel

According to D Breen of Dereel in the 12th of August edition of The Miner:

The majority has spoken

It seems obvious to me that D Breen doesn't understand what a democracy is. If he had his way then we'd only vote once for our prime minister and then it's decided forever because you can never change your mind and public opinion never changes over time. I don't think D Breen understands what a democracy is and is completely out of touch with modern Dereel.

The truth is Dereel changes over time, people move in, people leave and people's opinion change. In the last few years mobile communications have become more and more important. We've also learnt that Dereel is at extreme risk of being destroyed by a bush fire. According to D Breen you're not allow to change your mind, and if you do, well you have to leave Dereel. Well D Breen is wrong, you are allowed to change your mind and public opinion does change. If the majority now want a tower (as I'm sure they now do) then I suggest D Breen take his own advice and leave Dereel.

Wendy McClelland has written a letter to the editor of the Miner that is full of untruths.

I'm going to ignore all the misunderstandings of the difference between radio waves, microwaves and megahertz - it's already clear Wendy has absolutely no understanding of the physics of radio waves, that's been covered to death.

Here is the truth, I have spoken directly to Optus and Telstra about the tower in Corindhap and both have admitted that the tower there will in no way cover Dereel, there are too many hills in the way. I advise any Dereel residents to contact Optus or Telstra to learn the truth. Wendy is not speaking from a position of authority, she is lying to you to try and convince you a tower is not needed in Dereel based on no proof.

Also, the ALP have released detailed maps on which towns will be getting fibre optically connected to the NBN, Dereel is not on the list. Dereel will not be getting fibre optics and in any case the fibre optic cables does not in any way address the issue of mobile phone coverage. We don't want the tower to gain access to the internet, we want it so we can use our mobile phones. Again Wendy has no idea what she is talking about.

There is also a big difference between understanding fellow neighbours valid concerns about a tower in their backyard and wanting a tower for the community in a location that is more acceptable to all. This woman seems to think that that means I'm admitting towers cause health problems, it does not, it just means that unlike her I care about others in my community and I'm willing to make comprises for them - unlike Wendy who wants to dictate to you what you can and can't do with your life based on her completely unfounded concerns.

Dereel will get a tower, Wendy will fail.

So far this site really does look a little one-sided. That's not Scott's fault; nobody else has brought up any other topics. But there's an election coming up, and I have a number of axes to grind. Apart from mobile broadband coverage, there's the NBN (no surprise that Dereel doesn't show anywhere in today's announcement), fire danger, electricity supply reliability and TV coverage. Neither of the main candidates has addressed any of them, including the topics that we've been discussing here, but they're more receptive than at any other time.

I've sent letters to Darren Cheeseman and Sarah Henderson voicing my concerns. They're online at http://www.lemis.com/grog/Day/20100730/Cheeseman.u7u.pdf and http://www.lemis.com/grog/Day/20100730/Henderson.u7u.pdf.

I'd suggest that other people on the list do this as well. Feel free to copy parts or even all of my text if you want to, but consider that it will have more of an impact if we don't just all send the same message.

Greg

I have setup a simple form that Dereel residents can fill in to have their support for a tower added to the planning permission. Simply fill in the support form and click send, I will then include your letter of support for the tower to a community support pack and then give it to Telstra and Optus. You can also fill the form in on behalf of friends and neighbours that don't have internet connectivity but please do get their permission first.

If you prefer not to use the form you can of course still email me your letters of support.

Today the ALP released detailed maps of what areas will be getting connected to the NBN by fibre or next generation wireless. As predicted Dereel will not be (not even nano fibre).