How dare you!

What can I say. ( Ms culverts concerns in the Colac Herald) As a postgraduate degree scientist who weekly advised local councils for many decades on how best to manage soil and water resources in this area, I am well used to the idea that when you support some action , you won't please everybody – That, in itself, is definitely not a worry- especially if it's an investment that really works long term !

What is a worry is all the 'doing something about Lake Colac "actions that our political leaders have put money into that don’t and won’t work for the long term to improve the water quality in Lake Colac. Take as a very vivid example, the millions spent on window dressing and fiddling around on the edges in recent years ; the big picture future ecologically sound options for these lake systems could have been identified with 1% of that money.
Ms Calvert is entitled to remind us of the disadvantages and risks- the noise and visual intrusion. But until you investigate the issues and options in detail , they like most complex environmental and economic management questions, cannot be addressed .( for example -amount and cost of screening or fill ) .Threats can become opportunities-- if you plan for them . I am not advocating that we accept the bypass option as a given , but simply that we investigate it properly because economically and ecologically, its the only feasible proposition on the horizon for changing the water quality and eutrophic challenges of Lake Colac - how much impact ,where and why not think about it..

Where I strongly differ with Ms Calvert is on the idea of doing nothing. We have, whether we like it or not, a long established system of lake level and channel controls operating at the moment to keep the lake as full as it has been . Does she suggest we let the existing barrages, beaches and stops erode? I think it best for the future, if we get expert ecological and economic advice about what lake levels make sustainability sense - particularly before the next flood.

Mr McCarthur, and many other leaders, have offered us millions to “do something about the lake" over the last few years . I feel sure Mr Cheeseman and Mr Crutchfield will offer us something too. Especially if, instead of asking for another big bucket , we ask for a small proportion of it for planning - Well done Terry for getting to this point in Parliament ! Give us the informed choice limits that will enable us to support lake level settings and practical actions would make sustainability sense – Then for a long time in a very long time, we can all really move on.