A very successful Renewable Energy Forum was held at BPACC with over 90 people attending.  The forum was facilitated by Cath Botta from The Regional Development Company Wangaratta.  

​BSFG President John Lloyd introduced the forum then called upon Steph Ryan, Deputy Leader of the Nationals and Member of the Legislative Assembly seat of Euroa to officially open the forum.

The forum then heard from the invited guest speakers,  
Taryn Lane - Embark and advisor to Coalition for Community Energy
Mathew Charles-Jones - Totally Renewable Yackandandah and
Gavin Ashley - Moreland Energy Foundation.

​John Lloyd and each of the speakers presentations can be viewed and downloaded by clicking on their linked names above.

A number of times presenters pointed out that the transition to a renewable energy future will be assisted by using less energy, by increasing energy efficiency, then by evaluating renewable energy generation capabilities in the region.

Cath Botta then asked the forum to break into small groups to consider and discuss a number of questions and to write down key ideas coming out of this.  Each group then gave a brief report on their ideas. 
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John Lloyd concluded the forum with the Next Steps in the Benalla Renewable Energy Project.

Establish A Community Working Party
Community members needed to form a working party to move this project forward.
Beneficial to have a range of backgrounds including some business/commercial.
Working party to keep community informed of progress.
Complete A Funding Application
Benalla Sustainable Future Group with council support to apply for funding from New Energy Jobs        Fund – early 2017. Community input important.
Funding would be to conduct a feasibility study of renewable energy options for Benalla and to develop a Future Energy Plan for Benalla.

John Lloyd thanked those involved in assisting with the forum, in particular the support from Benalla Rural City Council and Larissa Montgomery, Councils Environmental Sustainability Coordinator.

BSFG President John Lloyd introducing the forum on October 18.

Useful links from the forum
Embark
Coalition for Community Energy
Totally Renewable Yackandandah
Moreland Energy Foundation-Zero Net Energy Town
Zero Net Energy Town Z-NET
The Regional Development Company Wangaratta

​Do you sometimes struggle to engage friends, family and strangers in conversations about climate change? You're not alone - so WATCH,(Wodonga-Albury Towards Climate Health) together with Melbourne's Psychology for a Safe Climate, is hosting a workshop to give you fresh ideas on how to talk about climate change.

Some of you may already be aware from the news reports in the Benalla Ensign and Country News (21st September), of the situation in the Strathbogie State Forest in the Lima East area, regarding plans by Vicforests to clearfell log a 40 hectare coupe along Parlours Creek.

Members of the Strathbogie Sustainable Forests group have been in discussions with Victorian State government departments and politicians on numerous occasions, firstly successfully lobbying to have the planned burning regime altered to a “need to protect built asset” basis, rather than a blanket 5% per year burn-off, and more recently, had commenced discussions about selective logging, as opposed to clear-fell logging.

The Strathbogie Forest in this area is a mixed species forest of high value for both flora and fauna. There are many large old trees with hollows that support Powerful Owls and Sugar Gliders, and the forest is also home to a good population of Koalas.
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VicForests is a commercial enterprise of the Victorian government, but it is very heavily subsidised by taxpayer funds. Returns from clear-felling are estimated to be no more than around $40 per hectare in this forest – a disgraceful return given the environmental destruction that is caused by this method of logging. A previous coupe in a nearby location has not recovered in 10 years, despite 3 attempts by VicForests to re-habilitate the coupe. The coupe is generally left as a single species (eucalypt) area, and earmarked for logging again many years later, usually for wood chips. All of this could be much better achieved through growing timber plantations in appropriate locations.
 
If you are interested in learning more about this situation, or wish to become involved in trying to stop the destruction of the Strathbogie Forest, you can follow the progress by Googling the website – “ Our Strathbogie Forest”  (www.strathbogiesustainableforests.wordpress.com)
 
Peter Holmes

BSFG President John Lloyd has surveyed candidates for the Benalla Rural City 2016 Council Election to find out about each candidate’s attitude to taking action on climate change.
The survey questions were;
Q1. Do you support an urgent transition away from polluting fossil fuels towards clean energy?
Q2. In order to address dangerous climate change, how will you use your position on council to ensure council moves quickly towards zero pollution?
Q3. Do you personally care about cutting pollution, supporting clean energy and addressing dangerous climate change?
The survey was emailed to all candidates who provided email addresses and posted to the others.
Responses to the survey will be made available to our members and people on our mailing list.  A letter to the editor of the October 5 Benalla Ensign will also inform readers that full responses can be found on the BSFG website.
Some candidates have responded by commenting below in this News item .  Edited comments have been included in the following response file.
Click here to view and download the responses so far. This file will be updated when further responses are received.