Leane and I would like to thank all the people who have contributed in so many different ways to the Gazette over the last 12 months. Be it submitting articles, photos, tip offs, helping with distribution or feed back - constructive or otherwise! It’s your paper so you’re entitled to your opinion!
The Gazette continues to grow and grow. (Apart from the Feb/Mar issues which are always the smallest due to people being away on holidays during January). Our page count has gone up to 32/36/40 pages the last few issues from 16/20 pages 3 years ago when I took over the editorial position. That can be directly attributed to the community taking an interest in their local rag and making a contribution.
99.9% of content is provided by, and is relevant to, local people. That’s the whole point of having a local news sheet. The standard of content has greatly improved, I feel, over the last 12 months and this has attracted more advertisers - which enables us to continue to grow.
Well done everyone.
This time last year I was advertising for a new editor. Not that I didn’t want to work on the Gazette anymore, it was just that I thought someone else may want to have a crack. I had 4 nibbles, but no takers. That’s fine - I’m very happy to continue so long as you’re happy for me to do so.
Also, this time last year we were waiting for Hardie Holdings to make their next move to impose a hideous dense urban development in the middle of Dunoon. Throughout the year, the Dunoon Community Group (DCG) continued to lobby local councillors. A lot of hard work by the DCG to expose inaccurate technical information contained in the DA paid off. The excellent presentation by the DCG’s Michael Broughton at the 2nd council workshop in May 2008 resulted in Hardie Holdings having to provide more accurate and technically detailed information to council. This delay together with an economic decline, gave the applicant time to reassess and to realise what a bad proposal this was, even from his own financial point of view, and to withdraw.
As was reported in the Gazette’s last issue, a new draft proposal was put to the community for their comment prior to a DA being lodged with council. It was expected to be put forward in October but we understand there are a couple of issues that need to be ironed out before the DA is put onto public exhibition. Please keep your eye on the council section in the Echo for any advice concerning this DA.
I’d also like to take the opportunity to welcome new residents who have moved to the Dunoon area lately and to those who are slowly but surely starting to build and move into their new homes on Avondale. You guys are more than welcome to contribute to the Gazette too y’know!
With the heat wave we’ve been experiencing over the last couple of weeks (October was rather warm too) bush fires are breaking out every day. On pg 21, for our new residents, and as a reminder to older ones, there is information about Total Fire Bans and Fire Permit news. Please keep up to date with this information as it’s so important; silly mistakes can be made which quickly snowball and put volunteer’s lives at risk. Because of this the RFS is now starting to come down hard by issuing heavy fines to people who don’t follow procedures or regulations.
I hope you’re enjoying the poems by Les Barker that have appeared in the Gazette the last couple of issues. I first saw Les and Mrs Ackroyd (his dog - now deceased, who didn’t ‘perform’ as such, more snoozed) at the Cambridge Folk Festival in the UK during the early/mid eighties and have been a fan ever since. He performed every year in the amateurs or ‘open mic’ tent and it was standing room only every time he appeared. He had the audience eating out of the palm of his hand - he is such a funny and clever word smith. I contacted Les via his website to ask if I could reproduce his poems in the Gazette and he was very gracious.
Thank you all again. All that’s left is to wish everybody a very merry Christmas and a happy, healthy, safe and prosperous New Year 2010.
Paula McDougall
Editor