Wind Forum Success and National Solar Polls Thousands
Posted on 10 May 2012 by e-news
10 May 2102
MASG News and Events
Find us on Facebook: Thanks, Taryn, for becoming our 500th friend on Facebook! See our wall here
National solar poll day
Meet at Stoneman’s Corner at 10am, this Saturday 12th May. The Castlemaine mob will be taking part and asking MASG members to join us in polling. Nationally, this is part of 10,000 conversations about big solar. So far the 100% campaign has talked to more than 8,000 Australians through our Big Solar Poll.
Here in Castlemaine over a dozen volunteers have polled around 600 at the Swap Meet, the Bendigo Wine Makers Festival, the supermarket, Mostyn St and at other events. We’ll be taking these results to Canberra (see below) but to make it look really impressive, we want to show our MPs the results of at least 700 local conversations and do our bit to add to the national figure of 10,000 conversations.
Bikers love big solar too !!
National Canberra Lobby day
The legislation that will create the $10 billion Clean Energy Finance Corporation 
(CEFC) is due to be discussed in Parliament later this month. You can come to Canberra and Join up with others from across Australia as we take the national big solar poll results to our MPs in Parliament House. Start on Sunday 27th May, 1pm onwards for training and preparation, and Monday 28th May from 9am – 4pm. We will go into the Halls of Parliament.
Attendance is FREE and we have some funding to support travel costs for people who need it. If you would like to support a person coming to Canberra contact dean@100percent.org.au
Tel: 0448 327 791; and “Get inspired @ http://www.100percent.org.au/”
Community Wind Forums
Last night’s Forum in Castlemaine Town Hall marked the last of 6 held across Mount Alexander area in the past 3 weeks. “We are very grateful for the 170 who’ve participated in the forums. We’ve received a lot of very valuable input from the community that will help inform the future direction of the project. We’ve heard from people about what the possible benefits, as well as the challenges, of delivering a successful project will be”, said Mick Lewin, Chair of the Mount Alexander Community Wind Working Group.
Local residents gave feedback on the vision to set up a small community-owned wind farm in the Mount Alexander Shire. Many perspectives were raised as well as a number of questions. Questions will be answered publicly by the Mount Alexander Sustainability Group (MASG) over coming weeks via a ‘FAQ’ on the website.
Please DO the SURVEY!
In addition to the forums, MASG is currently conducting an online survey, to give more people the opportunity to have input
into the project. The survey is open until the end of May here.
The results of the community forums and the survey will be compiled into a ‘community feasibility report’ and help inform the future project plans.
MASG is calling on those people who wish to support the vision of the project to sign up as a supporter and to donate funds to help move the project forward. All donations are tax deductible and can be made on the website for at the MASG office, 233 Barker St Castlemaine.
“We thank all those who’ve contributed to this important community conversation and look forward to keep you up to date about the progress of the project” said Mick Lewin.
Events coming soon
Dirt – The movie
Sunday 13 May, 4.30pm-7pm, Ray Bradfield Room, Castlemaine
Narrated by Jamie Lee Curtis and inspired by William Bryant Logan’s acclaimed book Dirt: The Ecstatic Skin of the Earth, DIRT! The Movie takes you on a journey around the world to hear and see the stories of global visionaries who are discovering new ways to repair humanity’s relationship with Earth’s most valuable 
and under-appreciated source of fertility: dirt.
Film free, plus supper by CAKE, available to purchase. For bookings contact Castlemaine Community House on 5472 4842 or lucy@cch.org.au Hosted by Growing Abundance and supported by Mount Alexander Shire Council.
Carbon pricing explained at next ‘Agitation Hill lecture’ in Castlemaine
With the federal government’s carbon scheme set to take effect on 1 July, energy economist Bruce Mountain will explain the carbon price and what it means 
for households at the next Agitation Hill lecture in Castlemaine at 6pm on Friday 25 May. Bruce will discuss:
How a carbon price contributes to the global effort to tackle climate change, the prospects for renewable energies like wind and solar and how economies are adjusting to carbon pricing in Australia and overseas. Also, how spending on networks and infrastructure and other factors impact on consumers’ power bills and what are electricity retailers’ margins.
To line up an interview with Bruce Mountain please call: Josh Meadows, 5472 1132 or 0439 342 992
Communications and Marketing for community groups – developing skills and knowledge.
The workshop will cover: Media – defining messages and goals; Marketing – understanding your audience; and Social Media – what is it and is it for you? Tuesday 22nd May, 10:00 – 3:00 at Nanga Gnulle, 40 Harley Street, Bendigo. RSVP if you want to be fed, by 17th May, on training@sustainability.vic.gov.au with your details & dietary or other requirements
The City is Re-inventing Itself: loads of news from Sustainable Melbourne – on these sites. You can also subscribe to their monthly e-news, and find them on facebook.
Comments are closed.
