London calling

Good to see that there has been some response and interest in this topic. Where to from here?

It seems to me that the reality of life in the (extended) Bucketty area is such that many of the easy and practical methods for reducing emissions, and also supporting individual sustainability will already be a fact of life. Water, energy, recycling, and composting are clearly (and not surprisingly) already in hand.

So while suburbia struggles with the question of whether to install a small water tank and whether to tuck it away to the left or right of the rose bush next to the Hills Hoist, Bucketty residents already have one, two or three 20,000 litre tanks as the only water source. Similarly, the need to re-use water has seen some people already look to grey water capture and recycling.

Given the expense of grid electricity supply to a rural property, not to mention the relatively frequent power outages, alternative electricity supplies have also been a long term (if not primary) choice of supply for some.

I guess my questions around all that centre on whether the knowledge individuals have has been collected and made available as a source of community knowledge. The pros and cons of various approaches, and also practical real-world-tested knowledge of each approach. I am thinking that not only could this be useful for any existing (or new) member of the local community to be able to tap into; it would be also be a useful information source for those outside the local community. Across Australia (and beyond) such knowledge is being sought and it is very helpful to have practical advice available freely, which is untainted by the marketing BS from any commercial product supplier.

My second question is around the fact that the community, by the nature of its location and remoteness, is almost totally reliant on personal, vehicle baed transport. This is not just true to the individual properties and everyone's daily comings and goings, it is also true for the local economy. When I last lived in the area, a lot of the business in Wollombi revolved around capturing some of the dollars from the passing tourist trade - buses going to and from The Hunter Valley wineries etc. I have no idea what percentage of the economic base comes from that, but I suspect that the area would suffer some major economic hardships were it to totally go away. I am wondering if anyone has looked into that at all? Certainly it is a factor that I would suggest is very important to consider when looking at any plans for future business growth, whether on the large or small scale.

I am also wondering whether anyone has looked at commuting patterns. Some (like me) would live in the area full or part time but have a job that sees them needing to travel to and from Sydney/Newcastle/Gosford/other on a somewhat regular basis. That might be daily, twice weekly (if to get to a weekender property), or whatever. Anyway, that driving is getting less and less attractive as petrol prices go up, and efforts are made to reduce the resulting pollution. How much of an issue is that? How many people do that sort of regular or irregular commute? This has an effect in a couple of ways including on real-estate prices in the area. For some, being able to commute less would be attractive, even if they still have to commute sometimes. As I mentioned in an earlier post to this blog, the availability of cheap, reliable broadband is definitely related to the ability for people to work from home (meaning from Bucketty) and thus perhaps avoid a few more car journeys. Any one looked into this?

Hannah also correctly mentioned car pooling, local buses, and other ways of sharing travel. All good ideas to explore; perhaps someone can take a lead on that and look into what is wanted and also practical to achieve.

Sustainability also means the sustainability of the local economy. Supporting local business through choice, because it means money going back into the area, rather than into the pockets of companies outside the area. I am sure that this happens already to a large extent. Can more be done? What do the local business people think about this?

Anyway, again I am pleased that some interest has been shown in this and lets see if we can collectively help each other and help the broad community.