323 likes and continuing to rise - including more from the conservative farming establishment. I rang a vinneron in the Richmond area earlier and have sent him copies of the CSIRO and ACOLA reports. Interesting that while both were clearly responding to a pro-industry brief, they each made significant caveats in their exec summaries and closing statements. Most of which referred to lack of industry standards, poor statutory protection for communities landowners and limited remediation actions, not to mention impacts on water quality etc. The implications for this sort of mining in the area are rather more horrendous than I thought. At the Climate Action Group meeting last night (a nice, sit around the table, committee meeting, not the rampage I had anticipated) they raised the implications for rapid escalation of water prices - all local water, artesian and piped, is already 'owned' by someone. But it is a tradeable asset... supply outstripped by demand (no farmer would pay for more water than he needed) = escalating prices and the death of agriculture. So much for our future as the food bowl of Australia. Getting a little ragged now as too much time in front of a computer screen or on the phone absorbing new and difficult and at times conflicting information. At least the house will be warm tonight. The fire went out yesterday morning and was not re-lit as I was out most of the day - consequences - several layers of blankets last night.

280 Likes and rising!! I am just about to rush out the door (again) to drive down to Hobart for this evening's meeting so I can report back to our group on issues raised, matters for consideration etc. Am also our nominated person to report on the Oatlands meeting - lucky I now have figures for the turnout and a date for our next meeting!! Today has been a complete shambles as far as getting anything I had in mind done, but I have: Called in and collected the list of names as well as the DVD. Come home, helped draft the wording for the petition on change.org (http://www.change.org/en-AU/petitions/state-government-of-tasmania-ban-the-practice-of-hydraulic-fracturing-in-tasmania-2), finally worked out how to copy and replicated the DVD, attended a meeting at Council Chambers, a meeting with the coordinator of our group to agree on the questions to the sent to Petragas - agreed, sent and now being used by the Greens for their own questions ...; met with my co-author on the community objection to be signed Friday and Saturday at the Oatlands Community Memorial Hall (we hope, if MILE's coordinator gets her head out of her posterior), and a meeting at the school about the community garden (now heading toward being an organised structure). So apart from a bit of cruising on Facebook I am done I think... Then down to Hobart, home to light a fire (hope the Chinese at Brighton is open), and bed. Tomorrow will be copying more DVDs so I have some to share at Quilting.

Over 200 likes now!! Go Oatlands I say!! I have been having fun redrafting the collective submission and will be redrafting my own (once again) now I have spoken to MRT whose staff are to be commended for their objectivity I have to say - very impressed with the chap I spoke to. Also googling to introduce some balance into the various posts on the facebook page - CSIRO reports, that sort of thing. A steep learning curve - always stimulating I find!! Having fun. Minus five start to the day with whiteness all around, and tonight is to be 3 - go figure. The fire is chugging away merrily nevertheless as it is jolly chilly here at present.

Wow, what an amazing response! Our Facebook page already has 177 likes and images have been shared by others through their own Facebook pages - I have redrafted my submission as the original will now form the basis of our collective objection. It seems I have become a member of the gang of four who are coordinating this and thus also have administrator rights on the Facebook page, so many of my posts come out as being from the page, not me. Oh well. Just have to remember that this is happening so I can moderate my comments accordingly. So apart from that - a trip to the local market this morning where I found an old PWD warning lamp, with tollpainting on it, which will, I think, make a nice candle-box (imagine a tealight candle inside those red bullseye glass panels) - I pick it up next market as my budget did not stretch to the $8.00 price tag this week. Cut some firewood as more cold weather is on the way accompanied by rain. Tomorrow morning I am off into town to work with the others on the wording of our submission. it's all good!!

Despite freezing rain and winds there was a great turnout last night. Local Council General Manager Tim Kirkwood confirmed he has never seen such a large turnout at a public meeting in the district! Anyone in southern Tassie who does not have access to useful information on the subject is urged to to the Lockthegate.org.au which is a website run by a community of interest in Gippsland Victoria. There, by a united community effort (93% community support) they have successfully run the mining companies off their land. Essentially they do this by posting trespass notices on their property entrances specifically targetting the mining companies. What happens then? They move on to softer targets. Unfortunately Tassie is always a soft target for this sort of thing. Our Facebook page is 'Stop destructive coal and gas mining Tasmania' - Like it if you are concerned!! So what did we learn? Well, Fracking is an 'unconventional' mining technique (that is, it is not a traditional method but one which is being developed as it goes along) which drills down through the aquifer to the petrochemical rich stratum of the earth's crust. The drill hole is encased in concrete to prevent entry by chemicals into the aquifers. Drill casings regularly fail - many in the first 12 months. Once the hole is available, a mix of sand, water, and various toxic chemicals are pumped in under pressure to fracture (frak) the target stratum. Twenty thousand litres of fresh water are used daily, per drill, for this process. Seventy percent of what is pumped in is extracted. The remainder stays in the ground. What is extracted is too toxic to release into watercourses so must be stored in evaporation ponds (several acres of hole in the ground lined with builders plastic). Flooding from heavy rain releases this into surrounding soil and watercourses. The thirty percent that stays there gradually works its way through the soil and results in releases of gases on an unpredictable area and frequency. Contaminated aquifers result in the loss of viable agricultural land because of the effect it has on crops and grazing animals - milk, vegetables, meat is contaminated. Waterholes become unpalatable to stock so they refuse to drink even when dying of thirst. Gas emissions (uncontrolled ones) result in spontaneous explosions, increased vulnerability to fire hazards in the bushfire season. All very nasty. So I spent my day drafting my objection (even if it will cost me 40 odd dollars to lodge, since as a property owner in the affected area I am entitled to do so. Representations can be made by anyone, objections only by property owners or those with an 'interest' in the area of the application (presumably renters, those with shares in family trusts etc). Got home at 10 last night so was pretty darn tired, but I am glad I went and it was well worth while to watch the faces of our local councillors (those two who bothered to attend) as they saw fellow=farmers saying they wished they had never let the mining companies on their properties. We encouraged them to buy a copy of the video to show to their fellow councillors. I have also asked my local councillor to allow a community representative to attend (as an observer) the meetings to be held with Council and representatives from Petratherm and the Department of Mines. Interestingly our Minister for that portfoliio also holds the portfolio for Water and Primary Industries. With a strong response from a rural community it will be interesting to see which way he jumps. Particularly with an election next month ...

It didn't quite get around to snowing today, but it certainly tried hard. Strong winds and light drizzle all day, but fortunately I got out earlyish this morning to get some wood cut. Tonight's meeting will be sadly imbalanced due to the decision by Petratherm to make themselves unavailable. The cynic in my says this was a decision prompted by their PR people to polarise public opinion in the rural areas (we don't like long-haired greenies stopping us from making money in these parts, particularly while still licking our wounds from the Forest Agreement) and discredit those who wish to make submissions to Council or the State Government expressing concern about the possible effects of Fracking in some of our more essential food production areas. It will be interesting to watch the dynamics... I will try to keep my mouth shut but doubt I will be able to do so...

Today was going to report face to face with Centrelink day, so one on which I had to be on best behaviour. I decided that since I had to drive all the way to Hobart (again) I might as well hand deliver my resumes to the Councils en route. So I spent the morning trying to bind them. The ones printed out by Workskills, despite several days of being weighted down flat, were a bit too curly to achieve a neat binding, so I ended up printing out some on my own printer after all. Their office is in a timber building and only used one day a week - hence the curly printer paper). Bound, they look relatively professional. So after my meeting I set off to find Brighton Council Chambers (cunningly hidden on the outskirts of Bridgewater) and having got that far, continued to Clarence Council (which I had difficulty finding as the building I thought it was in was hidden behind a work site with no visible approaches or parking). From there to Glenorchy and so back to Bridgewater to do the shopping I had forgotten to do while I was there earlier. Final call was Southern Midlands Council Kempton office where I gave it to the planner, having concluded their heritage officer simply calls the first friend whose skill set seems to vaguely fill the bill. Also chatted to their community officer about the Gardens a bit more in preparation for our meeting which has been rescheduled to next Tuesday now. Home via the little wood man at Brighton who does spectacular kindling, but this time it was to buy a bag of wood (also always well-seasoned and cut to a sensible length) which will (hopefully) sit in reserve for those days when cutting wood is just not on. Probably a particularly useful purchase as the predicted snow is now officially on the forecast for Saturday.