Over the fence - review of the week to 14 Jan 2006

Local CFA volunteers have not had a break since 1st December when the state wide fires began around Whitfield. Although those fires have moved on, the CFA volunteers have been helping out in Gippsland and not without escaping a plane crash on the way to the fires.

Then the bushfires returned to the Tatong and Myrrrhee valleys on Thursday. Watching it happen from the Banksdale vineyards, it was obvious that this fire was moving much faster than the December fires did.

This fire is shaping up to be more dangerous than the December outbreaks as the winds are from the south east an opposed to the north west of the last fires. That means the fires are burning towards homes instead of into the uninhabited state forests.

In the aftermath of the December fires, it was found that few native animals had been lost. Local landowners have called for better access for CFA vehicles during emergency situations and the authorities warned of an increased risk of toxic outbreaks in our water supplies. It was also reported that Dartmouth Dam continues to dwindle.

The Rural City of Wangaratta has responded by reviving their pipedream of piping water from Lake Buffalo or Lake William Hovell. The Watchdog though this was a bit rough and sent a letter off to the Chronicle. The latest information indicated the preferred option to be the Lake Buffalo plan.

The Mountain Cattlemen. including our own Cr Neville Wright, took a mob of cattle to the Bogong High Plains in protest to the state governments bans. The leader of the expedition, Philip McGuire, explains the reasons behind this bold move.

Although the Mount Buffalo Chalet decided to call it a day last week, the management hoped for a meeting with Parks Victoria to secure the future of the buildings. With support from Sophie Mirabella, there might be a future in the chalet yet.

People who made the news this week included Vanessa and Harry Hildebrand with their adventures in Peru and the Amazon jungle whilst Steven Bergamin was committed to trial accused of a winery bomb plot.