On Saturday 9th September this year the residents of Orange will be required to vote and elect a new Council to assist in making financial and administrative decisions for the benefit of all residents living in our great City
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The purpose of this letter is to try and entice more civic minded people, both male and female, to nominate for positions on Council at the September elections.
It would be great to see some new faces, with new modern ideas, elected but that won't happen unless a variety of new candidates are prepared to "throw their hat in" and nominate for council.
I was fortunate to be elected to serve on council in the early 1980s and found it to be a wonderful experience and a great chance to give freely of my time as a small token of appreciation back to the city as a lifetime resident.
Take my word for it. If you are fortunate enough to be elected to serve on Council it will be a great experience that you and your families will remember for the rest of your life.
In conclusion, if you are thinking of nominating then don't hesitate.
John H Swain
COUNTRY HAS TO GET BACK TO THE BASICS
AUSTRALIA has a huge land mass with the vast majority desert, rock, marginal and poor country with only a very small area suitable for agricultural pursuits. Forty six (46 per cent) percent of this special land is already owned by foreign interests.
This unique land not only surrounds Orange Airport, it is the water catchment area for Orange's water supply. How the aquifers charge, run or the areas they cover is unknown and all the theories at this point of time are at best a calculated guess, however it is a known fact not to interfere with a spring when cleaning out a dam as the spring mysteriously disappears.
I think there is an arsenic bed somewhere in this area and if a bore is sunk through it or its encasement broken Orange could be in all sorts of trouble.
To rezone this land to "industrial" is beyond comprehension. If rail is the catchcry go north. There is plenty of marginal country which could be purchased at a fraction of the cost with a ready supply of water which is not being used costing Orange ratepayers two million p.a.
The loss of Electrolux was a huge blow to Orange and surrounding areas and it would be certain to say manufacturing in this area is a thing of the past.
Australia has the world's highest labour costs, construction costs, energy costs and telecommunication cost, add to these costs the amount of water industries require and prospects are bleak.
Industries that have closed in Orange include the abattoirs, Wool Top, Woollen Mills, Barrett's Milk & Ice cream, Cherry Brinery, saleyards, greyhound racing, many family run orchards, potato and pea growers, dairies, piggeries, poultry farms, Egg Board, market gardens and there would be many more.
It is evident that the above mentioned industries without exception were rural based pursuits which Orange was built and thrived on.
Orange and surrounding areas future prosperity relies on the reestablishment of all of these lost rural pursuits.
One can live without many things but exclude food and water and your weight won't be a problem for long.