I could not let this stand and called them on it while inviting a solution.

Instead of fixing the problem, they childishly took their bat and ball and went home.
Now they are crying foul.

Please do not let a few degrade our reputation and what many have built.

These are the facts, and as someone once said about journalists, “never let the facts get in the way of a good story”.

These facts are the best and only story.

Remember that the truth does not mind being questioned.

A lie does not like to be challenged.

The convenience of ‘free’ Information Bay bins being used by some locals as a daily dump on the way to work is leaving genuine travellers passing through with no room for their rubbish.

Full bins eventually spill out and rubbish gets blown into our fragile waterways.
Today I found a pile of cigarette butts tipped out of a car ashtray onto the ground only metres from a bin.

I hope we can pull together as a community to help re-create the “tidy town” image we once had.

The effort that one GW does on a weekly basis to keep this town clean has been highlighted during his recent absence – get well soon mate.

On the flip side, the amount of damage that a bunch of SC’s can do to this town’s ecosystems and reputation in a couple of months is staggering.

Keep it clean Toodyay.

I believe the mine is effectively a done deal if Chalice can actually deliver what it is promising since no government of any political persuasion will easily forego the potential revenue, no matter where it is located.

As well as revenue, there will also be jobs, which – as both Alison Wroth and Frank Panizza wrote previously – are much needed in rural communities, including Toodyay.

Yet some words of caution are required.

Miners are masters of what can be called “job boosterism” which is basically over-promising or frankly exaggerating the numbers of jobs generated by their industry.
But since it might be argued that some jobs are better than no jobs, it is important to focus on the possible downsides of mining in a rural area.

I view the comment that any protest against the mine is centred around protection of an endangered animal as simplistic and somewhat dismissive.

Just ask people who live close to a mine and they will tell you what they have to put up with – noise, air pollution, bright lights 24 hours a day, heavy trucking, etc. – the latter already having an impact in the Julimar area with the Shire of Toodyay having to grade locally affected gravel roads more frequently.

All of the above is not pleasant and far from the rural dream that drives many people to live in places like the Avon Valley.

But these are the realities and it’s the community’s responsibility, with the help of government, to ensure that these effects are mitigated by those running the mine.

Ms Wroth writes of Chalice being an eco-friendly miner, a view that is perhaps understandable when the company is engaged in a slick campaign to get the approval of the community, as well as that of government, to approve the new mine.

The real test of the miner’s supposed eco-friendliness will be if it is prepared to spend some of the profits to mitigate the negative effects described previously, as well as be an adequate caretaker of the environment in which it is operating.

There are plenty of examples where mining companies have promised much but failed to deliver, leaving a much-tarnished environment that others are left to clean up.

Let’s hope Chalice is different but rather than hope, we the community should be presenting a balanced and unified view on what we would like to happen and holding the company to account.

The fact that one resident thinks that objections to the mine are due to the effects on one animal suggests that we are far from that balanced position.

The level of debate needs to be more sophisticated, and the organisations concerned need to rise to this challenge.

Information I recall seeing recently, is that the Shire of Toodyay has an employment self-sufficiency of just over 50 per cent.

Broadly, this means that half of our residents can’t find work within their own Shire.

This obviously indicates that employment opportunities and particularly opportunities for school leavers seeking apprenticeships, are very poor.

Debate around a proposed mine appears to be centred around the protection of an endangered animal.

From information I can see, the currently proposed mine is on farmland that was cleared decades ago.

Exploration has been proposed to seek extensions of the mineralisation into the State Forest.

Obviously, environmental controls over exploration in a reserve will be, and should be, far more rigid than farmland that has been cleared for decades.

Chalice Mining’s discovery of a “world class” deposit of “green metals” does not sit well with some in our community.

It would have been far more convenient if this was in the Goldfields … but it isn’t.

A carbon-neutral future is dependent upon electric vehicles and hydrogen.

Minerals discovered in Julimar contain the metals required for this transition away from coal and petroleum.

Any future decision on whether to allow mining in the forest needs to balance the interests of all parties in our community, as well as the planet.

I missed having full family gatherings because of restrictions on numbers and am sure this will apply to many others.

We did have the pleasure of living in the Toodyay area where life seemed more normal than it was for many in more populated areas.

Which brings me to the half full glass and the rest of 2022.

I hope we can expect a wet winter and a good start to the crop growing season followed by another successful harvest.

The Avon River will have just enough water to make this year’s Avon Descent interesting and not cause flooding.

We can look forward to Spring and another local Agricultural Show as well as healthy-looking crops.

Some volunteers will have a break as the seasons change, others will get busier and many of us will carry on as usual ensuring Toodyay is a good area to live in.

As Christmas and New Year approaches and harvest is done, we find the glass is nearly empty.

We can look back on the half full glass and find that we had both good and bad times in the whole glass and that we can refill it again for another year.

How is your glass?

In addition, the current Breakfast Club coordinator is retiring, and a new volunteer is needed to take over this key role.

The coordinator finds volunteers when required and organises stand-ins from a couple of relief people we have at present when a regular volunteer is unable to do their rostered shift.

The Breakfast Club coordinator checks dates on stock and organises term orders through Foodbank.

They are also responsible, with the help of the School Chaplaincy committee, for organising a Big Breakfast at the beginning of each term.

The present coordinator will be available, if required, to mentor a new coordinator for a couple of school terms to settle them in.

If no new volunteers are found, this vital school breakfast service for local students will unfortunately have to cease.

Please, we need your help.

If you can do so, please phone Max Heath on 0400 206 929.

Many folk come and go from organisations but look at the ones who created them to better the community.

So many could be named.

Those who are involved in these organisations never falter with their beliefs – they just continue without any kudos.

It was recently Volunteer Week and respect for our volunteer fire brigade members goes without saying.

We are privileged to have such wonderful men and women keeping us all safe.

I thank all volunteers on whatever you are achieving and wish you great happiness and continued support from our community.