Ben Balbo

I’ve just realised I haven’t written anything here for almost 3 months, and yet I don’t feel I’ve been out of touch or not been updating “followers” with my activities and news. The number of phone calls and emails I’ve made hasn’t increased dramatically, so what’s happened?

Could it be that more frequent microblogs on Identica and Twitter are to blame for the drop in frequency on this site? Or was it just a busy time of year? I’m not sure.

So what’s been happening with me in the last three months? Sandrine and I moved house for the third (and final?) time in one year, and are now finally living in Portarlington on the Belarine Peninsula, 8 minutes from the beach. I still live and work in Melbourne, but I also get a holiday every weekend now!

Sandrine and I also went to Strathbogie; as some of you know, we used to own a bush block up there. We helped them develop a requirements document for a new community web site and portal, and after a few teething issues, they finally went live in November. The Strathbogie Tableland web site describes itself as a new way for residents and landholders to stay in touch and communicate with each other, and has really taken off with residents and others alike. Their community message board is possibly the most used area of the site.

In other news, I went to both RUXCON and the 5th Open Source Developers’ Conference, presenting at the latter on mobile streaming solutions for the open source community.

I’ve also been trying to fit in work on a new community driven web site that I started in October, but have had little time to spend on lately. Hopefully I’ll have more about that soon. Then, of course, there’s the work on the next BarCampMelbourne, which will actually be a StixCamp – more on that in a soon-to-follow post.

I think that’s about it. Of course there have been other things, but perhaps to minor to mention. You could always follow me on Identica or Twitter to hear the day-to-day stuff. If you like. No pressure!

Apparently it’s a license that you can obtain on certain classifications of land (for instance, if it’s Crown Land) for the purpose of managing and caring for the land. The area becomes a conservation area and is you’re responsibility to care for.

Although the land is not your by title, while you have a license for conservation, it it yours to do with as you please as long as you’re acting within the guidelines of the license. Bulldozing the whole place down is not permitted, I would imagine.

Anyway, if you know what I’m talking about, and can help me find the person or department I need to speak to to obtain one, then please get in touch. So far the people my wife and I have spoken to at the Department for Sustainability and the Environment don’t seem to know…

We’re probably going to be buying a shed. Wanna buy it off us?

Here’s the story. The neighbours I referred to in the previous post have decided to sell (again – long story) but there may be a sticking point in the sale.

They bought a 10m by 12m shed, that they cannot store anywhere (nor make use of). If they sell their land, what will they do with their shed? Well, I want to help them move. Not just because the land can still recover and the neighbours will have their peace and quiet back, but also because I feel the guys with the shed want to move. They’re not happy with the land, because of the hurt and distress their causing, and want to move on.

So, we might end up buying the shed from them. We have the space to store it, can scrape the money together to buy it, and will then sell it on, hopefully not making a loss.

It’s new, it’s probably shiny and it’s big. Want it? Contact me…

The magazines make it look glamorous. The mud is part of the fun. Roaring around the bush on a dirt bike is up there with the adrenaline pumping activities. Hell – I’ve done it – I know it’s fun!

That is until someone gets hurt.

I’m not talking about falling off your bike (been there). I’m talking about the environment. When I rode my little Yamaha XT250 around near Echuca next to the Murray River, I was mindful as I could be, being new to the area and offroading, of keeping to tracks. The last thing I want to do while enjoying myself was to damage the earth. I want others to enjoy this world long after I’ve gone…

You can probably imagine my horror, then, when I learnt that some of these ‘Weekend Warriors’ had bought one of the neighbouring lots to Bogie Bush. I wasn’t in horror because they’d moved in. I know a few offroaders and they’re really nice people.

The horror was from being told that they had bought the bush block for the sole purpose of creating a riding circuit for their children, who don’t have full licenses, and therefore can’t ride on public roads (including state forests and the like). The block has direct access to the state forest, ideal for the adults with their larger enduros.

A few weeks after hearing of this situation, and meeting some concerned neighbours, I had the chance to visit the property. The owners weren’t in at the time, but had told the neighbour that there would be no issue for people to cross it. What I saw was beyond belief.

Think back to the last time you visited someone in the country. Remember what their driveway looked like? A bit like this? Well now imagine a whole 15 acre bush block covered in tracks like this. No more grass. Trees cut down, laid across tracks and covered in soil to create jumps. Trees sprayed with neon paint to make night riding easier. It’s hard to imagine. I had been told this many times before seeing it, and nothing compares to actually being there. I was horrified.

Now, you might think “well he’s bought it, it’s his land, he can do what he likes with it”. Not quite. You see, his treatment of his property has led to a heavily reduced humus layer on the ground, meaning the soil will be less fertile and won’t retain as much moisture (humus can hold the equivalent of 80-90% of its weight in moisture).

Not only will the soil be less able to withstand drought conditions, but the water will now simply pass straight over. This water runs not only into the state forest, but also into the two neighbouring lots, and causes erosion there.

Further, his use of the land for recreational motorbike riding causes the neighbours extreme stress. Imagine being 30 metres from a race track for 4 or 5 hours a day. If you’d paid to go see them at Philip Island, then it would be great. If you were relaxing in your quiet bush block, doing some gardening or bird watching, then it’s not so great!

What we need is a way to make everyone concerned happy. I’m not suggesting we don’t allow people to tear around the countryside on their bikes. Designation of dedicated areas for this activity would make most people happy.

Racing down the Hume Highway, although a frequent sight, is not condoned. There are race courses for this purpose. In the same way, lets have parts of the countryside open to motor-bikers. Make sure it doesn’t annoy the neighbours and contain it to stop the spread of degradation of the land, and I think most people will be happy.

I say most, because there will always be the motor-bikers who want uncharted land (fresh soil) and there will be the environmentalists who want no degradation at all. I don’t think either of these groups will ever be happy while the other is in existence. What we need is a middle ground. Both sides need to give, in order to get at least some of what they want.