Challenging local councils

I visited Ballast Point park in Birchgrove, Sydney last weekend. A pretty spot, lovely views of the harbour and interesting design.

The site was originally used for loading ballast onto ships when they had off-loaded goods in the early colony (1788 - 1800) to return to England empty, and was a hunting and fishing point. It later was the site for a wonderful and significant home, called Menevia. It changed hands a few times and eventually was bought by Texaco (Caltex) - they demolished the house, and developed the site as a fuel depot, manufacturing and packaging facility until the 1990s.

It was bought by the government and returned to public use, with the site developed as a park. Apart from the interesting design, the site has wind turbines to power the path lighting. These are silent, are of a different design than others I have seen and seem perhaps small enough for domestic use.

Will local councils allow us to install wind turbines for our domestic use? My plea - all homes should be encouraged to have solar heating, wind power, and rain water tanks, and suppliers please aim to make it as easy as possible to install these and help our environment.

Integrity in a busy world

Have you noticed that many people seem to forget they have a choice between what is "right" and what is "expedient" in their busy lives?

It is often much easier to make decisions based on short term gain rather than considering the impact over time of every decision made. Of course, there is often no problem with this - that building business and dealing with others is clean and honest. But do you sometimes compromise your values and forget or let slide your usual attitudes to ethics, professional etiquette, respect, integrity and morality?

What would you say if your children behaved towards their peers in the way that you behave in your business? Do you demonstrate what you want them to emulate?

I believe that most people justify what they do, that they make it OK to do everything they choose. Whether it is stepping up and taking responsibility openly or managing to self-talk themselves through decisions and actions that would in other situations be abhorrent for them seems to be a moot point.

It would be glib to suggest that we can all do better and that we should - but perhaps the bigger question is what do we do to hold our ground in face of the onslaught?

I think we need to be very clear about how we want to be remembered - and then every choice and decision we make can be a step towards that.