There is a proposal to hold another walk against warming two weeks prior to the federal election (whenever that is held). See the latest Canwin bulletin for further details. It is envisaged that, now that the group has public liability insurance, we can hold the walk that was always intended last November, and which ended up as a public meeting in the CWA hall in Bowral.
We obviously need to balance the need to bring the attention of Southern Highlands residents to the issue of climate change against the potential risks to participants in any walk that we sponsor. Noone who was present at the Warm the Heart event at the Empire cinema two weeks ago could have missed the fact that most people interviewed for the vox pop video had either very little idea about climate change at all, or some rather confused notions.
Geoff Byrne has had a meeting with relevant council staff about the logistics of organising and controlling such an event. His findings were as follows:-
“If the “walk†is classified as a “Special Event†we would need a Traffic Management Plan accompanied by a “Risk Assessment†and quite a bit of other stuff, all completed by and supervised by an Accredited Traffic Controller supervising accredited staff. (The RTA guide on the subject runs to 42 double sided A4 sheets.) The cost to Council for the Anzac Day March using the cheapest consultants and staff is $12,000.
If we run an event where everyone walks on the footpath, crosses the roads strictly in accordance with the law, and do not impede traffic, we would not be holding a “Special Event†and would not need to seek permission from anyone – other than to use the parks perhaps. It seems we don’t have much option but to walk, in an orderly fashion, on the footpath.”
We obviously cannnot afford to hold a “special event” and incur costs of the order that Geoff was quoted. Therefore, we need to decide on a suitable route which minimises traffic risk and also how to manage the walk in an orderly fashion so that those participating create the desired visual impact without putting themselves, or others, at risk.
Geoff Byrne has proposed a walking route as follows:-
“Assuming we gather in Lions Park at the southern end of Bong Bong Street and finish in Corbett Gardens, the best route would appear to be;
Cross Bowral Street as traffic permits,
Walk up the western footpath along Bong Bong Street,
Cross Baynette Street as traffic permits,
Continue up the western footpath of Bong Bong Street,
Cross with the traffic lights to the eastern footpath, i.e. diagonally but use both directions,
Walk along the eastern footpath to Corbett Plaza, through the Plaza and to
Corbett Gardens.
Two hundred people walking in a “conga line†or something similar obviously has the potential to cause some disruption to pedestrian traffic – particularly if more than one abreast and carrying placards etc. We would need to be sufficiently disciplined to minimize any angst, and not engage in or respond to any provocative or disruptive behavior.”
There has been another proposal that we don’t walk, but simply stand in the street, out of the way of other pedestrians, and hold placards or signs up for a set amount of time and then move off to Corbett Gardens. The problem here is that we still have to get the people into position, and that effectively means walking in a group to get to any position along Bong Bong street that we stand in.
My proposed solution is that we walk, but in tightly controlled groups of approx. 10 people. There would be a “group guide” for each group, who would move out at suitably spaced intervals, thereby avoiding any traffic disruption and minimising risks to those walkiing. The groups would be formed at Lions Park and would stay together until they reached Corbett Gardens. We could also have some Canwin volunteers stationed at each road crossing to assist each group to safely negotiate each road crossing. Each group guide would wait for the previous group to move well ahead before commencing their route, and in this way we should be able to get even quite a large number of people safely from point A to point B. The success of such a plan will rest with the people charged with controlling the people who have gathered in Lions Park and being able to instruct them clearly about how they should conduct their walk to Corbett Gardens. A little pre-plannig and a megaphone should enable us to get the message across to even a very large gathering. We would need probably 20-25 Canwin volunteers to act as guides and crossing “marshals”.
We also need to think about what will happen once the group gets to Corbett Gardens. It is obviously an ideal opportunity to “sell” Canwin and its various sub-groups. I suggest that we have some displays from each sub-group with literature explaining the functions of each and people involved manning the displays. We will also need some speakers to “fire up” the crowd and get them enthused about climate change as an issue ahead of the election. The committee suggested that the research group come up with a leaflet containing a matrix showing which political parties support which issues related to climate change. We will not promote any party but simply provide an easy comparison for voters to make their own decisions.
We are looking for feedback. Come on people, get involved!
andrew General
