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The Belconnen e-Mag - the online voice of Belconnen
The eMag is open to you, we welcome your contributions
such as articles, opinion, stories, photos, videos,
anything that can be replicated on the web, provided
it meets legal requirements of the Australian Capital
Territory and Australian Governments.
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Comment
Mortgage and rent payments outstrip income
gains in Belconnen
The 2006 Census has revealed that the median* monthly
mortgage payments in Belconnen have increased by an
average of 9.2 per cent a year from 2001, the year of
the last census. The median rental per week has also
increased by 7.4 per cent per year over the same period.
However, median incomes have only increased by 4.3
per cent per year over that period. Therefore mortgage
repayments have outgrown income by 4.9 per cent each
year from 2001 to 2006. Rents have outgrown income by
3.1 per cent.
Housing affordability - is there something
they're not telling you read
on
Other news from the Census
The median age has increased to 34.0 years from 31,8
years, and in 2006 9.3 per cent of the population was
65 and over compared to 7.4 per cent in 2001.
The population increased by 2.6 per cent (0.5 per cent
per year) to 84,382.
Catholics are the most numerous religious group but
over 23 per cent claimed to have no religion at all.
To see data Discover Belconnen
*What is a median? It divides a data set in two,
as the median strip divides a road. One half the values
are below it and one half above.
Like dogs? Want make a practical contribution to the
welfare of hundreds of dogs in the ACT? More
click here
A second chance for dogs by
Domestic animal service
Arts
Building
underway on Belconnen Community Arts Centre
Good news for Belconnen. Construction work has commenced
on the centre.
Architects Williams Ross of Melbourne have been engaged
to design the Centre. They have designed many regional
arts centres in Victoria and have designed buildings
at Canberra Girls Grammar and the ANU.

Stage 1 should be opened in May or June 2009. Stage
One will include the following:
• Visual arts gallery
• Outdoor sculpture gallery
• Dance studio/rehearsal room and change rooms
• Wet/dry creative workshops
• Large foyer
• Community meeting room
• Arts Lounge
• Studio/office areas for artists and arts organisations
• Café/kiosk
• Reception and administrative area
Stage 1 will consist of a Gallery, Dance Theatre, Wet
and dry studios, studio spaces, a multi media studio,
gathering space, an outdoor exhibition area and a cafe/kiosk.
More details can be found at http://www.arts.act.gov.au/pages/page128.asp
The development of the Centre will be overseen by an
advisory group, the members are:
- Roberta McRea (Belconnen Community Servoce)
- Stephen Bounds (Belconnen Community Council)
- Jan Wawrzynczak (Belconnen Community Servoce)
- Anita McIntyre (Stathnairn Arts Association)
- Francesca Rendle Short (University of Canberra)
- Wendy Morrow (Ausdance ACT)
- Noonee Doranila (ACT Cultural Council)
- Evol McLeod (Director Tuggeranong Arts Centre)
Stage 2 will come later and will include a theatre.
A community Arts Centre has operated successfully in
Tuggeranong for some time. The director of that centre,
Evol McLeod, said that lessons learnt from Tuggeranong
would be applied in a way that would make the Belconnen
centre even more effective.
The Tuggeranong Arts Centre on Lake Tuggeranong.

Washing line - a hot new e-Poem by Maria Josey
(click on image to access)

Lifestyle
TravelSmart
The TravelSmart - Belconnen project is a large-scale
Voluntary Travel Behaviour Change Project intended to
encourage the use of healthier, more sustainable transport
modes. read more....
Belconnen Community Service Newsletter
Keep up to date with Belconnen read the BCS Newsletter
by Clicking here
This link will require Adobe Reader, if you don't have
it you can obtain it free from Adobe
www.adobe.com Also it's a big document so if you
have a slow connection you'd better make a cup of tea
or coffee to drink while you wait!
Latin Dance the new sensation - black is the
new black
Latin rhythms have always evoked notions of exotica
and fun. 1930's band leader Xavier Cugat put Latin sound
into the popular idiom, the sixties saw the Bossa nova
come and go and in the nineties it was the Lambada.
In the new century Latin dance is more popular than
ever. Read more.
Travel
Hazel's
budget travel in RSA, Zimbabwe, Central Queensland,
Round the World, Kimberley and the CCE's Tuscany and
Sicily study trip is now included by Hazel (just
click on the Italy 2005 option)
e Poll - Opinion from Belconnen
Belconnen roo cull opposed by large majority
Our poll on Kangaroo culling at Belconnen naval transmitting
station attracted a large number of respodents. Most
of whom opposed it.
Question 1: Should Kangaroo numbers at the
Belconnen Naval Radio Station be controlled by culling
using lethal injections?
81.4 per cent said no and 16.3 per cent said yes (there
was one don't know).
Question 2: Do you believe that the proposed
Kangaroo cull will lessen the force of the Australian
Governments opposition to Japanese whale killing in
Antarctic waters?
76.7 per cent said yes and 21.0 per cent no (there
was one don't know).
Comments
If the RSPCA is supporting the cull then how can i
or most of the general community pretend to have an
informed view of the situation.
I think it's really disgusting that the Defence force
is too lazy to relocate these kangaroo's (mothers, fathers
and joeys). THey'd prefer to kill them rather than move
them. It's a real disgrace, esp. when the real reason
they want the land is because they have plans to put
developments on it. The public/media are constantly
sold lies. ACT Govt. should hang their heads in shame.
We are the only state/territory that puts down joeys.
How awful!!
this issue has gone on for to long, a cull is not the
option in this case.
If they must be moved then translocate out of area
You'd think a 'civilized' nation would not even entertain
the thought of murder to control a situation, let alone
with our national icon.. a 'protected' species no less!
If humans are to constantly take the high ground of
intelligence, prove that we're worthy! Choose the humane
alternatives, a tag and release method. To see these
lives slaughtered would be a blight on Australian consciousness,
and lead to nothing but comtempt in the eyes of the
world, for the Australians who allowed this masacre
to happen.
I don't believe any sort of culling should take place
at all.
Please don't kill the roos. Please relocate them instead,
thank you.
The 'experts' report has been completely discreditted
and the Stanhope government is lying to the people of
the ACT. An article in the "Canberra Times"
on Tuesday, 18 March said that the site is comtaminated
and remedial action will need to be taken before the
site can be developed for public housing.
The decision to massacre Belconnen kangaroos has no
conservation value at
all. It is also undermining any of the twenty first
century solutions. While
scientific discoveries enable cosmic journeys and microscopic
DNA research,
ACT Government in order to sort out ''perceived'' problem
is turning to guns
and violence - solutions from the dark ages.
This decision also highlights the biggest tragedy of
humanity, a tragedy so
fundamental that all others stem from it - the failure
to recognise that
humanity's true moral test is embedded in its attitude
towards those who are
totally at its mercy - animals. The ACT Government have
failed the test
abysmally.
The first question ignores this option:
The kangaroos should NOT be culled.
The Japanese will have "ammunition"
if we kill the Belconnen Kangaroos.
The reasons supposedly to remove the
kangaroos are to protect rare skinks
dragons and moths. What will housing
development do to these?
moths but these will be trampled even more
when the roos are gone due to housing
development.
There are other alternatives than to kill these beautifull
animals it is called Relocating.
These kangaroos have a right to be relocated - NOT
CULLED. WE have to manage our valuable wildlife better
than we are currently and resources would be better
spent on RESEARCH !!!
I strongly oppose the killing of our kangaroo and the
great whale
NSW rural areas have enough problems...drought, salinity,
erosion they don't need ACT kangaroos eating what little
feed they have for their stock and causing worse erosion
!!
The excessive kangaroo numbers are causing the destruction
of natural grassland which is the habitat of a number
of highly endangered species.
When there is an alternative to investigate, the killing
option should not be taken just because it is expedient.
I support the concept of creating a wildlife preserve
on the site
This isn't a cull, but it is killing healthy beauty
animals because we are selfish and think they are in
our way. It has already been proven that they are not
starving and could be quite easily moved to another
area!
Kangaroos should be moved. Australia should stop seeing
its native animals as pests. The treatment or should
I say mistreatment of a species ( the thylacyne) has
in the past led to its dissappearance.The whole world
is looking at Australia in horror. The treatment of
these unique animals causes me great distress. Please
do all you can to stop the cull. I will sign a petition
to stop cull.
Note: As this is not a scientifically conducted
poll the results cannot be taken seriously
The poll for this month concerns Petroleum
prices to access poll click
here
Don't forget you can suggest poll topics contact
the Webmaster
General
ACT economic growth boomed in 2007 for
details click here
e-Poems by Anonymous
Crime Stoppers toll-free on 1800 333 000
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