The Municipalities Association of Victoria just passed a motion to
oppose any further logging in the catchments representing the
interests of 79 councils. The representatives were from regional
councils primarily, which begs the question as to how much logging is
really supported in the bush. I wonder where this leaves them on their role in the wood and water assessment.
May I propose a toast to Shire of Yarra Ranges Councillor Samantha Dunn and Mayor Tim Heenan's exemplary work on this one

There will be no toast from many for that Green Party member, Cr Dunn.
At the recent review of the Yarra Ranges Shire's Vision 2020, of which I was a particpant, it was decided by the community to bring in the Timber Industry as part of Our Vision and have it included in the chapter Local Economy and Tourism. Although the review is not completed, there will be many who will protest if the Council over rules the community. Our statement: "That the Timber Industry be a part of Vision 2020 and that the community and Council supprt their efforts."
As of now, she has gone against the community's decision and once againt brought Green Party ideology into council.
I only hope she is as thoroughly reprimanded as she was when she dared litter out Yarra Ranges sign with a Green Party logo.

Politics and peoples politics are a standard ingredient of government; local, state or federal. ‘Angry rate payer’ is clearly exercising their political right to be upset by Cr Dunn’s actions. Could it be that Cr Dunn is a leader that is responsibly acting on water scarcity and ‘angry rate payer’ is politically advocating that woodchips are more important than community water supply?

‘Angry rate payer’ makes clear their political persuasions in their defence of the woodchipping industry in that they perpetuate, if not decree, the business of high conservation value woodchipping. Indeed many of the greater community are irate with political woodchip players like Michael O’Connor (CFMEU -The state secretary of the ‘Forestry’ division) and his ‘stand over’ tactics in the ALP especially in conjunction with the ‘A-Team's’ ALP branch stacking exercises or the Timber Communities impressing their politics in hostilities such as death threats sent to environmentalists, the bashing of environmentalists or worse, the killing of environmentalists animals (such as horses and farm dogs) in the Central Highlands and East Gippsland.

We are in conflict over one subject - Logging for woodchips. If the state government stopped destroying regional and Melbourne water supply to provide ‘chips for pulp’ for the heavily subsidised woodchip industry then the politics will move on this issue. I believe Cr Dunn is enacting her elected responsibility to protect the community against that which science, community and government have all found is robbing children and families of water, is this really politics, or is this simply risk - wary, responsible leadership?

environment for everyone,
In WA, we're thinning (i.e. logging) a catchment in Perth's hills to allow more water to flow into the Wungong Dam. And Alcoa (who's been mining in several water supply catchments for 40 years) has been told to stop doing such a good job of regrowing a dense jarrah forest so that more water can escape the revegetated areas and flow into the dams.
Am I missing something: are you saying that logging decreases water run-off in Melbourne's water supply catchments? I agree that logging for woodchips is a terrible waste of a natural resource but logging should be increasing water run-off, not decreasing it.