If I am elected as the Lord Mayor, I will endeavor to inspire the whole council to become more consultive of the community of Newcastle; therefore, it is unwise to sign any pledge as I may find that the community may have an alternative view. Historically from where I stand, I grew up on a farm that was essentially a Jarrah Forrest in Western Australia. Our family were log cutters and supplied cut timber to various customers. The fashion of our harvesting of timber was the complete removal of the selected trees and saw over the regrowing of trees in the place of the removed tree. After 50 years of logging the farm was sold to a Buddhist community because they saw an example of natural bushland that had no apparent harm done to the forest. When I see mature trees chipped instead of being sent to timber mills makes me extremely disappointed seeing a resource being wasted. As a person who has studied a lot of history from at least the bronze age till current history, I find the climate change claims not fully sustainable under very close examination. The details of which I will not go into here as it is midnight and I have just recently arrived home and want to give you an honest reply. I have often said that some of the easiest things to keep our environment wholesome include: having longevity as being front and center in our decisions processes in regard to infrastructure and manufactured products, the making of plastics from plant fiber in place of petro-chemicals ones as the plant fiber products are fully biodegradable. The repair and restore things will enhance the longevity. We need to stop throwing things away when a repair would suffice. As to expanding our housing stock, we have the old Stockton hospital site that must be used for housing.
Back to the link road forests, I personally have a strong preference that it remains as bushland as long as possible and would seek to have both Lake Mac. And the ministers responsible to consider creating a protected forest all along the Link Road.
However being the chair of the elected council I cannot demand how everybody fall in behind me; for we have a democratic community and we need to move away from the dictatorial nature that many have recently experience in our local government area.
This may not be how you want me to answer your email, but it is my answer which has considerable depth on the subjects you are concerned with.