Was there ever a time when we could all relax, safe in the knowledge that our elected officials had everything under control?

Regardless of whether there was such a time, we are most certainly not safe and relaxed any more. At all levels of government, Federal, State and Local, our representatives seem to be in continual ‘catch-up’ mode rather than leading the way.

The good news is that some communities are doing it for themselves. Daylesford, Victoria is one such place.

The Hepburn Shire Council has recently voted to approve Australia’s first community owned wind farm. Two turbines situated 10 kilometres out of town will generate 2 Megawatts which is enough energy for 2000 homes.

There are many reasons for a community to take responsibility for its energy requirements.

It is clear that the desire to reduce the harmful atmospheric effects of coal-fired electricity is greater in the population at large than in the corridors of power.

Also, in these economic rationalist times nearly everything is expected to generate a profit from its operation. Who better to share in the profits of energy production than the people who use it? Especially if it’s safe, clean and renewable.

The ‘Hepburn Community Wind Park’ application for a planning permit, which has just been approved, shows a high level of planning and attention to detail. It represents years of work by the Daylesford community to take control of a global problem by formulating a local solution.

Punch in www.hrea.org.au to see the whole story – it’s a good read and it could show the way for a similar project in the Braidwood area.

Our problems here in town seem to be more a case of, so to speak, getting to the bottom of the matter with the matter of the bottom. Palerang Council seems to have ended up in it and it remains to be seen if they have taken the only course available or missed some alternatives.

Anyway, it’s not late to have a say in the water and sewerage debate. The Local Government administration is there to put the decisions of the Council into practice. The Councillors are charged with listening to the will of the people, so if you have a Councillor you get on with, let him or her know what you think.

Perhaps we have been inattentive, perhaps the Council is justified in its reported criticism last week of the community’s late interest in the rates issue.

But when the cost of living threatens to rocket skyhigh, we are entitled to know exactly why this must happen.