So much for 'Bureaucratic Confidentiality'.
Got to the 'meeting' (???) with the local Council yesterday morning, ALL documentary evidences/papers in hand and was immediately TOLD that the local Branch of St. Vincent De-Paul Society has lodge a complaint about,
A) Our Sangers and Soup Runs taking 'custom' away from them, even though WE ARE 0% Non-profit,Non-Religious, have a Written, Authorised Permit issued by the State Health Department and the State Government and have BEEN doing for 2+ years so far as well,
B) We do NOT encourage people receiving our FREE meals to attend Church, etc, etc, and,
C) that OUR planned Suppling of Firewood to the needy and the Elderly for FREE MAY be harmful to them and the Church as well.
Well now, considering THAT late yesterday afternoon I received a phone call from the Roads and Maritime Authority that they are sending me ( Us) a document that WILL allow Us to remove, cut up and collect ALL DEAD/Dying trees along the sides of the Highways leading into town for the next 4 years then the local Council and the St. Vincent De-Paul Society can SHOVE the Fire-wood stacked up at the local Rubbish Tip firmly and securely where the sun never shines.
AND, they can be 0% certain that I WILL be contacting the E.P.A. in regards to the Wood -pile at the local Rubbish Tip as well also.
You gotta be careful when yo muscle in on the church's turf, they get touch about that shit. If you show that people do not owe others (real, incorporated, or imaginary) for acts of kindness, then where will religions be?
My motto is, Bugger the Lot of them, hit them with your best shot then watch them as they turn and run.
Do all you can to be sure your story is told.
All ready in hand, so to speak.
We, the 10 of us so far, held an informal Meeting last evening and it was decided that we invited the local media to come along and do a report on our first trip to cut, collect and deliver the first loads.
Which, if the Authorisation arrives this week, will mean as early next week as Monday.
The R.M.A. have also given us the use of a secure, well fenced in area and lockable storage area within their Compound where we can stock-pile the firewood as well.
We now have 4 Chainsaws, 2 portable, hand-operated Hydraulic Log-Splitters and a volunteer 'cook' to make Tea, Coffee and snacks for everyone who is involved every time we go harvesting firewood.
Smells like a huge pile of human shit.
Well they can wallow all they like in their pile of steaming shit because yesterday afternoon (Wednesday) I went with the local Assistant Manager of the R.M.A. as he marked out the trees that needed to be removed on just ONE Highway leading to and from town.
A round-trip of 50 kilometres out and the same back and I counted 78 trees either dead and ready to fall or dying and unstable, I estimated that there'd be approx. 50-60 tonnes of firewood obtainable from just those trees and today we are inspecting another highway as well this afternoon.
He has allocated a small team that, once we are ready to go, will go ahead of us and remove the over-hanging branches, stack them up in piles ready for us to cut them to size BEFORE we start dropping the trunks.
It was very saddening though to see just how much greenery we have lost around here from the prolonged drought we've been having in the last 5+ years.
Luckily I have about 200+ seedlings, native trees btw, on hand and ready to replace those trees we will be harvesting.