Tuesday 20 May 2014

GRAFTON NANNAS CELEBRATE BENTLEY ACHIEVEMENT


This afternoon a group of Grafon Nannas gathered outside the office of Chris Gulaptis, Member for Clarence, to celebrate the wonderful achievement of all those who supported the Bentley blockade. The Nannas enjoyed a sedate nanna afternoon tea, a wonderful chat, plenty of laughs (particularly over a Media Release from local politicians). In a change from their usual knit-ins, not a stitch was knitted!  Guess this was more of a chat-in.
Nanna Audrey's delicious biscuits were a hit.
The Nannas were hoping that their MP would join them for a cuppa and a chat.  But, alas, he was in Casino and, according to a  member of his office staff, launching his disperse the flying foxes petition there.  This made the Nannas wonder if he was planning another petition which we would have all supported with considerable enthusiasm - DISPERSE THE GAS MINING COMPANIES.  Oh, well, we can but wish .....
Nannas present letter at Mr Gulaptis' office
The Nannas left a letter outlining their hope that Mr Gulaptis would take a stronger line on the gas mining issue which would reflect the concerns of his constituents.  The text of this letter is printed below:

The Grafton Loop of the Knitting Nannas Against Gas is delighted that the NSW Government has at last listened to the concerns of the local community about the activities of gas miner Metgasco.  The suspension of  Metgasco's right to drill an exploration well at the Bentley Rosella site is a step in the right direction.

We were very interested to see the joint media release "North Coast Nationals Welcome Suspension of Metgasco Licence" in which you participated.  While it appears that you and your fellow North Coast National MPs are finally responding to the concerns of a significant proportion of your constituents, there is much more that you could be doing.

While we welcome the suspension, we are concerned that it is a temporary measure. 
As the Knitting Nannas have told you on a number of occasions, we do not believe that gas mining – whether it be conventional CSG mining or unconventional mining such as would have occurred at Bentley – is an appropriate industry for the Northern Rivers area.  Gas mining is an invasive industry completely unsuited to this wonderfully biodiverse and rich agricultural region.  The risks gas-mining poses to agriculture, to water resources, to the region's ecology, to human health and to our lifestyle mean it should never be allowed here.
We call on you, as our elected representative, to strongly lobby your government to revoke the mining PELs in the Northern Rivers area.  Are you prepared to do this?




Tuesday 13 May 2014

GRAFTON KNIT-IN 13TH MAY

A lively group of Grafton Nannas met once again outside Clarence MP Chris Gulaptis' office in Grafton today.
 
The Grafton Nannas are strong supporters of the protest at Bentley. This weekend some of the local nannas will be travelling north to the protest camp to join their northern nanna compatriots and all the other community members trying to get the message across to the state government  and Metgasco that gas-mining in our region should be abandoned.

We saw the amazingly colourful knitting of Trinette who has been very busy flashing the needles since we last saw her.  She's  become a snake knitter of note.  And these snakes look great wound around poles.
There was a suggestion that we might see some pole-dancing near the green snake - but it didn't eventuate!

Dorothy has also been adding to her wonderful menagerie of knitted wildlife.  She unveiled her baby echidna to join its mother.  And next time she'll be bringing along her new rainbow serpent.  (What is it with these Nannas and snakes??)
Baby echidna joins its mother.
For more photos of this Knit-in, check out our Knit In page

Wednesday 7 May 2014

RECENT GRAFTON KNIT-INS

Tuesday May 6 Knit-In
The cold weather is certainly affecting the old bones as a few stalwart Grafton Nannas had to rug up well for a knit-in lastTuesday  outside Mr Gulaptis' office.  We didn't see Mr Gulaptis and assume that he was in Parliament supporting the Clarence electorate. (Can we hope that he was telling his Government colleagues that people of the Northern Rivers don't want any gas mining in their area ???!!!)

We admired Dorothy's colourful crocheted medallions which she will make into a cushion.

 Suzanne told us about her recent visit to the protest camp at Bentley and her plans to "frock up" for the event there on Friday. She' also planning an outfit for a friend who will be accompanying her.  The Bentleyites obviously know how to provide some entertainment to lighten the serious effort they are engaged in!

And listening to our chatter and checking on the passers-by we had Dorothy's wonderful knitted echidna and platypus ably supported by Suzanne's knitted doll, Suzie.





Tuesday April 15
At this knit-in we were joined by Sarah's friend Carol who was catching up with Sarah on a short visit to Australia.  Carol hails from Omaha in the U.S. state of Nebraska. Carol told us about her concerns about a local environmental issue - the proposed TransCanada Keystone XL Pipeline which will carry oil sourced from the Canadian tar sands across the U.S. to the Gulf of Mexico.

Nannas are great untanglers!  



Having a knitted ring helps with creativity.