September 30 will be a big day for Tathra!

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In 2006 approximately 2000 people converged on Tathra to make two human signs to bring Climate Change to to the attention of fellow Australians. Our banner head shows one of the signs that was constructed. The other the IMAGINE sign below, now imortalised in the layout of Tathra Community Solar Farm

Now in 2018, its time to it again. The Tathra community, at great cost, has earned a special place in the hearts and minds of all Australians and on Saturday September 30 Tathra will have the opportunity of speaking to that very attentive audience through another human sign.

This one will be a beauty, with not just lots of humans but 10+ firetrucks taking part, so please come along to take part in this historic event.

Students from Tathra Primary and Bega High are currently mulling over what message should be spelled out – watch this space for the announcement.

The human sign will form at 12 noon at Lawrence Park immediately after the awards for the Bega Tathra Safe Ride. We expect more than 400 riders in this event and we hope they will all stay on to form the sign, but many more are needed to maximise the impact and cut through to our politicians.

The AFL Club and CEFE will be providing catering for both the bike ride and the human sign. All proceeds being put towards a battery to complement the recently installed solar array (which CEFE part-funded)

PS If you you would like to register for the bike ride you can do so here

20171020 Solar for Tathra Public School

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A 17 kW kW solar system was installed on the roof of Tathra Public School in October 2017. The School’s principal, Lisa Freedman said the project showed what can be done when a community works together towards a common goal. “Its not only the benefits of having the panels but all the community groups working together”. After 18 months the project was completed with funding from the IMAGINE community solar farm, Enduro mountain bike event, a community concert and a NSW Department of Education grant.

20180729 Solar for Evans Park amenities block

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Thanks to the hard work of Adam Wiggins and his Kalaru Sports Complex Steering Group, this project is coming into fruition. The concrete has been poured for the floor of the amenities block and thanks to CEFE, with the assistance of a $5000 grant from the IMB Bank Community foundation, the amenities block will be powered by a stand-alone solar + battery solution. The total cost will be $8000 of which $3000 was provided by CEFE through funds raised via the sale of electricity from the IMAGINE solar farm. The photo shows IMB Bega branch manager Sharon Shepherd and CEFE’s Prue Kelly at the award ceremony.

20180803 Solar for Tathra AFL Football Club

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12 kW of solar has been installed on the roof of the Tathra AFL Football Club in Lawrence Park Tathra. The solar power will be used to energise the heat pump based hot water system as well as for refrigeration. CEFE provided a grant of $12,000 from the proceeds of electricity sales from its IMAGINE solar farm in Tathra with the balance coming from a joint fund raising initiative conducted by CEFE and TAFLFC.

Those in photo L to R are:
John Turville – Recreation & Natural Assets Co-ordinator, BVSC
David Howard – Treasurer, Tathra AFL Club
Cr Liz Seckold – Deputy Mayor, BVSC
Prue Kelly – CEFE Project Manager
Peter Cross – Secretary, Tathra AFL Club
Ben Scales – Sunny Afternoons Solar
Cr Kristy McBain – Mayor, BVSC
Greg Coman – President, Tathra AFL Club
Dr Mike Kelly – Federal Member for Eden Monaro

Climate change impact on the South East

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The NSW Office of Environment and Heritage has now published the finding of the NARClim Project

The Regional Climate Modelling (NARClim) Project is a research partnership between NSW and ACT governments and the Climate Change Research Centre at UNSW. The NSW partners include Sydney Water, NSW Department of Transport, NSW Department of Primary Industry and NSW Office of Water

You can download maps from their website

Here is an example of one of the maps

Compared with the two decades 1990-2010, the decades 2020-2040:-

Average annual rainfall in Bega will decrease by between 5 and 10%, with between 10 and 20% more rainfall in Autumn and less in the other seasons.

The number of days on average per year in Bega with temperatures above 35 degrees C will increase by between 1 and 5 days a year.

The average number of days with severe fire danger in Bega per annum will increase by less than 1 day with fewer severe fire danger days in Autumn and more in the other seasons

The average number of days per year in Bega with a minimum temperature below 2 degrees C will decrease by between 10 and 20 days.

The Jaws of a beast

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Footage taken 2 weeks after a monster bore down on Tathra.
Out of respect for those that have lost everything, no houses have been shown in this video.
A big thanks to National Parks, the police and ambulance, SES, VRA, NSW Fire and Rescue, NSW Forestry, and the courageous RFS. Thanks to brigades from Shoalhaven, Milton, Kangaroo Valley, Bega, Bemboka, Bermagui, Brogo, Burragate, Candelo, Cobargo, Eden, Kiah, Eurobodalla, Nethercote, Quaama, Rocky Hall, Towamba, Wolumla, Wonboyn, Numbugga, Pambula, Jellat, Angledale, Taraganda, Merimbula, Buckajo, Tanja, and of course Tathra. Thank you for saving our town.

Tathra Community pulls together in crisis

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Clean Energy for Eternity was born in Tathra in 2006 when 2000 assembled in the beach to make the human sign you see on our banner at the top of this page. Up until Sunday’s devastating fires the news out of Tathra has always been good – a tight knit supportive community acutely aware of the risks of climate change and working together for a low carbon future, as epitomised in CEFE’s slogan 50/50 by 2020, proudly displayed on the water tower as you enter town. The latest in a long list of initiatives undertaken by Clean Energy for Eternity was to have been a ‘Hub in the Pub’ talk on the Science of climate change by CEFE founder and President Dr Matthew Nott that was to have taken place on Tuesday 20/3 when the catastrophic fires upturned everyone’s lives. From all of us in the wider CEFE community our hearts go out to those who have their homes and now have to start the process of rebuilding their lives. At least no lives were lost. Tathra will recover, and what we need now is to IMAGINE that future. We are relieved that the Tathra Community Solar Farm has emerged unscathed.