37 people attended the August MIRRA Meeting.
A letter was received from the NBN saying they are going ahead with an application to upgrade local connectivity under RCP3.
A member was asked to elaborate on the recently released Island Health Services Strategy. She said the Strategy was short on detail with no time frame.
Some of it's contents spoke about getting more doctors, promote available services, palliative care upgrade, promote and enhance mental health services, midwifery, child health services, without any detail on how and when.
A member was asked to report on Bus/Transport issues and said passengers are still missing ferries and plane connections and there are still many problems especially now the tourist season is in full swing.
A member relayed concerns with the new ticketing system that may involve fraud by some ferry commuters.
A member spoke of roadwork/drainage work around around Arcadia as part of the Horseshoe Bay Rd. upgrade.
Joe Niven from Totally Renewable Magnetic Island (TRM) was asked to tell the meeting more about his group’s plans for achieving this. The group was launched last November and aims to make the island’s electricity supply 100% renewable by 2030 by increasing solar generation then investing in storage and also seeking funding to install microgrids to share the benefits, while encouraging electricity to be used more efficiently and managing demand. Mr. Niven relayed to the group the cost for an average home to have panels and battery is about $17K .
Mr. McColl is concerned about the proposed sale of about an acre of land where the Amaroo (Arcadia) units are situated.
Several acres of land originally gifted by the State Govt. to the Dept of Defence in the 1890s. He believes this land should be handed back to the State Govt.
AGM and next meeting September 2 at 10am.