Nowhere to Run

While concluding a tour of the village site yesterday I directed my visitors attention to the natural bushland adjacent the property that was scheduled for immediate demolition in order to make way for another concrete jungle of student beds. As per my spiel from previous tours I stated it would be a sad day to see it demolished, but with my ambassadorship of the company and responsibilities in mind I followed the heartfelt observation with "but hey that's development, have to keep up with demand," as if it was a justified compensation for the destruction of the delicate & irreplaceable ecosystem. Neighbours of yesteryear have frequently and fondly shared memories with me of when the land was frequented with breeding families of Roos & Koalas. We still catch a glimpse of the occasional whip snake or field mouse, and as my guest from the neighbouring parklands informed me, it is also home to a rare endangered frog we are supposed to be protecting.
Ironically the same University educating the masses about the delicate habitat of this rare endangered species actually owns the land and is behind the development plans. Sneakily it plans to carve out a section of the bushland that is conveniently out of sight and hence, out of mind of passing motorists and therefore sneaking under the radar of the general public. The land has already been cut into small segments like a jigsaw, leaving deadly crossings of roads for species seeking survival essentials like food, & mating partners for breeding. One by one developments have spread across its fragmented terrain like a flood while these poor resident species are backed into a corner. As if being forced to cross a 3 lane highway like a brutal 'reality-frogger' and scale a meter tall concrete divider isn't dicy enough for the nimblest of echidnas and wittiest of wombats, the last of safe-havens now cut off by housing developments on either side means they now literally have nowhere to run..... essentially bulldozed into oblivian.
So one begs the question why? Why would a uni that hypocritically preaches the importance of conserving our delicate ecosystems, bulldoze one in their own backyard? What drives the intellectual mind to turn its back on what it believes?

Politics of course!

Kevin Rudds Education revolution, among other things, is designed to double the Higher educated student numbers by 2020. This already has put immense pressure on the infrastracture of Australias universities who are now frantically trying to keep in line with legislation by carving out forests for new faculties, accommodation and carparks.

There is always a flipside to development isn't there?