Di, best-selling Australian author who is the patron of the Manning Alliance, called for the literary submissions earlier this month, as a way to convince TransGrid of the unique lifestyle afforded by the natural beauty and abundant resources available to residents of the Manning Valley.

Di and another leading author calls the Manning home, Susan Duncan, have put their creative talents to good use and given permission for the Times to publish an extract of their TransGrid submissions.

Although the deadline for submissions is today (Friday), project coordinators plan to create an e-book, with a view to later publication.

Either drop in your stories to the Manning Alliance office at the top of Isabella Street, or email to manningallianceinc@gmail.com

The following is an extract from Di Morrissey’s TransGrid submission:

“Sydney friends say a weekend in the Manning Valley is better than a week at any health retreat. They eat well, they sleep well, they find the piece that’s missing in their daily lives – tranquillity.

“They say it’s because there’s no obvious reminder of the city; no jarring noise, only the clatter of an occasional train, the lowing of cattle, the call of birds, the soughing of casuarinas along the river bank. And all easy on the eye. No cement, no apartment blocks, no highways and traffic, no unsightly infrastructure.

“But now there is a large blip looming on our horizon, and that’s the State owned electrical infrastructure corporation, Transgrid.

“Unannounced, for four years they have flown above us, taking photographs of our gardens and paddocks, hills and river flats, and from a desk in Sydney they have decided to scar the face of the Manning with unsightly steel towers carrying mega volt high power cables of questionable safety and need, without notice, without any consultation with us or investigation into basic and rudimentary facts about the Manning Valley.

“They have no knowledge of who lives here or where hamlets and homes are tucked away, what endangered and protected species inhabit our land, what sort of agriculture is carried out here or what the value is of our undisturbed scenery for tourism.”

Di Morrissey

The following is an extract from Susan’s TransGrid submission:

“The Manning is a rare and beautiful thing, a prize that should be treasured, nurtured and preserved for future generations. It should not be trashed by massive power lines marching across the countryside, through State Forests and National Parks, when there is plainly an alternative – put them underground. Why should the profits of a massive company have a higher prerogative than the quality of life, land values and and basic democratic rights of local residents?

“Bob and I first came to this area two years ago when he did some engineering work for Michael Baker at Lincoln Brickworks in the Wingham area. We were bowled over by the landscape; lush river valleys, rolling blue hills with wonderfully evocative names such as Butterfly and Head and Shoulders. The rich and colourful bird life. Although we never thought we’d look beyond the boundaries of magical Pittwater, where we are lucky enough to live in a boat accessed area with the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park as our backyard (although I now wonder if our park is safe from future rape and pillage?), we were smitten and the infatuation refused to fade. Last year, we bought 228 acres at Wherrol Flat after walking to the top of what we now call the Great Hill and being gobsmacked by the fact that we were able to see all the way to the sea.

“I cannot imagine this softly lush and rolling countryside with an army of transmission lines marching across it like a massive, barbed wire fence.

“I wonder, too, about governments that think nothing of pushing taxpayers to embrace sustainable energy alternatives but don’t hesitate to approve this kind of detrimental development. Let Transgrid act like a decent, responsible company and spend the money to go underground. Transgrid must take on the financial commitment of underground power lines instead of passing an eyesore and environmental disaster on to the people of the Manning.”

Susan Duncan