December 20, 2016

Hello World

Welcome, and all the best for a happy new year as we prepare to wave cheerio to this one, and greet the next. For me, 2017 is the start of my website and blog adventure so if you’ve stumbled upon this space by accident I hope you’ll hang around, check it out, and return often. You’ll always be welcome.

The year that was certainly proved to be a rollercoaster in many ways, but putting aside the big picture stuff for the moment, for me 2016 proved to be decision time so far as finally hanging out my shingle in cyberspace is concerned. The catalyst was the inclusion of two essays in a couple of books published earlier this year, ( Breaking the Boundaries: Australian activists tell their stories ; and The Fabric of Launceston) and starting work on my own story about an environmental campaign in Tasmania that both united and divided a community. More of that to come in future posts.

A blog after all is really an online diary, but diaries are personal, and a blog isn’t so I’m still coming to terms with the realisation that a largely unknown audience is likely to read this, just like all those published articles I’ve written over the years are read by an unknown audience. And it shouldn’t feel different, and it shouldn’t really bother me, but for some inexplicable reason it does. Bear with me. I’m sure I’ll find my comfort zone in a little while. Maybe I’ll give this blog a personality and name, like Anne Frank did with her famous diary, and pretend I’m writing a letter. This blog after all is mine to play with and develop as I wish – so hope you’ll join me on the journey.

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The story of the campaign to stop  Gunns Ltd building a pulp mill in the Tamar Valley.
By Anne Layton-Bennett June 8, 2025
Part memoir and part story of how a community came together and stopped a pulp mill being built in Tasmania's Tamar Valley.
Tasmanians stood up as one in opposition to an over-ambitious timber company - and won.
By Anne Layton-Bennett May 16, 2025
For 12 years Tasmanians steadfastly opposed the building of a pulp mill in the Tamar Valley. The campaign was long and hard and took its tioll, but the community won it. This book is their story.
Our purple smoke bush is ablaze with its fiery glory every autumn.
By Anne Layton-Bennett April 15, 2025
A lovely small tree that comes into its own each autumn with a vibrant seasonal display of colour.

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