Civility and maturity are inexticably linked

Civil conversation and maturity are inextricably linked.

Language and its use, indicates something about the user’s wisdom.

That being true, Wednesday’s public meeting to discuss the proposed closure of Shepparton’s Andrew Fairley Avenue was civil, wise, and a sea of good sense.

From the chairman, former councillor and public thinker, John Gray, right through to the fork-lift driver who welcomed the closure, there was an admirable degree of decency.

Civility springs obviously from maturity, but Wednesday’s meeting had another ingredient, the little something extra that ensured it was rooted in the common man’s experience, and so wisdom borne of familiarity.

The meeting, called in response to a decision made at the March meeting of the City of Greater Shepparton, was held using a trestle table and chairs set out in a space usually occupied by buses at Ford’s Shepparton Bus Services Depot in the heart of the city’s industrial area.

The meeting’s reason for objecting to the avenue’s closure was articulated by the environment in which it was held – the road’s closure would dramatically increase costs and difficulties for the bus company – a sentiment reflected by nearly all at the meeting.

It was obvious that all at Wednesday’s meeting agreed that the community needed to stand with SPC Ardmona as it confronted competition from around the world, but most were concerned, and rightly so, that public space it seeks is precious and once sold to a private enterprise, it is lost forever.

Most thought that innovative planning and thinking could see the company retain, and improve on its competitiveness and the community retain its use of the avenue.

Although never mentioned, there appeared to be a status quo-style of thinking that aligned most at the meeting with the business as usual paradigm; a model that has, in the minds of many, taken the world down a dead-end street.

Wednesday night’s warm example of civility will be needed on a hitherto unseen scale as our community wrestles with a collision of circumstances, such as energy and resource depletion, an injured atmosphere, economic disarray and a burgeoning population.

Wisdom and resilience will be in high demand and rather than limping toward a solution that is about continuing what we have done for centuries and has not only seriously disrupted earth’s ecosystem, gouged the planet’s finite and irreplaceable resources, but has brought down a pervasive and alarming inequality, we need to do it differently.

The modern world is responsible for many good things, but accounts for the cost are coming and an even cursory examination of world events suggest we have to change our ways.

It is right and proper to protect the sovereignty of Andrew Fairley Avenue, but it should be just the beginning of a civil and mature conversation to protect what is public from private enterprise.