It’s not seasonal anymore

I live in a small village which is rural in SE Qld. Everyone has a combustion heater. Everyone has a fire pit. The farms burn off when weather permits.

The biggest problem now is land clearing for development. The land is cleared down to dirt. The trees and shrubs are bulldozed into piles and set alight. They are often still green and cause terrible smoke over large areas. Besides the smoke I wonder how they can keep green wood smouldering. It’s been a sore point for a few years but developers are more powerful than a small town and they seem to do what they want. I’m pretty sure there’s accelerators added to those piles and that adds to the danger too.

I’ve covered my windows with plastic sheets and I have an air purifier. Building standards are pretty rotten too. There’s really no keeping bad air outside. But I have reduced the danger in my own house and I don’t have to go to hospital with cardiac and breathing issues now. But it does limit my life.

And it’s not seasonal anymore. It’s a year long problem while ever more development keeps happening. This is the fastest growing area in Australia and it’s expected we will have nearly 200,000 new residents in a couple of years. The Olympic venues are close by and they will also cause problems. The land will be cleared and built upon. I don’t think anywhere in this country has good air quality.