A meaningless phrase

I applaud the action of Gosford Council in questioning the term "ecologically sustainable development" which occurs in the State Government's regional planning strategy.

For some years this phrase has been a catch-cry at various meetings I have attended.

Lacking definition, it therefore lacks a plan for achieving whatever it is that it is trying to achieve.

The listener or reader is lulled into a false sense of security, believing that something which sounds so good must, therefore, be good.

Another such word is "vision".

A very fine and appealing word, also needing definition and a structure laid down to attempt its achievement.

It's really important, I think, to read critically and to not, because we so badly want changes for the better, interpret these woolly words so that they seem to mean what we would like them to mean.

Mary Hawthorne, Pearl Beach