President of the Manyana Matters Environmental Association, Bill Eger, feels a range of emotions when he visits the piece of land he and many others are trying to save.
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He can look at the block in Manyana from an environmental point of view and also from a Rural Fire Service point of view.
The block, without the heroic efforts of the RFS volunteers, would today be a blackened and barren place - like many other surrounding pieces of the bush.
"The longer I am involved in this environmental cause here, the closer I feel to the landscape and bush," Bill said.
"There is an incredible amount of awe and respect from me towards the landscape and how it has formed over millions of years."
The association's campaign to save the land started earlier this year and even the developer, Ozy Homes, would have to be impressed with their efforts.
However, Bill feels the land in many ways is being disrespected.
He, like many others, knows there has to be development but adds this does not mean we can totally disrespect the land's value.
"We need to start respecting what we have," he said.
He did not help save the block in question, as a RFS volunteer but was definitely out on the Currawan fire ground and helping where he could.
Bill, putting on his RFS hat, said the fight to save the Manyana block of land from the fire was definitely worth the effort - despite its uncertain future.
"We were trying to save many habitats like this block at Manyana during the fires," he said.
"I think I can speak for the great majority of volunteer firefighters and say we want to preserve these places.
"We don't want to see animals burnt and we saw some dreadful things."
Seeing such destruction made him even more determined to help save the Manyana block.
"We have to stand up and if we are not going to stand up now when will we?
"Where are we going to draw the line on mindless destruction of our habitats and our species," he asked.
The campaign
Bill is also in awe of the passion and effort his fellow association members have given to the campaign.
"I have to say our committee, past and present members, have been absolutely amazing," he said.
He added the committee has been open to the community and their ideas.
One of the group's actions, as part of the campaign, is putting together a funding package to help purchase the land.
The Foundation for National Parks and Wildlife has put together, with the association's help, a funding instrument as a vehicle to buy the land.
"The funding part of our fight has been the most difficult," he said.
He added there were a lot of laws around funding that they had to understand as they wanted to make sure they got things right.
"What we feel now is all levels of government can now contribute to that fund and they don't have to do it on their own," he said.
Bill said only the NSW government, at this point, had indicated a willingness to contribute to buying the land.
He is disappointed the federal government has not indicated it would make a contribution, which also applies to Shoalhaven City Council.
"Some council members don't see the environment as valuable," he said.
Bill said the natural environment was an important part of the Shoalhaven's valuable tourism industry.
"People are not coming down here to visit concrete bomb-shelters. They are coming down here to visit this beautiful bush," he said.
"Yet some councillors would have that bush turned into concrete at the stroke of a pen."
The association's determination
The group will not be giving up without the fight of their lives - that is sure.
"You have got to come into these fights with a certain amount of belief and faith," Bill said.
"You are knocked down many times in these fights and therefore if you did not have faith or belief you would stay down."
He again pointed to the committee members with their energy and a determination to not stay down.
"They [the committee] have an incredible honesty and belief in what we are doing," he said.
"There have been times when we thought we had lost it.
"Then we have said to ourselves - 'could you get up in the morning and look at yourself in the mirror if you are going to let these bulldozers roll over us'."
He thinks the situation is positive and that the NSW government now knows the land's value.
Fight for a range of species
The NSW government's recent well-published issues with koala sanctuaries are helping to keep the focus on important environmental matters, according to Bill.
"I think what is happening is undeniable and has got to a point where we have to draw a line somewhere," he said.
He said some people in government sectors believe in having a stake in the environment but he added there were detractors as well that don't.
"We have come to a real tipping point and we lost three billion animals [nationwide] during the bushfire crisis," he said.
He hopes the end result of the koala and other debates will see governments realise they have to stand up for the environment.
"Maybe they are starting to see this," he said.
"Ours is a grassroots campaign and we have had to fight tooth and nail to get the government interested in saving this land."
The EDO comes into help
Bill said they owe an awful lot to the Environmental Defenders Office [EDO].
"I can tell you right now without the EDO onboard, we would not have had a snowflake's chance in hell," he said.
"There would have been people diving in front of bulldozers and God knows what would have occurred."
Bill added at the end of the day small communities like his should not have to fund the fight to save important species.
Plans for the block
"Our idea and I believe the NSW government's idea through the Foundation for National Parks and Wildlife is to create a type of link to Conjola National Park," he said.
"This is a place that is really unique, considering it one of the last unburnt pieces of bush and there may be species in there with few left out there in the wild, especially locally and even regionally.
"We can see this as a place for research, for education and for all sorts of learning.
"We have got a bit of a vision we would like to see.
"We are not going to say to people that we don't want you in there but what you have to realise is that it's a special and vulnerable place.
"I would maybe like to see a walkway around it with signs and explainers - very low key."
Bill has been on the site and remains in awe of the land.
He gets a feeling of peaceful power when he walks onto the land.
The association president has spoken to the Ozy Homes representatives and tried to get the association's feelings on the issue across.
Now we all wait to see what is going to happen in the future.
However, an announcement the land was safe would be a perfect Christmas present for the community, according to Bill.