It's been a while since there's been an issue which has inspired so much passion in people more than the Burrundulla and Gulgong solar farm projects. Last week I spoke with people on both sides of the issue, with each expressing their arguments with fervour.

However, that wasn't the only story I covered recently, there are always ideas and leads filling up my mind and spreadsheet that come from all sorts of places. Some come from an anonymous phone call, some from a sneaky email and some even from a visit to the Mudgee Guardian office.

Some context:

One such case which will soon have a spotlight on it is the issue of people sleeping rough in the Mid-Western Region. Homelessness Week begins in early August and in preparation for that, along with a lovely CWA donation story, my eyes were opened to a world that I thought I had a grasp on but realised I absolutely did not.

An exact number cannot be cited, however someone from Barnardos told me that in one financial year, their assistance numbers exceeded their contract by 200%. Which is to say, there's a lot of people out there in the Mudgee region with nowhere to call home.

Now, this is not to diminish the concerns of anyone for or against a solar farm development. They're valid and real. But for each handful of people who say a new solar farm will ruin the view coming into Mudgee or lower their land values - however true or not that might be, there's another person sleeping under those same bridges people are driving over to get into this town.

There are people in this very town sleeping in parks, toilet blocks and on the couches of their friends indefinitely. Depending on their situation, they might not even be aware of any such controversy currently playing out on Mudgee's social media pages. They're just worried about where to sleep tonight that won't leave them exposed to sub-zero temperatures or at risk of assault or theft.

At the time I'm writing this, there are almost 600 people that have signed on to support a change.org petition opposing the Burrundulla solar development, if each of those people gave one single dollar towards more backpack bags for those sleeping rough, we'd be able to give more than a dozen people security they might not otherwise get.

What is of paramount importance to some is an unknown to many others.