Hello and welcome to the blog...I'm your host Nick Fletcher, and today we are looking at the latest load of mularchy coming out of Mt Gambier City Council re the Old Rail Lands in the centre of town...but first some quick homework and other stuff...
Dr Filby, head of the Patient Assistance Transport Scheme Review, has rejected claims that there is extensive rorting of PATS, identifying a few cases of inappropriate claims that, in the TV interview I saw, he stated had been largely 'discovered' and disallowed under the current system...(back to you Health Minister Jack Snelling for more excuses as to why you won't increase PATS funding to an appropriate level-Ed)...and please don't try to blame patients again for your failures, incompetence and/or bloody mindedness...
And MLC Robert Brokenshire is going the Weatherill Labor government about these allegations of rorting, calling for these claims to be supported or withdrawn...
1000 votes: lost then found in the Seat of Indi, votes that will see incumbent Liberal Sophie Mirabella probably defeated by the Independent Cathy McGowan...have I previously mentioned the box of votes that was allegedly found under a table at the Mt Gambier Electoral office when packing up after the March 2010 state Election...(don't ask me-Ed)...well, only weeks after the election I had a very strange, disjointed conversation with an Electoral worker at a supermarket checkout.
I thought we were talking about my complaints to the Australian Press Council and Electoral Commission re The Border Watch newspaper's pro-Don Pegler bias, but he kept asking about a box of votes...I didn't understand what he was talking about and it stuck with me all day until I had a 'light bulb' moment...he wasn't asking me anything, he was telling me about a box of votes that was found under a table and therefore not included in the count.
I duly contacted the Returning Officer Bill Russon and Liberal candidate Steve Perryman, but was assured that no such thing could happen or did happen...and that was it...don't know what else to say.
Family First: the Party, with the support of the Liberals, Greens, and Independents, has succeeded 14 votes to 7...(Labor opposed it...now there's a surprise-Ed)...in establishing an Upper House Select Committee to review and further investigate issues associated with the DeBelle Inquiry...I'll do a little 'woohoo' but not hold my breath...as per previous posts, I've been down this road too many times before only to end up right here anyway...
Premier Jay Weatherill has already stated that he won't appear before this "circus", dismissing it as a pre-Election (for March 2014) stunt...and Attorney General John Rau yesterday stated that if this Committee was about getting Records Keeping Legislation revised and modernised, then Labor were already doing that...(I believe the phase he used was "They had me at hello"-Ed)...I've covered this previously...the Records Review to try and undermine the Select Committee...
And MLC Bob Such is calling for a review of how children are getting caught up under the relatively new Sex Offenders/Unlawful Transmissions legislation, predominantly by posting 'selfies', etc...(yes, Dr Such considers that this legislation is not protecting children, but actually turning them into criminals because they can end up on the Sex Offenders register-Ed)...yes, well clearly something needs to be done to sort that out...
Rail Lands Retail Agenda: rears it's ugly head yet again in the latest announcement from Mt Gambier City Council, via Sandra Morello on the front page of The Border Watch Wednesday 11th September 2013, Rail plan rollout, and a glowing editorial there-in, and a 3 from 3 'yes' clean sweep in the 'vox pop' section, The Street Sweeper.
Many times in previous posts I have outlined what I call Council's Rail Lands Retail Agenda and I ask that you review those posts about the disastrous pattern of development/planning decisions, eg, the farcical Lady Nelson Bus Shelter process...decisions made to keep the Old Rail Lands clear for Retail/Commercial Expansion of the Lakes/Centro Plaza.
Council's Daryl Sexton has publicly conceded...(at the Budget Consultation meetings earlier this year-Ed)...that the land has been re-zoned (2009) to 'City Centre' which means Retail/Commercial...(doesn't the state government have to ratify any such rezoning?-Ed)...indeed, this can only have happened with government approval...and since being 'gifted' the site in mid 2005, Council have presented multiple plans for an expansion of the Lakes/Centro Plaza...
People have countered my RLRA accusations/observations with various versions of essentially the same story, namely, that the previous owners of The Plaza tried approximately a decade ago to negotiate a Retail/Parkland development of the site, but Council weren't interested...(the only explanation I can think of is a change of Councillors and therefore attitude, combined perhaps with the 'gifting' of the site to the City-Ed)...or maybe they are simply confusing it with the plans from 2005 and/or 2006...
Anyway, it is irrelevant what did or didn't happen 10+ years ago, the current attitude is clearly apparent, and apparently still very much in play given Council's latest declaration and the relevant celebration via TBW...
Council is set to rip up 8km of rail track despite acknowledging that should Rail return to that corridor then Council (ratepayers) would be responsible for replacing it;
"...who knows what would happen with the requirements of a new track with the department...
We may have to provide all new rail infrastructure." (Council Engineering Manager Daryl Morgan)
It is expensive work that need not happen at all, and potentially exposes ratepayers to massive costs to replace it.
I believe that Council remains fully committed to the RLRA and are deliberately spending all of the money they currently have...$1.7million in government funding and another $1m+ borrowed as per the latest Budget...without actually achieving anything on the Old Rail Lands site that may compromise their ongoing desire/plans for a massive expansion of the Lakes/Centro Plaza.
Ripping up the track allows them to say 'hey, look at all the work we've done on the Rail Lands' without actually doing anything, whilst burning all the money they do have, which will then lead back to the arguments about borrowing more and/or increasing rates again, which leads to the justification for selling the land...round and round and round in the exact same manner Council has run this for over 8 years now...they are not giving up...
And Council is allegedly set to award the Tender at their next meeting Tuesday 17th September, but you know they have already decided this before simply going through the motions...it's business as usual with Mt Gambier City Council...
This decision to remove the rail track is a stupid, blinkered, selfish construct focused purely on maintaining an empty, undeveloped block ripe for development...if there is some way to stop Council proceeding with this, then it must be done...(well there is one way-Ed)...what?...
(Not that they are listening, but I call on Councillors to block this decision to remove the rails as costly, selfish, and retrograde, and if necessary resign at that meeting to deny the quorum needed for any vote-Ed)...good luck with that...they're not about to give up their precious positions on Council...
Tomorrow: TFTIM Liberal Candidate Troy Bell
Unless I come up with something better to do...no, no, just joking, go' bless, go' bless...
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...going off the rails about the rails...cheers...
No comments:
Post a Comment