Bread and Butter Issues

Hello and welcome to the blog...and pick a prize if you guessed that today's post is about the bun-fight over Warnambool Cheese and Butter...(ooo, we have prizes?-Ed)...no, it's just an expression...so WCB and the ongoing cereal crop harvest...but first...(I knew you'd do that-Ed)...and yes sorry, ultimately I haven't even got to WCB today, so that tomorrow...sorry.

Earlier this week the ABC Local Radio ran an interview with Mt Gambier City Councillor Merv White about his 25 years on Council, and apparently that's something to be celebrated...but I'm not sure why, and I must admit that I didn't really listen properly to the first minute or two, but here's what I picked up...

According to Merv, City Council has 'never been political'...(puharh...sorry, I choked on my mouthful of coffee...'not political'?...Mayor Perryman was the Liberal candidate at the last state election, Jim Maher is the Labor branch president (title?-sorry), and most Councillors fall in behind those two main bodies-Ed)...quite...there's a clear 'Liberal bloc' voting together...in my personal experience decisions are clearly made along political lines, eg, the obscene amounts spent on the Main Corner/Riddoch Gallery and support for the Arts in general, over a public pool, public transport, etc.

Merv then went into an extended whinge about how inconvenient it is to have Council meetings that are open to the public...(dead-set?-Ed)...and how this leads to things being reported through The Border Watch and other media...and how this led to opposition to the Old Hospital demolition...and he then went into a lengthy justification about awarding the demolition contract to McMahon's because it was '$1/2million cheaper' than the local tender...and then back to whinging about the media..."frustrating" was the term.

And when Stan Thompson put it to him that 'social media' must therefore lead to 'increasing frustration', Merv agreed, said he understood it all, but was 'too busy to blog'...(talking about you, ya' think?-Ed)...in part, definitely in part...and then back to complaining about issues being exposed in the media...what rot, the vast amount or reportage through TBW is massively pro-Council to the point of propaganda.

What really pissed me off though, was the comments about Council's budgetary shenanigans...when asked if Council had 'budget issues', Merv replied that Council never has 'budget over-runs, they always have balanced budgets', there was a brief silence, and then they both chuckled about it like it's some huge joke...this current Council have driven Mt Gambier into massive debt over a series of unnecessary, almost whimsical projects that completely ignore the economic realities that the vast majority of residents currently experience...and they laughed about it...

Merv closed with a comment about vested interests influencing Council decisions, but said these issues were addressed with Council's strict Code of Conduct criteria and therefore everything was hunky-dory and okey-dokes (maybe not his actual words).

This was followed the next day by an interview with Cr Allen Smith in his capacity as Head (Manager?) of the Mount Gambier Racing Club...I won't go into it in detail because it was much the same as the interview I critiqued a couple of weeks ago...everything's super-duper and ticketty-boo...no mention that I heard of the waterlogged track, cancelled meetings causing great inconvenience for all involved, etc, referring instead to the Club's capacity to cater to large groups of people.

I admit again, as neither horse racing or Cr Smith's opinion really interest me, I didn't pay strict attention to that interview (ie. take any notes), but I heard enough to state confidently that it was yet another Council-related interview that carefully avoided the unpleasant realities, and instead offered multiple opportunities for positive propaganda. I'm not saying he lied, he just avoided anything nasty.

These interviews however pale into insignificance compared to the comments in the TBW Wednesday 30th October, from Council's Operational Services Director Daryl Sexton where he pendulums madly from statements about 'remediation' and 'contamination' on the old Rail Lands, but then says 'it poses no threat', including that there will be 'no major dust problems.'

He goes on to say, dust could be a problem if the site dries out, but the dust levels are being monitored, but then dismisses concerns about contaminates from the soil spreading through the air- "Those things in the soil don't get airborne." This continues Council's trend of self-contradiction on literally every aspect of the Rail Lands fiasco...why dig it all up from one place, move it a few metres and bury it again?

Because, you can't build a shopping centre on ground that is in any way contaminated...even minor contamination such as on the Rail Lands has to be addressed before you can build a building on it.

I note that the latest article (30/10/2013) also states 'timelines for future stages of the $8 million ambitious blueprint have yet to be announced'...in November 2011, now two years ago, Council made a huge song and dance about a $10 million park land for the site...thus far, they've managed to spend God knows how much ripping up sleepers and rail that simply didn't need to be moved and I maintain that they have one agenda, and one agenda alone.

I refer readers to my previous posts re Rail Lands Retail Agenda, whereby Council has been wholly consumed to the point of obsession with their 2005 decision to build a massive extension of the Centro/Lakes Plaza out across the Rail Lands...all of those plans are on the previous posts.

Furthermore, what they are currently doing is simply clearing the footprint for that development...they are using ratepayer's money to clear the site, to the advantage of whoever it is they try and flog it to in the near future...these current works are not about a park land, and the admission that they don't have any future stages announced is further proof of that.

Most concerning of all though, is the issue of the Old Hospital demolition, and this ludicrous celebration on the ABC about how great it is to see McMahons big smashy thing smashing the window frames out of the building. In a recent TBW article, it was stated/admitted that there are asbestos contamination issues in the upper floors of the building.

It remains my understanding that at least some of the asbestos contamination issues are in and/or around those window frames eg. the sealing putty. Does this haphazard approach of knocking the frames violently from their positions increase or even produce an asbestos contamination risk? Has the clearly defined rush to get this project done as quickly as possible compromised appropriate safety measures?

It is also a concern that McMahons Tender/contract does not include "Disposal of contaminated material." I don't know what "asbestos has been allowed for in the pricing to the extent of asbestos identified in the asbestos register" actually means. Does this mean that Council is footing the bill for this very costly part of the project (asbestos dumping), as they are for site lighting and security, site finishes, removal of any vegetation and trees, etc.

As in previous posts, there appears to be different Tenders at play, in that the Gambier Earth Movers' Tender includes most of these items, yet Council justifies choosing the out-of-town contractor purely on issues of cost...Is it appropriate to compare apples with pears, and say that one is better than the other when they are clearly different?...again, this appears to be another case of Council awarding contracts to 'out of town' contractors based on differing Tenders, eg. the Lady Nelson Bus Shelter, and the massive Stone Wall that ultimately never was.

I'll finish up here and do today's advertised post;

Tomorrow: Bread and Butter Issues Take the Cake

Today's post is tangentially about bread and butter stuff because every contract that leaves this town is bread and butter being wrenched off the tables of local families by a self-obsessed Council who clearly are interested in only one opinion...theirs.

I am Nick Fletcher, and this is not my blog...nah, yeah it is. God bless God bless. And laters.