Hello Turkey, Ukraine, Netherlands, and Canada and welcome to the blog...and I realise that the amounts of money I claim are being wasted and/or rorted by Mt Gambier City Council are globally trivial, but for the people of Mt Gambier who are having to pay for this corruption and incompetence, every $500,000 casually wasted on a Council whim is yet another impost barely bearable.
I refer of course to the latest effort from Council in building a $600,000 fake creek and pond on the Old Rail Lands...$600k I believe that should be spent on the Old Rail Station to restore that beautiful old building that could then be utilised as an art studio and gallery with the bus terminal as part of it...I've covered this in many previous posts...
What picture would it present to people who come to Mt Gambier if they arrived either via bus utilising the Terminal that should be there, or in motorhomes and caravans utilising the large designated carparks that should be there, or in biking groups along the bikeway that should already be running from Bordertown to Portland along the disused Rail Line, etc, to a Gallery/Studio as part of a Parkland with a busy covered plaza leading through to the covered pool that should be there, etc, etc, etc...as I say, please see previous posts.
It greatly concerns me that Council is stating that the $1m that they just received suddenly and unexpectedly from the Labor state government a fortnight before the 2014 March election, will now allow them to do $1m of works...following on from the $1m that they received that got the first $1m bit done...but they doubled their borrowing capacity last year because they needed 'at least $2m for the Rail Lands'...(wasn't it announced as a $10m project in November 2011?-Ed)...exactly, the $10m Parklands Concept Plan...all over the shop, making it up as they're going along....
Council looks determined to burn as much money as possible on the Rail Lands without actually achieving what they claim is their 'goal', because that 'goal' is a lie...the Rail Lands Retail Agenda reigns supreme and all else is smoke and mirrors...(very expensive smoke and mirrors-Ed)...in brief, the RLRA is the plan to build a massive expansion of the Lakes (Centro) Plaza across the Rail Lands...a plan conceived and pursued by a handful of vested interests with their own profit in mind.
With the benefit of hindsight, I have no doubt that the Tourism Railway that was running from the Old Station was deliberately shut down by these vested interests, with former Mt Gambier CEO Greg Muller at the reins...that Tourist service compromised the plans to move the easement to clear the space for the shopping centre...and that means there's one major obstacle still in the way, the Old Station...
The real worry is the complete absence of the Old Rail Station in recent reportage of these works...I believe it's a case of ignore it and hope it goes away...in the latest The Border Watch article, front page yesterday Tuesday 1st April 2014, there is discussion of;
"...$300,000 to undertake construction of the platform extension, access ramps, stairs and
platform balustrading...the extension of the existing platform and a galvanised iron
chain-mesh balustrade"
and possibly;
"...an artistic woven laced wire feature within the fence..."
and also;
"...a fully automated irigation system...worth around $72,000."
and finally;
"...nearly $594,000 (for) the construction of a concrete wall for the pond, as well as a
rock-lined creek."
The article quotes Council's Acting Operational Services Director Daryl Morgan as saying that this wetlands thingy will take 6-9 months, and that;
"By the end of the year it should be a green site with trees, grass and a linear path running
from East to West and a number of other elements of the platform."
Repeatedly onto the platform but not one word about the Old Station Building.
As previously noted, I fear that there is an unfortunate accident/fire/whatevs in the future of the Old Rail Station and everything I see not being said leads me to believe this is highly likely...I maintain it is the primary reason that Council refused to put the Bus Shelter at the Old Station...same motivation as removing the Tourist train...nothing can be allowed to make that building a viable and useful space that the community has an affinity for, because that compromises the RLRA.
And behind all of this manipulation, and deceit, and corruption of appropriate process and responsible development, etc, etc, is the sense that everyone is just quietly nodding to each other...and by everyone I mean the Labor government, local Councils, the Independent Commission Against Corruption, etc, etc, etc...lots of nodding, plenty of winking, and all corrupt...
I remain entirely convinced that City Council, the Grant District Council, local Mayors and politicians, they have all had the Green Light on Corruption from the Labor state government, and all of it off the back of the St Martins Lutheran School Child Abuse Cover-up...Labor is itself little more than a criminal organisation...actually, I take that back, Labor in South Australia are definitely a criminal organisation...
All due respect, but I don't care what anyone else thinks about this, it's a fact...even if the parties involved haven't had a sit-down meeting where Premier Jay Weatherill explained it to all concerned that 'so long as you help us keep the St Martins Cover-up covered-up, you's guys can rip off ratepayers to your hearts content', that is the irrefutable state of play...when you have a state effectively run by paedophiles, petty defrauding of public funds by elected officials and public servants is derigeur.
I am a relative new-comer to politics, but others have observed to me that the comparatively petty corruption of City Council's past pales in comparison with what has happened in the last decade, most particularly the last 5-6 years...and I have explained my belief that the Rail Lands Retail Agenda has been driving this escalation in corruption, an escalation possible because of the Nod-and-a-Wink politicking re St Martins.
(Don't forget the rank corruption of the Allendale and Green Point Wind Turbine projects and the direct connection to former Premier Mike Rann, himself a critical player in the St Martins Cover-up...I'm sure that these projects and the general Fascism of Wind Turbine legislation all play a part in the 'corruption plume'...and Mike Rann is so corrupt that he had to be moved out of the country for several years...what a scumbag-Ed)...indeed, a scumbag amongst scumbags...and now some bits of stuff.
Pardon my cynicism and suspicion when I note that the large 'hangar' style shed that was in Eucalypt Drive as part of the Gambier Contracts site has 'gone'...(and was it Councillor Des Mutton who was involved with GTS when it was operating from that site?-Ed)...maybe, and maybe it's ended up at another Council site, but you'll excuse me if I consider the possibility that that massive shed has ended up in some Councillors backyard somewhere, at ratepayers expense...whilst these are currently 'allegations' I'll try to find out what I can.
NATO Say No Go: to Russia about it's posturing along the Ukraine border, but Russia claims that it is already withdrawing some of the troops that recently moved to the region...not sure if there were any specific sanctions to go with the NATO declaration other than the suspension of Civil and/or Military co-operation, or to what degree the Russian 'withdrawals' are genuine...
In Egypt my reservations about 'the Arab Spring' are playing out with terrible consequence, including the sudden announcement of death sentences for over 500 people...hundreds were killed in the demonstrations to oust the democratically elected Muslim Brotherhood, and Egypt is back in the grip of the military.
Woohoo: we really showed Bangladesh how to play cricket with a win in our fourth and final pool game in the Twenty20 World Cup, after losses to India, West Indies, and whoever else...yay team...
Mt Gambier yesterday hit 35.8C, a record high for April, and just one more to add to the 150+ records broken across the country this Summer/Autumn.
Grant District Mayor Richard Sage was on the ABC Local Radio this fine morn about Oceanlinx going into administration expressing his surprise and disappointment, and stating that the state and Federal governments are responsible...there was no funding from Grant District Council only $4.5m public funding...(any idea what's gonna happen with it?-Ed)...not really...rust where it sank?...
Heywood Interconnector: Raine Korte of Electranet was also on re the Heywood 'project upgrade' stating that it would require "no new lines" to improve the "transformation capacity", just "some plant along the line"...and acknowledging that this is about getting SA power to Vic when 'a lot of wind means relatively cheap energy' and that on 'windless very hot days of peak demand, allow more cheaper power to SA from Victoria'..."everyone benefits"...also, this Wind Power goes right across the National market...it was the usual diet of unsupportable propaganda...please see previous posts.
I'm Just Gobsmacked: at the plethora of locally produced TV ads about 'Stop Violence Against Women' and having respect for women and stopping sexist behaviours, etc, being produced and aired on behalf of various local groups including SAPol...gobsmacked because I'm still waiting for SAPol to get back to me nearly 3 weeks after I contacted them about the screaming idiot I confronted just over 3 weeks ago, the one who threatened to 'smash my f***in' head in'...enough for today but more...
Tomorrow: An Eclectic Collective Of Subjective Observationings
(So business as usual?-Ed)...yep...
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...cheers and laters...
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