Hello Bahrain, Belgium, Indonesia, and right darn air in Straya...(down here in Australia-Ed)...gidday...(hello-Ed)...oi, mate...(excuse me sir, what are you doing?-Ed)...stop that or else...(please desist with that behaviour or there will be repercussions-Ed)...I'ma nidyit...(I am an idiot...no, hang on-Ed)..too late, moving on...
And as though ordained, ABC Local Radio is about to run a story about the Mt Gambier City Council's "aspirational" plans for the Blue Lake City (Mt Gambier)...(sweet baby cheeses, what now?-Ed0...gord knows Ed, gord knows, but I guess we'll find out...and that was 0730 this morning and now it's 1700hrs...and in yesterday's The Border Watch...(front page in fact-Ed)...is Councillor Des Mutton on the Rail Lands. gazing majestically into the middle distance...(yes, very Lion King...what a noble statesman is our Des-Ed)...hakuna matata mate...
One Track Minds: on Council have driven Mt Gambier into the ground, pouring millions of ratepayers money into personally profitable projects, money that has in many circumstances been borrowed...and with Local Government elections due in November 2014 they're falling over themselves to be nice with 5% rates, etc, but the pain's a comin' people, mark my words... (you don't have to be a mug of beer to figure that out-Ed)...sorry, 'a mug of beer to figure that out', what does 'a mug of beer' mean?...(ein stein-Ed)..........I hate you, oh I really hate you sometimes...and several of those times is now...
And always remember that every cent Council spends, every cent of Council staff wages, every catered function in the Main Corner, every ugly concrete paver, etc, etc, that's all paid for by ratepayers via their rates...(but don't Council get some government grants, etc?-Ed)...indeed, but that technically is still money that belongs to the citizens of Mt Gambier, Councillors are merely care-takers who ratepayers allegedly elect to distribute those funds in a responsible manner, but they don't...
For example, when Council gets granted $2m by the state Labor government for the Rail Lands and then wastes it all needlessly moving dirt in circles to create work that didn't exist otherwise, and then doubles it's borrowing capacity using the justification that it needs that money to do the Rail Lands, and then pours all that into more needless dirt-shuffling and a Fake Lake that's really an Industrial Drainage Pond, that's deliberate mismanagement...
And when they borrow $$$millions it's ratepayers who wear the interest repayments...and ratepayers provide the $2m to run the Library every year, and the $600,000+ for the Main Corner, etc...I remind availees that when Council moved the Library out of the Sir Robert Helpmann Building (Civic Centre?), they did massive renovations of nearly the entire building, eg, the CEO's office, the former Library area, etc, and it's now all Council offices...(and now that needs repairing apparently-Ed)...what does?...(the SRH building needs new external panels or some shizzle-Ed)...what?!...sweet baby cheeses, we'll look at it tomorrow...
(Yeah, you never hear how much that cost to do all that Council renovation-Ed)...yeah, I think it was at least partially responsible for the decision to move the Library, namely, lovely new offices for Council without the public backlash of openly doing a new building...the new Library itself was jammed ludicrously into the Cave Garden as part of keeping the Rail Lands clear...and where did Council suddenly find the additional $2.6m+ funding they needed starting 2010 with the new Library and Main Corner in 2011?...(good question...sure the old Library would have cost a bit, but only a fraction of $2.6m-Ed)...
A recent spate of stories about increased rubbish dumping on roadsides, in forests, etc...(what's that got to do with Council?-Ed)...wait for it...prompted many responses about the ludicrous cost of dumping rubbish at Council disposal sites, eg, $150 for one small trailer load...this is Council's business because they just doubled their own borrowing capacity with the justification that they suddenly needed $2million for a new cell at the Caroline Landfill...(fair enough-Ed)...
And "suddenly" because the 'New Cell' issue didn't appear in the discussion until shortly after the initial 2013/14 Budget was being discussed (and part of rates is meant to be for rubbish removal-Ed)...exactly...at the very least City of Mt Gambier ratepayers should get the opportunity to take a certain amount of waste to the Caroline Landfill for free because they (we) are already paying via rates...(maybe a couple of trailer loads per year and there could be a 'hole-punch' section on the Rates Notice form that you get stamped for your 2 goes-Ed)...brilliant Ed...(even if you do say so yourself-Ed)...
Now a paraphrase (from hastily typed notes) of this morning's ABC interview with our illustrious leader Mayor Steve 'COI' Perryman re the "aspirational" plans Council has for the future, future, future, future..........(time keeps on slipping. slipping, slipping, into the future-Ed)...right on man...
Mr Perryman stated that Mt Gambier was a neat place to live with an amenable climate, etc, that has prospered over 170 years due to the hard work and resilience of it's citizens, etc...into the future we know that there are interesting challenges and for the last 5 years local communities have struggled and also at Council level, not least of all due to the Forestry Forward Sale...(well all of that sounds quite reasonable-Ed)...thus far...
Something about how our future plan has 4 key points, being environment, strategic planning and development and economics and people and the environment...(you've done that one-Ed)...economy...(and that one-Ed)...building resilience via training, etc?...(go on-Ed)...um, training...and then some more about being well located with a diverse economy, good climate, etc...oh, the role where Council has shown leadership in all these 4 things and a whole Community response via engagement via a thorough strategy across Mt Gambier involving "600" people...months of engagement to get more people involved because 1) we don't do well so 2) tell us what they think they can do to help reach targets...
Given the highly trained but gendered workforce and low employment opportunities, we need to work on being more friendly and welcoming and build community engagement, building relationships, ask people to contribute, build resilience, etc, to make Mt Gambier a better place...so the draft paper is being distributed amongst "the 600" and by August will be refined and released publicly...and Council is planning a thorough engagement process through the whole community...(The End)
(Haaaahahahaha...haaahahahaha...ahahahaha...aha...aha...aaaaaaaa, priceless...'engage in a thorough Public Consultation'...aaaaa...sorry, what were you saying?-Ed)...nothing yet, but yes I was going to ridicule those ridiculous comments about PC...one is tempted to engage in a brief round of "thar she blows"...(I beg your pardon?-Ed)...relax grandma, I'm just doing the whole 'PC is Council's Great White Whale' metaphor thingy...(oh oh, right, of course, where Council is apparently obsessed with this mythical creature but no-one else has ever seen it...I love that metaphor, very apt-Ed)...indeed...
There is one Planning Strategy in Mt Gambier City Council and/or the Grant District Council, and it's what gets a profit for Councillors and their friends and families...it's a disgraceful state of institutionalised corruption that has royally rooted Mt Gambier, and that resultant pain looms large on a horizon that Council is doing everything it can to make sure Mt Gambier never reaches, ie, they're dragging the City backwards at a rate of notes...(don't you mean knots? a rate of knots?-Ed)...no, I'm using a Fiscal scale, not a full sail...(nice-Ed)...
Let Them Eat Lake: can you imagine the public services that Council could support with the approx $700,000 that they are burning on the Rail Lands Fake Lake?...support for community bodies that provide food parcels, sponsorship for expanded Meals on Wheels services, money for improving the Mt Gambier Community garden, a week-end/public holiday bus service so people can get to the shops, etc, etc...instead, we get a Fake Lake and a big fat lie...
I completely reject these extensive and ludicrous Council justifications about 'creating a creek playscape for the kiddies to play in the mud like we used to'...bollocks...that Lake is an Industrial Drainage Pond designed and constructed to accept industrial quantities of storm-water off the industrial-size roof area of the massive Retail/Commercial Expansion of the Lakes Plaza that Council is still trying to build on the Old Rail Lands site, a near decade long pursuit I have labelled the Rail Lands Retail Agenda (previous posts)...
Tomorrow: Going To Town On A Lake - FLADS Part II
Yeah, you read right...whilst I have had advice to concentrate on local issues, I've chosen to completely ignore that idiot...it just happens to be a complete coincidence that that's what I'm doing lately...but seriously, as long as TBW keeps putting Cr Des 'In For His Chops' Mutton on the front page with a wall of lies about whatevs, I'll be there...whenever a Mayor has yet another Conflict of Interest, I'll be there...when Council holds a public meeting, I'll be there...whenever...(enough already, we get it-Ed)...sorry...
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...cheers and laters...
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