Hello Aotearoa (New Zealand), Hong Kong, Romania, and Macau...(wooOHHOOhoo-Ed)...stop that...and welcome to the blog...and I'm just going to dot point my way through the Rail Lands stuff as per Council's relentless deceits and attempted but failed manipulation of the people of Mt Gambier via an equally deceitful and manipulative The Border Watch newspaper...
Regardless of whom has been responsible for explaining/exposing the reality of the Rail Lands Retail Agenda...(well that'd be you, that's what you call the clearly defined Agenda to build a massive Retail/Commercial Expansion of the Lakes (Centro) Plaza on the Rail Lands, as defined by Council's own plans, their multiple plans, since they first embarked on this Debacley Debasco-Ed)...ah the triple threat, a double-barreled debacle that is also a fiasco...double-barreled because of what it has already cost Mt Gambier, and the cost to come...
One More Time: and just for the record, Mt Gambier City Council was 'gifted' the central Old Rail Lands by the Rann Labor state government in 2004 (possibly as early as late 2003) and Council CEO Greg Muller, Mayor Steve Perryman, our current Federal MP Tony Pasin, and a handful of other vested interests immediately misappropriated the site as, in their minds, their property to do with as best suited them, namely the RLRA...(and hasn't that worked out well-Ed)...well it's what happens when you have a small, insular, selfish, group who feel it is their right to think they deserve to run things...
Again, all genuine respect, but the Rail Lands Retail Agenda is not up for debate, it is a lunatic reality that Council continues to pursue despite the fact that Mt Gambier is now swamped with major supermarkets and retailers and awash with empty shops...it's even in the February 2006 30 page Architect's plans for the RLRA, that 'this is to stop shopping centres on the outskirts of Mt Gambier'...some basic facts...
1) moving the Rail Easement is purely about clearing the space for building on...and Council, after years of using the 'Deed' as an excuse to not act, openly admitted that they don't know whether they and therefore Ratepayers are liable to replace all of the rail, sleepers, etc, that they needlessly ripped up...all of the very costly associated landworks were entirely unnecessary;
2) the Storm Water pond thingy is purely for the run-off from the huge roof area of the RLRA in a context where Mt Gambier's stormwater system is already 'full';
3) 'decontamination' was entirely unnecessary ...(but you can't build over even slightly contaminated ground because of the potential for fumes to seep up into buildings...just look at all those homes being evacuated in Clovelly Pk, Adelaide, because of groundwater contamination-Ed)...nicely explained Ed, and indeed, that 'Contamination' had to be addressed because 1) Council stirred up and exposed it by digging in the first instance, because 2) they had to 'clear' the footprint to build the RLRA as per plan attached again below...
All of this work is about preparing the site for the RLRA...nothing else...and Council has been embarrassed, harassed, and belligerently bullied into doing even that...even then they have found ways to royally screw it up, and it has to be asked, is this just rank incompetence or yet another raft of unnecessary but profitable projects mired in rank nepotism, as per the Main Corner, the Old Hospital Demolition, etc?...I've re-attached the article from The Border Watch and dot-pointed it by paragraph, thusly:
1) this is not new, it's a re-launch of the November 2011 $10m Parklands Concept Plan, sans $6m;
2) another lunatic $1m spend on pavers...$1m on pavers that, according to Mr Silvy today are exactly the same ones as used at the new Adelaide Oval;
3) that's not an amphitheatre, it's a small shelter;
(Woah woah, stop-Ed)...what now? I didn't swear...(no no, you're good, it's just that I just heard an interview (ABC Local Radio) with Stan Thompson 'Dorothy Dixing' his way through another Council propaganda exercise re the Rail Lands with Council's Michael Silvy-Ed)...so what? Stan's very first interview back after a month's holiday and it's a DD with Council, that's business as usual...(indeed, only this time Mr Silvy was contradicting the article below-Ed)...was he now...(well bit's of it, yeah-Ed)...do tell...
(Apparently the '$140,000 Sound Shell' that you were going to ridicule 1) because of it's positioning facing South/South-West, open to the worst weather, and 2) for it's complete lack of cover for any audience, and 3) for the tiny price tag given that the Lady Nelson Bus Shelter Shade Cloth Debasco cost $250,000, even before adding the cost of the ridiculous metal seats and pointless glass partitioning'...well that Sound Shell, that ain't gunna' happen-Ed)...really?...well I'm glad I didn't waste my time writing about that then.............(what?-Ed)...say something...(I got nuthin'-Ed)...well we can't just stand here in the Dead Joke Area...(moving on?-Ed)...after you...
(Deadset though-Ed)...indeed, I am genuinely pleased that I did only get this far into this post before I had to about face and address the about faces addressed in that interview this mornin'...but even then it's Mr Silvy apparently contradicting himself and it appears the best way forward is to stick to the attached article and go dot point for paragraph...thusly and where were we?...(at $140k amphitheatre, which is apparently somewhere behind but not actually that pictured structure sound Shell thingy-Ed)...which isn't actually happening at all...(correct-Ed)...wow...
4) these not new plans reveal areas that will be baking deserts in Summer and wind-swept tundra's in Winter...(and don't forget the flooding across the site, photo attached-Ed)...indeed, a sodden wind-swept tundra...(that in places you have to get across 10 feet of golf/tennis ball size ballast/clinker gravel to access-Ed)...indeed...
5) $350,000 for a completely needless 'platform extension" that also takes away 15-20 carparks;
6) lottsa' stuff about platforms and heritage items and the signal box and even a platform extension, but not one word about the beautiful Old Rail Station...not one word, not one dollar...
7) as I understand it, the Rotary Marketters a) have no intention of moving anywhere and b) are less than happy that Council and The Border Watch know that but continue to say otherwise;
This morning Mr Silvy re-iterated the truth that there is no plan and no funding for the iconic Old Rail Station...(which should already be a fully restored central bus terminal, with ticket office, cafe, art space, etc-Ed)...quite...and seemed to withdraw from without specifically mentioning the $100,000 for the "re-roofing repainting of railway station" that is mentioned in this article for the very first time that I've heard...(that Brian Page dude mentioned it in his TBW letter thingy that we covered last week-Ed)...good call champ, but there hasn't been one word before that I'd reckon...(I'll give you that one-Ed)...
Today Mr Silvy openly stated that there is no plan at all for restoration and/or future use of the Old Rail Station and that the pictured Sound Shell thingy isn't in any immediate future plans either...I believe he said something about hoping to get some more funding, which apparently is the reason for the sculptures, ie, as a pre-requisite of the $2m state government funding for the site...(and what about the $100k for a new ORS roof and painting?-Ed)...if he mentioned it sorry, but I didn't hear it at all, no idea...(but isn't that building riddled with Asbestos anyway? there's no way you could just pull the roof off and frig about without doing a full Asbestos removal/remediation-Ed)...ironic really that Council would ignore that Asbestos, the only genuine contamination on the whole site...(nice-Ed)...
And well noted Ed because I think that's the kicker right there, there's just no way that Council is committing to refurbish a building they want gone...or even worse, they'll burn every last cent on the pointless landworks, etc, and then borrow millions more to do a cafe for a Councillor's son...after spending another $1m on bloody pavers...(but apparently that's just fine because they're not all grey-Ed)...oh well, that's just fine then, just fine...which was point 8)...;
9) it still is a desert...(when it's not a sodden tundra-Ed)...;
10) here Mr Silvy states re overall costs and the proposed sculptures..."At this stage we don't need to get rid of them.""...(but this morning he said they were a prerequisite of the $2m funding agreement-Ed)...indeed he did...
11) less the $100k extra for the ORS, the whole $4.2m thing is exactly on budget, apparently...and because there's still heaps to address I'll roll this over into tomorrow...
Is It Just Me?: but I find it really annoying to see Adelaide news reporting how costly it will be for Port Adelaide AFL fans to travel to Perth, but when the footy's in Adelaide it's all about how glorious Adelaide Oval is and not one mention about how Regional SA can access it...it's still cheaper to fly Adelaide to Perth to see the footy than to get from Mt Gambier to bloody anywhere...
Tomorrow: A Banana Lord Update
Just A Closing Thought:...just listening to reportage from the Royal Adelaide Show asking why do castrated Alpacas make the best sheep protectors?...and you're wrong Mr Alpaca Man because it doesn't just stop them concentrating on females, it also makes them angry, very angry...
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...cheers and laters...
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