(You know there's somethin' about putting lots of 'I' in a sentence/paragraph, it indicates some sort of personality thingy...don't know what that is but I'm quietly confident we just ran over it in the last sentence-Ed)...is that what that thud was?...(I think I'm right too-Ed) I think I'm right......
Please find attached the letter from Mr Brian Page (in The Border Watch Friday 22nd August) and at the end the re-attachment of page 16 from the 32 page Architect prepared plans (February 2006) for a massive Retail Expansion of the Lakes (Centro) Plaza, an expansion I have labelled the Rail Lands Retail Agenda...I have covered the RLRA extensively in this 'ere blog, and if you've not read this stuff before, seen all of the various plans Council has presented at different stages, etc, please review those posts...
I have previously occasionally mentioned that it seems like just sometimes things happen, eg, statements are made, letters are written, etc, that appear to be in direct response to this 'ere blog, but this letter does appear to be addressing a whole bunch of concerns that I've neither seen or heard anywhere in the local media...just come past the Rail Lands the other day and yay they were unloading pallets of grey pavers...(sweet baby cheeses-Ed)...oh, and they're constructing a whole new section of platform over much needed carparks immediately adjacent to the Old Rail Station, which itself remains untouched...(insanity-Ed)...pretty much...
I don't know who Mr Page is and for all I know he has been to a very shiny, very thorough and very convincing presentation...I've included one map/plan of the many that Council have produced, for comparison and complete contradiction...one picture that paints a thousand words...(well in this case 7 words...and ironically they're Mr Page's own words-Ed)...sorry, what?...(however he came to accumulate them, Mr Page is the person with 'Many mistaken ideas about railway lands development'-Ed)...
Some quick but critical points;
1) Council has planned from 2004/05 to build Retail/Commercial on the Rail Lands, as per attached map/plan:
2) this RLRA has completely dominated Planning and/or Development decisions by Council, with devastating outcomes for Mt Gambier;
3) the RLRA has seen the Library and Main Corner Projects jammed into the Cave Gardens, the Bunning's/Penola Rd disaster with all the associated dodgy re-zonings that saw Bunning's go to Millicent Rd and Big W/Woolworths end up on Penola Rd, then the Lady Nelson Bus Shelter fiasco, etc;
4) this has destroyed Planning options around Mt Gambier as the Light Industry re-zoned off the Millicent Rd site is getting jammed wherevs around The Mount, eg, along the main entrance Penola Rd;
5) Council, motivated by the RLRA to do/say whatevs to keep the site clear, has repeatedly made a cyclical series of cynical deceits on the front page of a complicit The Border Watch;
6) contamination, remediation, the Easement...(ohh the bloody Easement-Ed)...indeed...the cost, the Deed and how that related to the cost of moving the Easement, then back to the alleged contamination, etc, etc...deceit upon lie upon insanity...deadset, I may be the crazy one, but these people are insane;
7) suddenly in November 2011 Council produced the $10m Parklands Concept Plan...(which was solely to distract from the hammering Council was taking over the Main Corner debacle-Ed)...indeed;
8) that $10m PCP is the exact RLRA template just without the main Retail/Commercial structure drawn in;
9) Council re-zoned the site for Retail/Commercial in 2009...Daryl Sexton has confirmed this;
10) Council, having repeatedly used issues with the Deed to refuse action on the site, have then openly stated that they didn't know what they would be liable for replacing, but then proceeded to rip up the rails, move the Easement, etc;
11) the works that Council have done is purely about preparing the site for the Retail/Commercial plan they are still pursuing, eg, move the Easement out the way, get a drainage pond ready for the huge roof space to come, etc...
Pardon me if I've missed anything, but it's such a thorough load of bullshit, such a blizzard of bollocks, that I may well have missed something...compare these realities to Mr Page's glowing recommendation and I'll...(we'll-Ed)...sorry, we'll meet you back here shortish like...ciao...
There is no access to the southern side of the site, Council has completely blocked off the Margaret St properties with the 12'-15' wide swathe of clinker rocks/ballast/whatevs that runs right along the South side of the bike track, the ludicrous drowning hazard drainage pond at the Western end...(and the grassy swamp up the Eastern end-Ed)...indeed, once you've gotten across the asteroid belt...(oooh I'm feeling a little spaced out man-Ed)...dude you ain't Robinson Crusoe...
Fiddle Dee Dee Potatas: because I'd like to think I'm 'other 'taters'...(nice-Ed)...and I've been all over Council's Interweb site and I can't find squat about the Rail Lands Plans...it would be a great idea now that it's largely completed, apparently, that Council does produce their plan...(they have produced their plans...over and over...you already call it the Rail Lands Retail Agenda-Ed)...very good point Ed...it's just like the Main Corner debasco...(debasco?-Ed)...it's where a 'debacle' tail-ends a 'fiasco' so hard they become indistinguishable...(nice...debasco...I like it, I'm going to use it at parties-Ed)...
And Mt Gambier City Council is one big debasco looking for somewhere to happen...(does that make Mt Gambier City Council the Debasco Source?-Ed)...I'm going to have to give you that one...when I read this letter I keep hearing the South Park cartoon version of Micheal Jackson, "no, people are ignorant"...(nice-Ed)...but people are not wrong about the ridiculous Palm trees that won't be obscuring the view of anything because there ain't nuthin' to obscure...native trees properly maintained are the only choice for the site, and there are dozens of options across all shapes and sizes...Palms and Plane trees...what rot...
The only thing Council has built is a fake creek right next to a $700,000+ drowning hazard masquerading as the industrial drainage pond for the Lakes Plaza RLRA expansion...(he's sarcastically noting that the $700k+ pond thingy is in actuality the drainage pond for the RLRA expansion-Ed)...ta'...
This is the first reference I have seen/heard anywhere that Council intends to 'restore' the Old Rail Station
and I'm fairly sure 'the turnaround' is on a different site altogether...(that's odd, because I was just reading that on Council's website, under Breathing Life Into The Rail Lands, just Google search it-Ed)...reading what?...(oh, sorry, reading where Mr Silvy is quoted as saying re the Old Rail Station, "No works are currently planned..."-Ed)...is that recent...(as of June maybe May 2014-Ed)...that's recent enough...
Council has unnecessarily burned over $4m just pushing dirt in circles, then laying out 2 hectares of massively expensive rolled turf, and the flooding (photos provided) would suggest they've done virtually no proper surveying as part of that debascoing...(nice-Ed)...and remember those photos were taken nearly 2 days after the rain, and the water has already receded a fair bit...and Council's 'breathtaking' drainage pond is a dreadful waste of $700,000, justified with a lie, that has created a drowning hazard right alongside the supposed wondergarden fake creek thingy...
The whole project is a deceitful debasco as only Mt Gambier City Council could manage...
Tomorrow: Local Government Elections - What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...cheers and laters...(you know, now that we're done, I can see how you might think that letter is directly in response to this 'ere blog-Ed)...
No comments:
Post a Comment