***Howdy dear availees, welcome to a coupla' quite random and sporadic posts about the proposed $57million Mt Gambier FARC (Farcical Aquatic Recreation Centre)...as you'll see, I started into this stuff about Mt Gambier City Council's Development Planning Consent Application aways back in March 2020, including doing a written and then verbal submission to the State Commission Assessment Panel (SCAP), which itself involved reading through MGCC's 156 page DPCA and trying to cover that via a post on this 'ere blog...(which then blew-out to 2 posts-Ed)...indeed it did, and then other stuff interposed itself and neither post was completed...(and then the SCAP approved the DPCA anyways-Ed)...yeah, and it all went on the semi-scrap heap to be possibly retrieved sometime laters...(and now here we are, laters-Ed)...yep, and stuck with 2 posts that are individually all over the shop, but together paint a more understandable picture...so I ask y'all dear availees to bear with these 2 posts and particularly this first one, which, as you'll see, identifies itself as being the second post, contains multiple half-finished paragraphs, etc...and y'all can check my bona fides for berating, my credentials for critiquing, the actualities of my activism by going to the SCAP website, and lookin'-up 'Minutes' for 19th March 2020, and there, under 'Representors', there's li'l ol' me and my submission, etc, mentioned by name...oh look, here's the link...
https://www.saplanningcommission.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/650399/SCAP_Minutes_-_19_March_2020.pdf
However, as disjointed as some of this stuff is, it shows that I did review MGCC's DPCA, and as above, I have tried to engage with this farce, therefore I have every right to comment and that I do so in an informed manner, it ain't just my opinion, etc...(well quite, so when you state that many of the excuses offered by MGCC CEO Andrew 'Peddle To The' Meddle are lies, it's 'cos you can point to the truth that is confirmation of that lie, if you see what I mean-Ed)...absolutely, and I just today listened again to that lengthy lie-laden ABC South East Radio interview with The Peddler from last Friday 28th August 2020, and I'm really regretting my promise to dear availees that I'd transcribe the entire interview, which goes for 16 minutes, 'cos it's gunna' take like freakin' forever...(perhaps just do some bits-Ed)...yeah, I'll still try to get to it, but my energy's lacking 'cos it's a done deal...(a rancidly corrupt done deal-Ed)...of course, it's a Mt Gambier City Council deal, but it's still a done deal all the same...and Mt Gambier Ratepayers have been played as suckers every step of the way by our rancidly corrupt Council, deceived, manipulated, and straight-out lied to...remember, this started as a petition about an All Weather Covered Pool (effectively just enclosing the current Olympic-size pool), then off the back of that support Tony Pasin and MGCC suddenly rocketed it to a $39m 'Recreation Centre' without the pool covered, etc, and that that is what 'Citizens' were asked to 'Vote' for via the mail-in poll that saw only 40% respond and then only 70% of them say 'Yes'...
And because it is a big issue for some, that 'Poll' was for everyone in Mt Gambier, not just for the Ratepayers, but it is Ratepayers that are gunna' cop it right between the thighs when this massive cost blow-out and associated massive borrowing come home to roost via massive Rate increases...(ummm, don't you mean 'cop it right between the eyes', the eyes, not "the thighs"?-Ed)...no, I've written exactly what I mean, and with all due respect to dear lady availees 'cos I can't comment specifically on what that might be like for y'all, I'm using that as a non-gender specific state of discomfort I reckon we can all relate to, and therefore all get the point I'm making...(it's gunna' really, really hurt?-Ed)...exactly...(and probably take a really long time to get off the floor afters, and back on one's feet?-Ed)...in a fiscal sense, absolutely...and consider also that Ratepayers what is acting as landlords are gunna' pass-on those increases to tenants, which will have a debilitating effect on tenancy, etc...(particularly with issues like the reportedly exorbitant rents already being charged in the Main St precinct and how that is related to the many empty premises, etc, and how current Rates contribute to the 'high rents', etc-Ed)...spot on, it's a vicious upward spiral of costs, in a deflating retail shopfront environment...it's already that "Perfect Storm' for landlords, and it's just gunna' get worse...
Now suddenly, without any Public Consultation or any sort of Ratepayer input, etc, MGCC is unilaterally gunna' 'borrow' at least $32m to cover the gap between Federal and State funding, totaling $25m, and the new $57m price tag...(more like a price millstone if you ask me-Ed)...well quite...and The Peddler's got the bare-faced audacity to wave away these concerns with glib statements about how MGCC has "a mandate" and that people originally voted not about the final costs, but rather, about whether or not to accept that $25m funding offer...
And I'm gunna' cover this critical issue of 'Rate Increases' in both posts 'cos it's absolutely indicative of the outright lies that MGCC and most particularly The Peddler is, well, peddling......all involved have repeatedly and vehemently denied that Rates will be increased as a result of the FARC...(but haven't they already committed to a guaranteed 4.5% annual increase, regardless of CPI, etc?-Ed)...yep, and Member for Barker Tony Pasin was himself originally quoted as saying that there would be Rate increases, when he kicked-off this entire debasco aways back in January/February 2018...so here's what MGCC said on page 148 of their official DPCA...
"...(MGCC has) a strong sense of social responsibility for ongoing operational costs which will
necessarily flow through as rate increases to the community..."
...(but hang on a sec, that says that "operational costs...will necessarily flow through as rate increases"-Ed)...yep, you've got ahead of me there, 'cos I was about to point-out the apparent Professional Word-Weaseling of MGCC and The Peddler, where-in they are clearly very impressed with themselves in trying to obfuscate the issue with a view to deliberately deceiving Ratepayers/Citizens...and to achieve that deception they are separating 'Building Costs' from 'Operational Costs', and then saying 'No Rate Increases For Construction', when they know damn well that there will be huge Rate Increases related to 'Operational Costs'...
(Yeah, well, whilst you're quite correct and that's absolutely a critical indicator of MGCC's and The Peddler's deliberate deceits/corruption, etc, and that there will obviously and unavoidably be Rate increases to finance that massive $32m loan, etc, I was in fact referring to the MGCC admission that the FARC is gunna' run at a loss, and how that then impacts on MGCC's/Ratepayer's ability to finance/repay any costs, let alone a $32m loan-Ed)...please explain...(well they're admitting that they'll need to raise Rates just to pay for the FARC's running costs, which is itself an admission that it's gunna' run at a loss-Ed)...oh sweet baby cheeses, you're absolutely right, that's exactly what that statement says, 'operational costs will force rate increases', that says that MGCC are admitting that the income from the FARC will not cover even the basic operational costs...(and therefore Rates will need to be increased-Ed)...oh dear gourd, we are soooo rooted...(yep, if that's what their official DPCA says, then what hope for the future?-Ed)...yep, and it's so critical, it bears repeating, loudly...
MGCC is admitting that their own 'Business Model', for lack of a better and more appropriate name, their own official projections of the FARC's income is that it will not earn enough to cover basic running costs, and therefore there's gunna' be Rates increases.
And so we get to the disjointed bits I already did months ago...apologies in advance, but we'll get there across these 2 posts, I hope...cheers...***
Howdy dear availees in parts here. there, near and far...(even if you are a 'bot', an automated availee, gourd knows, I'm a confected literary device not an actual person, so solidarity brothers and sisters-Ed)...yes yes, alright, more power to you Ed, but as I understand it 'bots' are usually 'disguised' to appear to be actual peeps, and are mostly malicious in nature and designed/operated to 'troll' people, and/or skew debate and/or drive a false narrative, etc, where-as you are openly identified as a created character to help generate discussion and debate, as opposed to outright lecturing, and to set-up jokes and stuff...(and apparently quite effectively 'cos peeps periodically ask, 'who is Ed?'-Ed)...indeed they do...but we digress, howdy one and all, and welcome to the second of 2 posts about the current dysfunctional actionings of the Mt Gambier City Council and their beloved bloody Farcical Aquatic Recreation Centre...so y'all are probs aware, we are currently at the Development Planning Consent (Planning Only) stage, but if you want to skip to the last coupla' paragraphs in this 'ere post, I've updated this stuff as best I can...
And as I struggle to try and keep myself informed about such matters,
often much to the detriment of my own Mental Health, eg, watching
Scotty From Marketting spew unrelenting deceits and endless mindless
rhetoric at perpetual pointless press conferences...(gourd he loves the sound of his own voice-Ed)...yeah, not so keen on other's voices though...(particularly those voices asking questions he don't wanna' hear!-Ed)...exactly...so, 'cos I needed to know, I've repeatedly subjected myself to all 156-ish pages of MGCCs Application...(strewth!-Ed)...indeed, and it hasn't let me down...(no?-Ed)...nope,
I only got as far as page 3, before the whole thing had gone to Heck in a
Handbasket, etc, etc, and if MGCC's litany of pro-FARC lies, deceits and
manipulations across the last 2 years weren't enough cause for concern,
page 3 is of itself a huge concern...(how so?-Ed)...where to begin? well, firstly, it doesn't appear to have been completed correctly...(mmm?-Ed)...there's numerous sections requiring specific information and they're mostly blank...(and we're off to a flying start-Ed)...
***moved stuff here to Post 2, just skip through this stuff...***
Page
8...The official FARC Development Application is a hand-scribbled mess, and has
MGCC CEO Mr Andrew 'Peddle To The' Meddle supposedly lodging that
'Application' on the 25th November 2019
Pages 9 -
These
'plans' (page 35) show that the FARC will be built immediately adjacent
to the sink hole in O'Halloran Tce, in fact, the proposed 'Southern
Carpark' is literally right next to it...(does this mean MGCC plans to try and fill-in' that sink hole, but just haven't told anyone?-Ed)...gourd knows mate
44
Anybody who currently uses Margaret St knows that even minimal traffic
flow can be problematic when trying to exit, particularly any right hand
turn, and that at the Bay Rd end the petrol station on that corner
further complicates safe traffic management
Pages
44-64 is just 20 pages of nonsense 'Traffic Figures' that supposedly
support Council's ultimate position that everything is just gunna' be
fine...(fine?-Ed)...just fine...and anybody who's tried to get
outta' Margaret St at the Bay Rd end knows that it can be highly
problematic due to the often blocked
view
66 Noise Assessment...***stuff about sound-proofing for concerts, etc***
And hasn't Council also
promised nearly $2m to 'deepen and re-vamp the outdoor pool', but as a
separate project/cost to the $30m FARC?...
***and here we jump to the stuff about my SCAP submission and testimony***
Well I did my 5-minute verbal submission via phone on 19th March 2020, and not sure that I actually achieved anything, but there you go, at least I had a go...(sorry, "5 minute"? only 5 minutes?-Ed)...yeah, and via phone and no documentation allowed/considered...(but I thought you said you spent many hours across several days preparing your 'verbal submission'?-Ed)...I did, as stated, that Application is 156 pages, and I was simultaneously doing this 'ere post which became so long I've had to split it into 2 posts, and then try to tidy them up a bit, etc, etc...(sounds like a very tortuous process-Ed)...well it ain't exactly been fun times for ol' Nicky boy, not least of all, and as I explained it to the SCAP peeps, when my extensive interactions with MGCC and/or witnessings of their relentless Institutionalised Corruption means that I inherently do not, nay, can not trust a single word they say...(let alone a series of them words strung together in what we like to call a sentence-Ed)...indeed, and similarly do I have nought but disdain and disbelief for any MGCC alleged facts, figures, statistics and/or graphs, etc, etc, etc...it is therefore an exercise in redundant dis-counting of anything they have to say with regards to effectively anything and/or anything in the MGCC FARC Application...(and the SCAP's response?-Ed)...that this, the 'believability/trustworthiness' of MGCC was not an issue they would consider in their decision-making process...(yeah, but you did outright call it "corruption" didn't you? don't they need take heed to that critical issue when considering the various facts and figures presented to them by MGCC?-Ed)...well Yes and No, apparently...("Yes and No"? which is it?-Ed)...
***sorry, forget where I was goin' with that, let's push on...***
Now I still have my previously described concerns, but I'm taking it from what the SCAP said that the various discrepancies and blank spaces, etc, on Page 3 are not a problem...
Anyhoos, that was 0945hrs-ish on the Thursday morn (19th March), and
the SCAP emailed me at lunchtime the next day (Friday) to tell me that the
Application had been approved...
***So it took a whole day for the SCAP to approve the DPCA...and now back to the MGCC DPCA stuff***
Page
98 shows that sinkhole being used as the depository for the storm-water
off the roof of the FARC building...(what? but that's almost guaranteed
to cause massive and even catastrophic erosion!-Ed)...well if by
catastrophic erosion you mean that dumping huge volumes of water into
the sinkhole is almost certainly going to cause further subsidence and
is highly likely to cause collapse of the cave system immediately
below...(that's exactly what I mean, and anyone with even a basic knowledge of Karst Systems knows this-Ed)...a
Karst System being "a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble
rocks like limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterised by
underground drainage systems and sinkholes and caves."...(exactly, the
exact topography of most of the South East, including every square foot
of the City of Mt Gambier!-Ed)...hard to believe that they (MGCC) don't
know this...and they know that Englebrecht and Umpherston Caves are
examples of exactly that sort of system...
***...and that's where I'm gunna' finish this post, but hopefully most of that still makes some sense, and it's mostly covered in greater detail in the next post...as I said, I had started to break this into 2 posts and only got halfway there, etc, but I think we covered the most critical point, namely, the stuff about MGCC admitting that the FARC will run at a loss, leading to Rate increases...
Tomorrow: Part 2 Of The SCAP DPCA Stuff
Thanks y'all for your patience with these posts, and I'll try to make the next one a li'l less clunky...
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...cheers and laters...
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