And Yet Again I Am The Skin In The Game

Howdy dear availees...just plowin'-on today with the doggo stuff...ummm, no fancy entry today, just off we go...

Skin In The Game:...looks like being a frequent feature in these dog-related posts...it's just over 4 years since I looked-up the South East Animal Welfare League website, and chose the dog that was going cheap...(ooo, take as given the appropriate amount of 'birds go cheep' jokes, but 'cheap' usually means the hound is unmanageable and/or not long for getting drop-kicked across the rainbow bridge-Ed)...and in my doggos' case, both...I hadn't had a dog since mid-2015, but someone politely pestered me to get one (thankyou you) and I saw ol' mate here and rang SEAWL and said I'm coming to get that one...and when I first met him he was fairly excited-manic, but super-friendly, not at all afraid or aggressive...he was fairly quiet and very well behaved around me, not scared but clearly nervous...(well at 4yrs old he was house-trained, didn't chew stuff, etc, but around dogs and particularly at dog park, he was awful-Ed)...indeed he was, first coupla' times, we'd go in the gate and he was just going at other dogs...he never bit or even tried to bite, it was all that alpha-dominant open-mouthed grabbing stuff and barking, etc...

If you've been around dogs a bit you'll know there's several stages of open-mouthed dominant behaviours, from standing next to each other and baring teeth and growling, to snaps at each other, to full-on sparring with lotsa' noise and fury but no-one's actually biting anyone...(and any number of dogs, this 'ere knucklehead, him included, they go hell-for-leather at each other for fun, and grab and pull and it's all teeth and growls, etc, and they're havin' a ball and ne'ry a drop a' blood shed-Ed)...well I guess it's like how animals pick-up their young and carry them around, they bite-down to a point that is just grabbing, not biting...but we digress...

There's 2 main points here...my dog was deeply imperfect when I got him, and I was soon asking myself 'what have I done?', etc, but I wasn't going to take him back...when I got him (December 2019) he'd already been in the SEAWL shelter (pound) for a year and had been adopted and returned 3 times; I was his 5th or even 6th home...but it was quite literally just a matter of affection, persistence, and going to dog park and keeping him on a lead for probably the first 4-6 weeks, but trying to be there when no-one else was so he could run...(well he's a working dog breed and so he's gotta' be able to run, and like, every day-Ed)...absolutely, and the Hastings Cunningham Reserve Dog Park was the only fenced-in place available...and he was already slowly starting to improve when one fine day he got told-off a coupla' times by a young female kelpie who was not havin' any of his crap, and it was like someone flicked a switch...from literally that day on I could let him off the lead, and he was fine...

He did, however, immediately shift his focus/energies to running back-and-forth along the big/small parks' adjoining boundary fence, manically barking at other dogs, or even if there wasn't a dog there...and that went on for nearly 6 months...he'd done this when there weren't any dogs in big park, but now he'd all but ignore the dogs in the park with him...and he can still be like that, especially when there's a mower anywhere in the vicinity...(I reckon it was pound trauma/muscle memory stuff-Ed)...indeed, it's what he'd done for 12mths so it was just what he was used to doing...these days he rarely chases other dogs but he's still mad for mowers, and some trucks, but he's very choosy with the trucks...sometimes, sometimes he stands there and just barks at the sky...sometimes he's yelling "OI!" at me...sometimes, he's just happy...he's a happy dog...

An Old Dog Knows Tricks:...and from day one is house-broken and doesn't walk on the carpets or go into the main bedroom after being told only once, and doesn't chew stuff so I can leave him in the car while I do stuff, etc...and don't panic, I'm hyper-aware of the heat/stress issues, etc, and always park in shade and leave windows cracked or even right down, etc, and if it's getting a bit hot, nuthin's so urgent it can't wait 'til the cool of tomorrow morn...(and he's just extraordinary with li'l puppers-Ed)...indeed, one of his most endearing features is the sheer amount of crap he will tolerate from a puppy...most older dogs are reasonably tolerant, but my bad boy lets them leap on him and chew on him and constantly jump-at and/or lick his mouth...(yeah, what is going on with that mouth thing?-Ed)...I don't know, but they all seem keen to do it...last week, he was lying in the shade and a Jack Russell pup was bouncin'-off him like a trampoline, tryin' to get him to play...all four feet, boing! boing! and Ol' Dog completely ignored it...(it was like a grandpa with a full belly on a hot Xmas arvo, and the grandkids are hassling him to come outside and play with the new cricket set-Ed)...that sir, is exactly what it was like, hilarious...

And whilst I do not claim to speak for anyone but myself, it is exactly that sort of interaction that brings so much genuine laughter for dog park patrons...(well the boing! boing! business certainly did!-Ed)...yes it did, and he's just one doggo, there's mad doggos everywhere at dog park...so we use HCR Dog Park almost everyday, and it's why I do things like move the sand to 1) clear the path, but also, 2) to address the issue of dogs hurting their feet by moving that sand to along the fenceline...I identified this issue to MGCC, in writing in January 2023, requesting they put sand along the fence...2 months later I hadn't even had a reply, so I did it...sorry, I know we covered this in the previous post, but for some reason I feel the need to remind some peeps that 1) it wasn't just me that was concerned, and that MGCC knew but ???, so I and another gentleman did it...and everyone thanked us, and many expressed surprise about the Moses-like re-appearance of the gleaming white section of path they didn't know existed... 

And 2) I rarely just whinge about stuff...(although you do do that-Ed)...whinge? whine? bitch? call it what you will...(oh, okay, can I have errr 'whiny little bitch' then please?-Ed)...hey now! whoa there! and putting "please" on the end doesn't make it any better either...(nah nah, go' bless go' bless, the MGCC/HCR Public Housing thing, moving the sand stuff, trying to tell MGCC about that and other issues, eg, the shelter debasco, tryin' to edjumicates ya'self about what's happening with doggos' access to the Blue Lake Sports Fields, and so on, I cheerfully concede, you do not just whinge, you tend to get right amongst it-Ed)...yeah, but even then it's actually very seldom confrontation when dealing with the "notorious" and "controversial" (both The Border Watch) bastard that is me...(yeah yeah, and even then it's never threats or yelling or whatevs-Ed)...indeed...(I mean, it can be brutal, like, really brutal-Ed)...I cannot and will not apologise for that...(I've seen supposedly powerful men literally terrified 'cos you're standing there talking to them-Ed)...and that's all I've done, use my words, it's their own guilt that does any perceived 'threatening'...we digress...

During the COVID lockdown(s) HCR dog park was the only 'public facility' still open...personally it was a huge thing to be able to run pupper, and even more importantly, for me, have some extended albeit casual human contact...as people do, both dog parks have loose social groups generally based on who happens to be there at whatevs time, eg, school pick-up time...(you mean like the way the Blue Lake Aquifer Tours cafe thingy that Gary and Trish Turner used to run, along with the actual tours, all from that li'l annex/shelter thingy up at the Blue Lake, like how that was the focal point for numerous social/casual groups, let alone an internationally renowned tourism experience, until MGCC vindictively and deliberately shut them down and booted them out, you mean like that?-Ed)...mate, do not get me started on what a self-defined pack a' low mongrels MGCC are in how they've treated the Turners, and in turn the broader Mt Gambier community...again, my opinion, solely my opinion, I sure-as-shreck don't need no-one tellin' me not nuthin' about how I feel about MGCC...    

I've included the Aquifer Tours stuff because 1) it is a perfect example of just exactly what sort of malicious and disgraceful conduct Mt Gambier City Council is prepared to engage in, and 2) because this specific issue should never be forgotten or forgiven.

And so my Skin In The Game re Dog Park is as any true dermis must be...(que?-Ed)...layered, it's layered...(what, like an onion?-Ed)...no no, don't start that with me...(well you're the one who keeps sayin' "shreckin'"-Ed)...yeah, fair dues...anyhoos, my first point is that my Seeping Sack A' Satanic Gasses was at the SEAWL shelter for a year in total, often several months at a time, and when MGCC so graciously pulled their funding from the shelter earlier this year, and started unlawfully sticking dogs in a garden shed in the carpark of the Council depot...(on a 3-Day Kill Order-Ed)...indeed, that was the very genuine concern in the entire community, not just in the dog parks...(well there was that protest outside of MGCC's meeting back in July-Ed)...another great point, community-wide concern at the SEAWL funding debasco (debacle meets fiasco), but we'll get into all that next post, I'm just trying to explain why I'm so all-in on this dog park stuff...(I just thought that's how you are with all this stuff, especially with this 'ere blog-Ed)...another good call, but again we digress...

So it's the issue of MGCC's appallingly deceitful conduct on almost every issue related to SEAWL and how that directly relates to whether or not my amazing wunderhund would even be alive, and secondly, how important enclosed but open spaces are important for dogs...(and their owners-Ed)...well yes, owners first, dogs are their responsibility, but you know what I mean...I would likely not have the truly amazing mutt I am so fortunate to have, and HCR Dog Park has been a huge part of that...

Only recently have we been enjoying the beautiful tree-lined avenue and parkland surrounds that is the Blue Lake Sports Park Parkland...and I'm gunna call it a parkland 'cos it may only cover 32hectares, much of which is open sports fields, and have a highway running along one boundary...(and a mill down another-Ed)...but there's just enough mature trees and associated bird life, etc, to give that sense of canopy...(and when it rains there's that beautiful Eucalyptus smell heavy in the air-Ed)...yeah, and the Swifts darting and Willy Wagtails twitching around as we walk, hoping we scare-up some morsel for them, heaps a' wattle-birds and magpies of course, parrots and lorikeets, and the corellas have arrived...and I've heard but not yet seen kookaburras, not least-of-all 'cos I've also had to spend a fair bit of time there looking at the ground because of the numerous dog craps there-abouts...it's not catastrophic, but I'm doing all my walking around the peripherals and I see enough and I know there's craps left in the diamonds some times...

As per shreckin' usual, it's most dog owners do clean-up after their mutts, might occasionally miss one, etc, but some people are clearly not bothering...and sometimes that happens in the diamonds...(and an occasional miss amongst the gum trees is very different to having your dog inside the fields and missing that-Ed)...excellent point Ed, there's a very big difference, when in the fields dog owners should be watching their dog 100%, your view can't get blocked by a tree, etc...and I absolutely understand that some people want to be able to run their dogs in a fenced area...(can I just butt in and leap ahead a bit-Ed)...sure...('cos you made the point that the Northern boundary is defined by the Jubilee Highway, a four-laned 80kph zone, but that boundary fence is only 1m high and the wire starts a foot from the ground, it's almost pointless against dogs-Ed)...yeah, and for many reasons like that, it's mostly just that dogs need to be run, and their owners feel/know they don't have the recall, etc, so an enclosed area is essential...(yeah, and that MGCC 'Plan' photo below, that refers to "Off-Leash" along that boundary-Ed)...yeah, well spotted, we'll get to that...

As is my want, I've spoken to various people about the BLSPP sport/dogs issue, and I absolutely sympathise with the sporting groups who have very genuine problems with dog crap...it does get left on the fields, and then when people do pick it up they sometimes inexplicably tie it to the fence and leave it there instead...(I've seen that, even at HCR dog park, where the bins are right there-Ed)...I know, baffling, and bins are another issue...as best I can tell only 3-4 bins across the entire BLSPP are actually MGCC bins cleared by Council, which I think means that sports groups pay for the other bins, which have to be regularly cleared 'cos there's dog crap-bags in all of them...(I've walked it all several times now and there's places where people have picked-up after their dog, but then thrown the crap-filled bag into, say, the outside corner of a baseball dugout, along with the several others already thrown there-Ed)...walked it today and found 2 craps and 2 craps bagged but then just dropped on the ground, all within 50m along the outside of a baseball field fence...they weren't there 2-3 days ago...

To a lesser degree but for balance, I've also noticed increased litter around the area after sports events, and there are several very large very dead trees that must be removed...(and a shreckin' tonne of potential bushfire fuel where all that bark and branches and stuff has been dumped right the way along the Southern boundary, where the dis-used rail line is-Ed)...yes, that is a concern, the whole parkland needs some intensive TLC, but who's gunna' pay for that? MGCC? they can't even maintain the HCR Dog Parks, or don't even try, whatevs...however, the immediate issue about dog crap, that's something that everyone can be involved in, not least of all dog owners... 

Gaszilla and I have been into the baseball diamonds 3 times; the first ever time we went there, and twice whilst speaking with other dog owners...again, I am very fortunate that my pupper has excellent recall, and I regularly walk him 'Off-Leash', but I still wouldn't wanna' flush-out a wallaby...(like that time at HCR when there was a big bouncy mouse on the dis-used tennis courts-Ed)...yes, we got lucky that day, when we'd walked right up on a Swamp Wobbly, and then we all stood there like statues, until it took-off and Gasius Maximus bolted after it, but then he lost it behind the trees and turned back toward dog park...3yrs ago 2 puppers flushed a wobbly at HCR and 1 followed it out onto the Rail Trail, and was later found several kms away out at the Millicent Rd old Bunnings site, with 2 big but thankfully minor scratches down it's guts...but now, to the map!...

I found this laminated plan/map (photo below) blowing across the ground near a baseball field the morning after that stormy night...I was gunna' chuck it in a bin, but still had it in hand when back at the car, and I've still got it...if MGCC desperately need it back, they need only ask...there are some others around the BLSPP, and because I reckon I'd have noticed them sooner if they'd been put-up earlier, I reckon these only appeared fairly recently, I'd say the last coupla' weeks...apologies if I'm in error, 'cos it is kinda' important 'cos MGCC has been doin' their usual song-'n'-dance about 'Public Consultation'..(I see there's no 'Submissions End' date on there-Ed)...I hadn't noticed that, it's an interesting omission..and dear availees, it's been put to me that the 'consultation period' may have already concluded, so when MGCC actually put those signs up is important, was it only shortly before 'Consultation' ended?...I suspect but it is purely speculation...

(Yeah, it also doesn't actually mention "On-Leash areas"-Ed)...well yes it does, there in the title...(no no, in the text, that's my point-Ed)...aha, yes, I see...(it specifically differentiates between "On-Leash" and "Off-Leash", but there's no "On-Leash" area mentioned in the blurb or on the map-Ed)...ermmm, yeah, not sure what's up with that...(do ya' reckon that it might be that it's s'posed to say 'Red areas will be on-leash areas'?-Ed)...yeah, that's not what it says though...(and what happened to the previous plan for the HCR Dog Parks improvements and a second park at Conroe Heights?-Ed)...well recalled sir, 'cos I have seen the original response from MGCC after a dog park patron wrote to them a coupla' years back, about a range of issues, and including several specific requests...there were requests for path/entrance.access improvements, eg, bitumen; for a small water feature for dogs to lie in; improved shelter/facilities, etc...MGCC specifically stated that they intended to spend $200k on improvements like bitumen paths, a small external playground to keep very small kids out of the park...(which is actually an excellent idea, I get very fidgety when small kids are around bigger dogs, just 'cos they might get skittled-Ed)...absolutely, et moi mate, et moi...the letter also stated that there would be a second dog park built on the large area in Conroe Heights...MGCC now denies ever committing any amount to anything, and it all falls under a general 'plan'...

This post has already blown-out a bit so we'll pull stumps here...just wanted to explain why I seem so invested in this dog park stuff...1) 'cos I got me a wunderhund and I loves him proper like, and I know how important all this stuff is to many people, and 2) MGCC's conduct of all of these dog related issues, each and every time it's been deceit and conflict...(and if there's any action it's inaction-Ed)...and it is definitive of how they conduct themselves on literally any issue...here's the map as promised, and we'll get into it next post...to keep y'all tickin'-over 'til then, please consider if you will how many ways the word 'Never' can be achieved using the letters in the words 'Proposed', 'Interim', 'Possible' and 'Future'...

Tomorrow: Doggedly Plodding On With Parking Mad Intent

Just read on the Mt Gambier Residents and Ratepayers Association Facebook page, MGCC has released a series of videos of our illustrious Mayor and Councillors doing truly heart-warming and not-at-all desperate hostage ransom-style 'to-camera' pieces about Mt Gambier and what it is they love so very, very much...(wow, just, wow-Ed)...yes, wow, and like how...and the immediate most obvious thing is that not one of them is about the good ol' $80m FARC (Farcical Aquatic Recreation Centre)...here's one walking down some steps, talking, blah blah something...here's one walking...another one walking, ummm, walking, do we have any where they aren't walking?...(errr this one, sittin' on a log-Ed)...how very lumberjack...(I know, right-Ed)...any at/in/about Wulanda /FARC?...(one wandering about in a toxic swamp-Ed)...nooo, it's semi-aquatic, I'll give ya' that, but no Wulanda?...(ermmmm, nup, sorry-Ed)...not half as sorry as Ratepayers are gunna' be, am I right? yeah?...(ummm, I don't think the monstrous fiscal disaster that is Wulanda is anything to joke about, especially for Mt Gambier Ratepayers who are gunna' be left holdin' that can, that can what they are also standing in, and for many decades to come-Ed)...well that's a cheery note to end on...

I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...cheers and laters...

Doggedly Debunking De Dog Park Debarkle Debate Disinformation

Wow...howdy again dear availees...it's now Wednesday 20th December 2023, but it was roughly 1130hrs Tuesday 12th when I last had a go at this post, and a coupla' weeks since I actually started it, etc etc...and it's more than 3 months since the last TMGI post...by way of explanation but sans apology, I went to do that specific post, the one explaining some of the details in the 4 previous TMGI posts about my ICAC Inquiry Testimony, yeah?...and it was like running into a wall...didn't get 2 paragraphs into it and was thinking 'what can I do/say/write that will further explain and/or ultimately resolve that which is already so clearly obvious?'...and soon followed by the cascading realities as they apply to various other specific issues...and that, physically and mentally, it's quite actually like going over the falls...six months I 'took off' away from this 'ere blog, come back for a coupla' posts, and in a matter of moments it's all gone to heck-in-a-handbasket...and 3 months later, here we are...again...

So I've done what I can to make this post at least vaguely coherent, and should any new availee who isn't immediately understanding what exactly are The Issues I refer to, please indulge me with your time by going back and reading any 6-8 random TMGI posts...beyond that, I literally don't know what to say, still don't know what to say about the 20 years of harsh realities presented across a decade of TMGI...unresolved realities...realities that everyone knows...what exactly am I supposed to do with 20 years of unresolved realities that virtually everyone knows but are too corrupt/selfish/weak to even engage with let-alone act to resolve?...and so, apparently, I do this...

Howdy dear availees and welcome to TMGI...2023 has been a big year for the Hastings Cunningham Reserve Dog Parks...(Woof Woof Woof-An Actual Dog)...I concur sir, there's a good boy...there's a big dog park area and an adjacent small dog area, and back in February there was great concern amongst both parks' users 'cos Mt Gambier City Council had scheduled a 'Closed to Public' meeting titled Update Hastings Cunningham Reserve Area and Public Housing...not gunna' re-hash all a' that, there's plenty about it already on this 'ere blog...(and 5-6 more posts stuck in Drafts-Ed)...where they're likely to remain at this rate...it is not unreasonable, unrealistic or irresponsible to suggest that MGCC's very poor conduct re this 'HCR/Dog Park/Secret Meeting' stuff is one of several main issues that has precipitated the re-formation of the Mt Gambier Residents and Ratepayers Association...(and a good thing too, hurrah!-Ed)...as y'all are aware, I had a bittuva' go at the HCR/Public Housing thing on Facebook and this 'ere blog, and was roundly abused for my efforts, not least-of-all in/by The Border Watch...cheers for that...

So, despite allll of that, here we are again...again...I'm just gunna' churn-out a coupla' posts about this HCR/Dog Park/Wulanda stuff...(what the shreck's Wulanda got to do with it?-Ed)...a Council desperately trying to finance the massive overspend and accrued massive debt? debt far beyond Council's ability to adequately finance let-alone actually repay?...(fair enough, but I don't understand how they're still operating if they're allegedly so far in debt-Ed)...no-one does, no-one understands...(so the same as the secretive bizarre management/lease for Wulanda?-Ed)...exactly, because it seems like the answer to this and so many other bewildering actions and subsequent baffling questions, is simply that it's because they're a Council...

As I understand it, in it's most basic form, it is essentially because they're a Council and not a business...and not least-of-all, 1) this gifts Councils extra means of borrowing, eg, the relevant State/Local Government borrowing authority, and 2) Councils are allowed massively unrealistic debt ceilings...(ceilings so high they're more like clear blue sky?-Ed)...go on, say it...(like the ceiling over Mt Gambier's 50m pool?-Ed)...and if you dare do a joke about...(I call it Blue Sky Thinking-Ed)...ooo...(yeah, Blue Sky Thinking - The Ceiling Ain't The Limit-Ed)...oh boy...(no no, Blue Sky Thinking - What's Debt Got To Do With It?-Ed)...good gourd, this could take a while..(no, wait, Blue Sky Thinking For A Rainy Day-Ed)...Blue Sky Thinking For Dummies?...(that's the spirit-Ed)...Blue Sky 'WTF Were They' Thinking...(ding ding ding, ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner-Ed)...okay okay, enough buffoonery, just get on with it...(after you sir-Ed)...this is gunna' take a coupla' posts, so's firstly here's a quick synopsis of a li'l story we like to call, 'The Sagger of Dog Park'...(ummm, don't you mean 'Saga'?-Ed)...sorry what?...(the 'Saga', don't you mean 'The Saga'?-Ed)...oh right, yes, of course, silly me, 'The Saga of The Sagger Of Dog Park'...(no no, I meant the 'Sagger' bit should...it's 'Saga' not...never mind-Ed)...

Are we sitting comfortably?...right, MGCC installed perma-pine post/canvas shade-sails in both dog parks (big/small), apparently some time after the original parks were opened ie initially there were no shelters at all...the small park sail was small enough and taut enough to shed water, but the big park sail was not installed correctly and would fill with rain and slump-down...this made everybody very sad...someone, not me, definitely not me, but someone had already cut a drain hole in the centre of the canvas when I started using dog park 4 years ago...(it's been patched with tape several times but nothing's stuck and/or someone's peeled it back and/or cut a second hole to release the gathering water-Ed)...indeed, and open to the South, this meagre sail provided no shelter if there was any wind at all...and this also made everybody very sad...in mid-April 2023 Council removed the big park sail, patched it 'professionally', then replaced it in late May...can anybody have a wild guess what happened?...(OOO OOO Me Me-Ed)...yes, well, you already know, so, that's not a guess is it?...(Orghhhhh-Ed)...look, tell ya' what, how's about you be wild about what it is that you already know, and the others can have a guess, yeah?...(oh, I s'pose so-Ed)...good fella'...(we guess that it immediately rained, the 'repaired' sail filled with water, and that the weight of water tore the sail loose or ripped it apart-Others)...oh you've done this before...(a coupla' times, yeah-Others)...super and anyhoos, please to be enjoyin' the mythical panoramic majesty that is:

                                                The Hanging Lake of Dog Park...(knew it!-Others)                     

Followed by a collaboration between anonymous guerilla artist The Bleedin' Obvious and DJ Inevitable Outcomes, an installation piece titled:

                                                  'Shelter Reclining, Orange Bunting'

 

(Ah, so close, we got the 'fills with rain' bit, but we didn't pick 'post snaps'-Others)...no no, you've done very well, please accept these chocolates...(cheers-Others)...for scale...(ooo, Cherry Liqueur, very nice-Others)...I said, for scale, in the first photo that sail would normally be at least a foot over my head, but filled with several hundred litres of rainwater that's sagged to just below shoulder height...note the post to the right already leaning in, it was previously vertical, and that one at the left rear, hard to see, but that's actually bowed-in 3-4 inches and has a vertical split developing...I know just enough about physics to know there's equations that calculate just exactly how much 'potential energy' is stored in that structure...it'll be something about the volume of water equates to kilos/mass; then it's about the tension/strength of various stress points, eg, stitches/metal couplings; the strength of all the materials; the directions the strain/weight/force is being applied, eg, through into the poles, etc etc...

Bottomline, there's literally a metric shreck-tonne of energy stored in that, and it's gunna' give somewhere...I took one look at it and knew that it was gunna' blow apart in some way, but hoped the sail would just rip...I was most concerned that a post would snap, potentially spraying timber shards/splinters through the park/s...turns out it would be enough weight/force/energy to snap that pole clean-off at the ground...that was a perfectly fine 8-10inch diameter post, not rotted or anything, a solid post snapped clean-off...(and isn't bunting a wonderful word-Ed)...apropos of what exactly?...(I just think it's a great word and we should use it more often in conversation-Ed)...how for example?...(well, for example, someone asks, "What's Council done to fix that hazard/fault?", and you could reply, "I dunno', some bunting thing"-Ed).........mmm, you been working on that one for a while have you?...(no, not particularly-Ed)...but we digress...

Yes, shazzam, 'twer I what done call Council on Sunday 28th May 2023 about this (top photo) and they sent round a contractor to whack-up some star-droppers and lovely orange bunting...as stated, MGCC removed that sail in April, re-placed it 'repaired' on Thursday 25th or Friday 26th May, it rained a bit that Saturday, and kalamazoo, what had always happened and was always gunna' happen again, happened...again...(ahhh indeed young Master Nick, for 'tis truly the wonder of our times that so many, many wise heads looked at that shambolic clusterfuck and said, yes, let's do that-Ed)...oo you are naughty, but I don't think it's fair to have a crack at the tradies though, they're generally just doin' what they're told...(fair call, but when 'they', being specifically Mt Gambier City Council staff and/or contractors trash the joint and leave it looking like an abandoned building site, then they should quite rightly be castigated for it-Ed)...indeed, their latest effort is appalling, both parks have been left an atrocious and potentially dangerous mess...but we're getting ahead of ourselves...  

And since The Big Recline in May, up until last Monday 4th/Tuesday 5th December, it's looked like this:

Yes folks, this is how much shelter big park users had for the Winter of '23...(isn't that The Night They Drove Ol Dixie Down? no? sorry, I was wondering why yous lot were always huddled under a tree or something instead of using the shelter, huh, there wasn't one-Ed)...so knowing full-well that park users were standing there in the pissing rain, Council has taken over 6 months to replace this, and then have eventually actually replaced both shelters...and that has been handled with Councils' usual grace and efficiency, eg, trashing dog park, as we will cover in the next coupla' posts...(do I want to know what Council has replaced it with-Ed)...the exact same shade sail...(the exact same sail that filled with water and snapped the post off?-Ed)...yep, actually the same piece of canvas, including the original holes/patches...(so let me see if if I've got this right, Council has supposedly done it's 'Public Consultation', and has been told very specifically of the history, and very specifically asked to not repeat that error, and by various people, upto and including you-Ed)...upto and including by me, yes...(and including all the stuff that MGCC has been notified of in writing, and again, by various peeps upto and including you-Ed)...and again, correct...(and then Council has taken all of that and done exactly what it was asked not to do, albeit with metal poles this time?-Ed)...and trashed the joint in the process...

And right there, just within that one specific 'shelter issue', within the broader dog park issue, within the even broader Dog and Cat Management fiasco currently playing-out...it's literally a storm-in-a-teacup, but even then it is fundamentally definitive of how Mt Gambier City Council function...(dysfunction more like it, aha aha-Ed)...just for context, see this photo below, that's a section of path that many park users never knew existed 'cos the sandpit to the right had moved slowly down-slope to cover this whole section, and far across to the left there...I figured this out simply having walked the path around the park and noted the obstacles in the centre of said path, and similar obstacles/seating sticking outta' the sand, etc...and I looked at it and thought 'we need sand along the fence and there's all this sand covering the paths'...so aways back in March another gentleman and I brought our wheelbarrows and shovels, and he started aways up by that vaulting horse thingy and worked this-a-way, and I started just past where that plank was disappearing into the sand, and worked around to just out of shot on the right...I did the LargeAngryHippys' share but between us both it took maybe 90mins and we cleared the entire section...(and put the sand along the fence line to cover the dangerous hard gravel/limestone composite Council placed along there 3 years ago-Ed)...as I mentioned, and on which dogs were hurting their feet, yes...(which Council also knew about-Ed)...yes they did..(and not least of all 'cos you wrote to them back in January-Ed)...yes, yes I did...

 

We've Got Skin In The Game:...'cos in January, the flea-bitten fur-lined fartbag I love to call my pooch...(orrr Woooof!?-AAD)...he was plowing up and down the parks' shared fenceline like they all love to do...and I didn't ever let him do it for long because the rough stones sticking out of the hard ground hurt his feet, and other dogs had had the same issue...on this occasion he ripped the skin right-off the main pad of his front paw...I thought he was limping with bark stuck between his toes, but it was the whole flap of skin hanging-down, as you might lose a callous off a finger...the vets said it was safest and easiest to just remove the skin, and they treated him, wrapped it up, and he was pretty-much fine within a coupla' weeks...I wrote to Council to alert them to the incident and ongoing hazard and asked that they put sand along the fence-line...I received a short email, 'It's gone to the relevant manager' but it did not say who that was...2 months later I'd heard nought, so's I gathered-up me trusty, rusty ol' barra' and went and did it meself...well recently, the second time I cleared the path again, etc, that was just me...

 

This photo below is just last week, where I've tried to tidy-up the rock-strewn mess and damaged path, etc, after MGCCs' latest mind-numbing efforts...gunna' cover this in next coupla' posts...oh, and I did that bit a' path in small park too, that was a coupla' months back...     

Note: Some photos have been supplied to the Mt Gambier Residents and Ratepayers Association along with my permission to reproduce/publish should they wish to do so...and now, in closing, some random words I've made-up...

Discgusstion: A discussion about a topic of and/or that invokes disgust and/or is of itself disgusting.

Discgusstation: A media outlet that deals solely in 'discgusstion' for ratings (usually very Right Wing).

Well coo-shreckin'-eee, that's more than enough for one post, so's, until...(can we do my Wall joke now?-Ed)...your what?...(my Wall joke that you wouldn't let me do when you were havin' a sook there at the start-Ed)...ah cheers, way to be supportive...(ah come on, you know what I mean, pleeeeease-Ed)     ...urgh okay, if we must...(......-Ed)......(you have to start, remember?-Ed)...right, ummm Language Warning, ummm boo hoo, it's like running into a fucking wall...(you mean one with lotsa' glory holes?-Ed).........are we done now?...(well I was hoping for a little more enthusiasm, but sure, that's the joke-Ed)...great, End Language Warning, now let's get this puppy to bed, so's papa can have his supper...

 Tomorrow: More Dog Park Minutiae 

Yes dear availees, we're gunna' gorge ourselves stupid on the litany of deceits, failures and outright lies that define MGCCs' appalling handling of issues with the HCR Dog Parks...and we're gunna' do that for the obvious reasons, ie, as mentioned before, whilst dog park stuff is relatively minor and mundane in the pantheon of Council responsibilities, it's the way that literally every issue has been so grossly mis-handled and ballooned into problems and then into conflicts, and the levels of deception/deceit/dishonesty that MGCC is prepared, nay seemingly compelled to commit when conducting their business...('Our' business sir-Ed)...I stand corrected, thankyou Ed, 'Our' business...

And I Say Ours:...for whilst this 'ere blog and it's contents are solely my opinion/domain/responsibility...(slash ravings of a three-lipped nit-Ed)...when we discuss MGCC and what it does and/or does not do, the diddly-dollaroos they're dollin'-out, that's Ours...(and that building there, that's Ours-Ed)...indeed it is...(and that there, that was Ours, until Council sold it-Ed)...yeah okay, thankyou, fair enough, the point being is that, whatevs the configuration of elected and/or employed peeps, they work for us, they are in 'Our' employ...(and that there sir, that bizarre monstrosity, that's ours-Ed)...ooo is it though? I'd reckon that a range of debtors own that right now...(and for decades to come?-Ed)...well, given there is no apparent business model being applied...unless of course you count the bizarre 'agreement' which has somehow/allegedly been applied, but that has been locked-away behind various 'Commercial Confidentiality' clauses so no-one's got no shreckin' idea what the shreck that even is!...(please, allow me to help you with that-Ed)...why thankyou...(AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!-Ed)...ah good, I feel so much better...

I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...cheers and laters...