Howdy dear availees...I know it's been many weeks between posts, again, and I've no probs admitting that I'm somewhat occupied with a massively critical re-surfacing of my "bizarre trial" (The Border Watch)...I have been very politely and patiently waiting for others to address the issues they have recently 'ventilated', not least of all in State Parliament...(it says here 'Cue- release the crickets'-Ed)...yeah, it's sortta' a joke-attempt at saying 'suddenly, nothing happened'...(well why not just say that and save us all the confusion?-Ed)...I'm just doin' that thing we do where we try to dilute the harsh realities with a bit of (often forced) humour...(oh okay, I see, excellent, carry on-Ed)...cheers...where was I? ah yes, but in the meanwhilst, let us address the relentless deceits, gas-lighting, and outright lies that spew relentlessly from MGCC...(anything specific today or just a general spray of abuse?-Ed)...well today it's the usual, you know, special deals and lucrative contracts and unlawful planning decisions for Councillors families/friends/associates...(so all the usual MGCC cronyism of Nepotism, Insider Trading, Conflict of Interests, executed with the trademark Born To Rule attitude?-Ed)...yes all of that, that and so much more...
But firstly, another quick shout-out to those whom continue to engage with me and/or provide info, etc, 'cos I said I wouldn't address any 'messages' directly (on TMGI Facebook) but I do always read anything someone sends and/or consider their alternative opinion/info/whatevs...and another big shout-out to the Mt Gambier & Districts Residents & Ratepayers Association and all involved for their efforts in providing an 'official mainstream' conduit through which citizens can petition/challenge MGCC...
In recent TMGI Facebook posts we've covered the 'unlawful' removal of healthy trees from the Hastings Cunningham Reserve Parkland area adjacent to the Apollo Football Club pitch, including healthy trees marked with "sold" before they were even felled...the various excuses/justifications produced by MGCC are transparently false, ie, "those trees dropped dangerous boughs and/or are riddled with borers"...(yes, well the lies would be a little less obvious if Apollo/MGCC hadn't been bragging about how they (Apollo) were expanding their footprint out into HCRP proper, before those trees were deemed "unsafe" and hacked down-Ed)...yes, it's a li'l bit difficult to get that billowing cloud of hubris back in the bag isn't it?...basically, Apollo want to use that bit of ground, the trees are mildly inconvenient, so Apollo have used their mates on MGCC to get what they want...(yes, indeed, and let the rules apply to those other idiots who don't have dodgy mates on MGCC to do their bidding-Ed)...exactly...
Not to say they may not exist somewhere, but I haven't been able to discover a single document/report/approval/Agenda item that supports the MGCC/Apollo statements about the condition of the trees, etc, but in the phone conversation I had with a mid-level MGCC employee (1st May 2024), he claimed he was the one that assessed the trees as "dangerous" and approved their removal, etc, and that therefore Apollo had acted with the official okey-dokes of MGCC...(but Apollo were hacking-down healthy trees in a public parkland, outside of their alleged 'Lease', and sans any sort of safety barriers or other even minimal safety measures-Ed)...yep, and when I put it to that MGCC employee about 1) Apollo's expansion boasts and 2) the lack of 'Leases/Licenses', he claimed ignorance on both issues...(so you politely explained it to him-Ed)...lest he should continue-on in said ignorance...(well we do like to at least try and help others to a better understanding of the world they're standing in-Ed)...yes we do don't we...
For some time now I...(we-Ed)...we have been tellin' folks out HCR way that they ain't got no 'Licenses' no more let-alone any actual 'Leases'...(including the BMX Club and Apollo-Ed)...yep, including them...(and why good sir, have you been scurrilously disseminating such inflammatory none-truths?-Ed)...well, firstly, because my source of info is rock-solid, and confirms that the 'No Licenses/Leases' thing is a fact...(yeah, but some clown passin' info onto you doesn't make it a fact-Ed)...sure, absolutely, but how about a legally-requisite 'Register of Interests...(a "register of Interests"? what be this wonder of which you speak?-Ed)...well in this specific case, that would be MGCC's Register of Community Land Leases and Licences...(ohhh, their legally requisite RCLLL?-Ed)...yes, the RCLLL that MGCC is legally required to maintain and make publicly available...
Ya' see dear availees, the mistake I've...(we've-Ed)...we've been making is that we went to the ultimate source of such knowledge, we've gone to the actual official legally requisite MGCC Register: Community Land Leases and Licenses...(poor, stupid, naive us, fancy thinking that MGCC's legally requisite RCLLL would be the place to go to get current data on current Leases and/or Licenses-Ed)...and there-in it says 'No Lease and/or License', as explained below...
As we understand it, Mt Gambier City Council and/or Apollo Football Club are now publicly claiming that Apollo does have a current Lease, and not just for their pitch/clubrooms precinct, but also an additional 'Lease' for the entire North-East corner of HCRP proper...(including where those trees were hacked-down and sold-off by Apollo?-Ed)...yep, that fence-line and potentially all the trees right along that Northern boundary...(but these alleged 'Leases' apparently/seemingly include section(s?) of gazetted road but not the Northern carpark area where Apollo have also hacked-down several large trees-Ed)...well as it stands, I would not/cannot believe a single word from either MGCC or Apollo on any topic, but my opinions and/or lack of faith in MGCC, etc, that's all irrelevant...(for the facts scream themselves off of this 'ere page-Ed)...indeed they do, and not just this page...(but also the page where-in resides the MGCC RCLLL-Ed)...exactly, there-in lies the truth...
By Law:...MGCC is required to maintain and publish a current register of all Community Land Leases and Licenses, and quelle surprise, that Register is years out of date, in some cases over a decade out of date, eg, according to the MGCC Register, the Lake City Rod and Custom Club don't even have a license since 2014, and under "Renewal" it says "N/A"...(is that the clown who was mouthing-off in The Border Watch early 2023 about how great MGCC was and his club is safe, etc?-Ed)...it was one of the 'Car Club' dudes yeah, but I can't recall which one, either which way, none of those clubs have even a 'License'...(and don't just take our word for it, here's the link, just go to the Community Land Leases and Licenses heading in the left text box and click on that-Ed)...here 'tis...
For your convenience dear availee, I've copied across the section that relates to the Hastings Cunningham Reserve...please note that where it has the 'Lease/License' column, and then in the next column titled "Renewals" says "Nil" or "N/A" ("N/A" is Not Applicable I think)...for example, the tennis club had their "Lease" renewed by 10 years upto 30th June 2016, but that has lapsed and of course the tennis club was evicted by MGCC nearly 2 years ago...as is the case right across Mt Gambier, many of the Community Clubs have only licenses, which in many cases have also lapsed with 'Nil Renewal'...anyhoos, here 'tis...
Reidy Park Tennis Club Inc Hastings Cunningham Reserve - Portion of Reidy Park Tennis Club Inc "Lease" 31/07/1996 30/06/2006 10 Years 31/07/2006 30/06/2016 AR11/2178
Lions Club of Mount Gambier Inc. Hastings Cunningham Reserve - Shed 10 Lions Club of Mount Gambier Inc. "Licence" 01/01/2015 31/12/2019 Nil AR11/2178[v2]
Lake City Rod & Custom Club Inc Hastings Cunningham Reserve - Shed 13 Lake City Rod & Custom Club Inc "Licence" 01/01/2010 31/12/2014 Nil AR11/2449[v2]
Mount Gambier Caledonian Society Hastings Cunningham Reserve - Shed 4 Mount Gambier Caledonian Society "Licence" 01/01/2015 31/12/2019 N/A AR11/2178
Mount Gambier Gem Club Inc. Hastings Cunningham Reserve - Shed 6 Mount Gambier Gem Club Inc "Licence" 01/01/2015 31/12/2019 N/A AR11/2178
Lions Club of Mt Gambier (Gambier City) Inc. Hastings Cunningham Reserve - Shed 9 Lions Club of Gambier City Inc. "Licence" 01/01/2015 31/12/2019 Nil AR11/2178[v2]
Mount Gambier and District 4 WD Club Inc Hastings Cunningham Reserve - Shed No. 1 Mount Gambier and District 4 WD Club Inc "Licence" 01/01/2015 31/12/2019 N/A AR11/2178
South East Street Machines Inc Hastings Cunningham Reserve - Shed No. 12 South East Street Machines Inc. "Licence" 01/01/2010 31/12/2014 N/A AR11/2178
Rotary Club of Mount Gambier Lakes Inc Hastings Cunningham Reserve - Shed No. 2 Rotary Club of Mount Gambier Lakes Inc "Licence" 01/01/2015 31/12/2019 N/A AR11/2178
Mount Gambier Woodturning Club Inc Hastings Cunningham Reserve - Shed No. 3 Mount Gambier Woodturning Club Inc. "Licence" 01/07/2020 30/06/2025 N/A AR11/2178
Rotary Club of Mount Gambier West Inc Hastings Cunningham Reserve - Shed No. 7 Rotary Club of Mount Gambier West Inc. "Licence" 01/01/2020 31/12/2022 N/A AR11/2178
Rotary Club of Mount Gambier Inc Hastings Cunningham Reserve - Shed No. 8 Rotary Club of Mount Gambier Inc "Licence" 01/01/2020 31/12/2024 N/A AR11/2178
Apollo Football Club Hastings Cunningham Reserve - Soccer Field & Clubroom Apollo Soccer Club "Lease" 01/04/2017 31/03/2022 Nil AR11/2178; AR14/21474 map
Blue Lake BMX Club Inc Hastings Cunningham Reserve, 98 Shepherdson Road, Mount Gambier Blue Lake BMX Club Inc. "Lease" 01/11/2012 31/10/2022 N/A AR11/2178
The first immediately obvious point, very few if any Community Groups have any sort of "License" let-alone a legally applicable "Lease"...(well I'd have thought the first point was the difference between 'Lease' and 'License'-Ed)...fair dues, it's fairly simple, the main issue being that with a 'Lease' the leasee has specific rights to occupation including lengthy lead-time to vacate should they be ordered to do so, etc...(but with only a 'License' a group can get evicted by MGCC literally with a day's notice?-Ed)...pretty much, as a tenant with a 'Lease' you've got 'Rights', with a 'License' you got diddly-squat...(well I'm not quite up to speed on some a' them highfalutin legal terms you're usin' there, but I think I get the gist of it-Ed)...super...
And just on the possibility that I was looking at an outdated Register or in the wrong 'Register', whatevs, I searched from scratch again today, twice, and it bought me back to the same Register copy...(in which it says Apollo Football Club - the "Lease" expired on 31st March 2022 and under "Renewal" it says "Nil"-Ed)...exactly...(so their 'Lease' expired in March 2022 and hasn't been renewed?-Ed)...not according to the legally requisite MGCC RCLLL...
And I'm just waiting for MGCC to trot-out some lame excuse for the often decades-long gaps between the info available on the MGCC Register and the various club's current 'Lease/License' status...I'd guess the 'excuse' will be that MGCC simply haven't bothered to keep it current...(as they are legally required to do?-Ed)...as I understand it yes, as they are legally required to do...(so why haven't they? why haven't MGCC kept their basic, legally-required, RCLLL current?-Ed)...no idea mate, like we've been through, all I do know is that MGCC/Apollo are apparently claiming there is a 'Lease' but the RCLLL begs to differ...
(But hang-on, that 'Register' says the 'Lease' expired in March 2022 and there's no 'Renewal', so where's this alleged 'current Lease' come from?-Ed)...great question again, and again I've got no idea...granted maybe I just couldn't find it, but I did find this (below) on MGCC Minutes from July 2016...(so that does mention "additional license area at Hastings Cunningham Reserve" but doesn't define what/where exactly that is-Ed)...and it says both 'License' and 'Lease' and there's no mention of either being renewed in the RCLLL...(well in fact the RCLLL identifies a 'Lease' but doesn't mention 'License'-Ed)...and if it were included under 'Lease' then why is is identified separately as "additional license area?...yet again, the lack of specific information about actual areas referred to, the failure to maintain the MGCC RCLLL, and conflicting statements/allegations circulating, etc etc etc, it's literally impossible to discern just exactly what the shreck is happening...here's the Minutes thingy...
13. CORPORATE AND COMMUNITY SERVICES COMMITTEE REPORT NO. 53/2016 -
Leasing - Apollo Soccer Club - Licence Area - Ref. AF11/1428
Goal: Governance
Strategic Objective: Demonstrate innovative and responsive organisational governance
moved:
(a) Corporate and Community Services report No 53/2016 be received;
(b) The Apollo Soccer Club’s additional licence area at Hastings Cunningham Reserve
be continued and included with future renewals of their main clubroom and pitch lease, including permission to install bollards on the condition that public access is not to be restricted to the area when not in use by the club.
In conclusion, MGCC and/or Apollo are apparently claiming/stating that Apollo have a current 'Lease' that allows them to effectively control not just the pitch and clubroom area, but that entire North-East corner of Hastings Cunningham Reserve Parkland...I've been unable to find any evidence that any such 'Lease(s)' or even 'License(s)' exists...
Tomorrow: We're Going To Need A Bigger Fan
What with the sheer volume of shizzle gettin' flung about the place lately...and not just as regards the extraordinary shizzle-show that has just kicked-off recently re my "bizarre trial", but also by the openly desperate MGCC...another totes hilarious pro-MGCC pantomime on the ABC SE Radio again on Saturday, with the ever-entertaining MGCC CEO Sarah Philpott eloquently gas-lighting her way through 10 mins, 10 whole bloody minutes of my life I'll never...(keep it together buddy, you've got this far and so far so good-Ed)...yep, sorry, it just gets so damningly infuriating to hear the same sweetly-worded deceits over and over and over...(oh I know mate, I know, right there with ya'-Ed)...we'll complete this li'l rant next post, but suffice to say that an angry packed gallery at Tuesday's MGCC monthly meeting didn't stop the CEO from praising herself/Council for the wonderful work they've done in stampeding Rates to a staggering 14% (total) increase...(and "Ray from Naracoorte", "Ray" apparently thought it was all just terrific, and particularly the CEO-Ed)...apparently, yes caller "Ray" did, or at least Ray's" comments that were read-out for him did...
We'll continue this issue next post 'cos it is a critically important issue when the rabidly pro-MGCC ABC SE Radio is nearly as cooked as The Ambulance Chaser...(hoohoo that's a big call-Ed)...I said nearly, but they're both wantonly complicit in protecting their mates/family on/at MGCC...(and don't ya' love it that we can just say The Ambulance Chaser and everybody knows who we.re talkin' about-Ed)...totes hilarious I'm sure...(so hang on, not a single caller from Mt Gambier, let-alone one who was furious at the massive Rates increase and/or attended Tuesday's meeting etc?-Ed)...apparently not, not that I heard all morning anyways...(just "Ray from Naracoorte"-Ed)...just "Ray from Naracoorte"...(who thought it was all fantastic-Ed)...pretty much...(wow-Ed)...indeed, "wow"...
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...cheers and laters
