Video of the highlights of the Save the Newcastle Herald Community Rally held in Civic Park Newcastle on the 2nd June 2012.
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Save the Newcastle Herald Community Rally Video
Video of the highlights of the Save the Newcastle Herald Community Rally held in Civic Park Newcastle on the 2nd June 2012.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
COMMUNITY RALLY TO SAVE THE HERALD
 |
| Herald Exports Hunter Jobs |
Help join the fight to save our community newspaper.
When: This Saturday 2nd June 2012
Where: Civic Park, Newcastle
Time: 1 PM
Hamfisted interference by distant and ill-informed corporate executives in the running of a perfectly good and very profitable business is not only unwelcome but potentially destructive to the product and brand.
The Newcastle Herald is a 150 year old institution with deep roots in this city.
If it was losing money, or in danger of losing money, then momentous changes might be justifiable.
But that's not the case here.
Fairfax is proposing to export Novocastrian jobs when there is no compelling business case to do so.
Newcastle Herald management and journalists have been working hand in glove for the past several months to develop a strategy for transition on-line. This was orderly, rational and would have maintained the integrity of the print product while growing the new on-line service.
This move by Fairfax Limited is a slap in the face to the team of people who handled the move to tabloid without a hiccup and who have always been ready to adapt to shifting goalposts in the marketplace.
Asking a group of people at a profitable and successful business to spend countless hours on a new online strategy, only to pull the rug out at the last minute and tell them their jobs are forfeit is an insult, as well as being bad and unwise management.
Moving the production of Newcastle's main source of daily news to New Zealand looks like a panic move in response to the company's depressed share price.
If so, it's a foolish knee-jerk move that will have grave repercussions for Newcastle and for what has been a marvellous business for more than 150 years.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Newcastle Herald to be outsourced to New Zealand
Over 150 years of quality journalism in Newcastle will soon come to an end under a proposal by the Newcastle Herald's parent company Fairfax Media Limited.
In a communication to all Newcastle staff this afternoon Fairfax Limited CEO Greg Hywood, and Fairfax Regional CEO Allan G Browne announced proposed changes to the editorial production of the Illawarra Mercury and Newcastle Herald and the newspapers' weekly community papers.
It is proposed that editorial production for the titles be relocated to Fairfax Editorial Services (FES) in New Zealand.
Under the proposal, a total of around 66 full-time, part-time and casual positions, would no longer be required across the affected titles, representing around 45% of its current staff.
Consultations are currently underway with affected staff, with a call for voluntary redundancies. If sufficient numbers do not come forward then compulsory redundancies will be required.
While the CEO's believe that no reporting or photographic positions are affected by the proposal, the local community might have a different view, as losing close to half your staff will certainly have an effect on the quality of local journalism.
The Newcastle Herald is a profitable title, so it beggars belief why such changes would be necessary.
"Fairfax Media is on a journey from a predominantly print business to a predominantly digital business," Fairfax Media chief executive Greg Hywood said.
The Newcastle Herald was formerly known as as The Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners Advocate, (which in turn was born from two early newspapers The Newcastle Chronicle and Hunter River District News (established in 1858) and The Miners Advocate and Northumberland Recorder (established in 1873).
The Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners Advocate began publication on the 3rd April 1876 under the visionary leadership of James Fletcher, who created the district's first daily newspaper.
According to the late Dr John Turner, James Fletcher is arguably the father of the City of Newcastle who persuaded the many towns and mines, who were all competing with each other, to come together in the 1870s under an idea known as the Vend scheme, which combined the various mines and the miners, thus doubling the price of coal and wages overnight, thus creating Newcastle's most prosperous period. The instrument he used to unite the people of the various mining villages of the region was the Herald. The Herald became its united voice, and with that voice all the mining towns came to later form the Greater City of Newcastle.
The Newcastle Herald is interwoven into the history of Newcastle.
To have it out sourced to another country is unthinkable.
For more information have a look at this feature on Newcastle Journalism published back in 1966 to commemorate 108 years of journalism in Newcastle. Courtesy of the Cultural Collections of the University of Newcastle.
Read on click here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/uon/6030511835/
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Open Letter to Premier of New South Wales
An Open Letter from Doug Lithgow - President of the Parks and Playgrounds Movement
The Hon Barry O’Farrell MP
Premier of the State of New South Wales
Dear Mr O’Farrell
This is day 3 of the destruction of Newcastle's fine civic trees and cultural centre.
This is being done by some Councillors forming an opinion that the trees pose a hazard to traffic so as to invoke Sec 88 of the Roads Act. It is clear that this significant Landscape has never been a hazard to traffic and the trees are unnecessarily being felled.
You as the Premier of the New South Wales have brought your government into disgrace by sending a large contingent of police to stand stupidly in the rain for no reason other than to back-up bad governance in the current Council. In this way you have failed the fine city of Newcastle.
The ignorant Councillors should have been informed by your Government how to formally publicly exhibit their Civic Precinct amendments so that community could lawfully have a say in the future of their Civic Precinct.
How could you be so inept when we relied on you to bring good governance to our city?
Doug Lithgow
Freeman of the City of Newcastle
President of the Parks and Playgrounds Movement
Open Letter to Newcastle City Council
Dear Councilors of Newcastle City Council
What we have witnessed in Laman St we regard as obscene environmental vandalism and a crime against the historic beauty of Newcastle.
Recent alarming revelations from within council administration regarding Novocastrian Park and the surfacing of council documents that supposedly could not be found by council administration in its own data management system are further contributory evidence in our opinion of the apparent maladministration that led to the obscenity in Laman St.
The latter documents are certainly clear evidence in our opinion of just how badly the council betrayed the citizens of New Lambton. Ward 3 councilors might like to visit our home to view them, but we doubt that you will.
We understand that most of you within the council do not want to know the truth of the matters of Laman St, Novocastrian Park et al.
We also recall the moment when the riot squad was deployed on leading citizens of this town by virtue of your remit as councilors and the self-proclaimed oxymoronic neutrality of the State Government. Freeman of the City, Citizens of the Year, a doctor, grandmothers, the Lord Mayor, young people, very elderly people all on the receiving end of the riot squad when clearly there was no riot.
We personally experienced this unique moment in Novocastrian history when our elected representatives decided to use martial force to silence those who elected them. Have you read Judge Sidis' comments on her hopes for the new council yet?
The visuals from Laman St will tell the tale at the electoral booths: ranks of armed riot police, double rings of fencing, ranks of security guards all testifying to your apparent inability to govern without armed protection to exclude your own citizenry.
Look at the photos for yourselves, but the photos don't tell the full tale of the intimidation that we citizens experienced under your remit. Was this good old Newcastle or downtown Syria?
Is an armed perimeter around the civic precinct and perhaps the council chamber the new face of our local democracy?
We look forward to the forthcoming election campaign where we sincerely hope that a new council may be elected with the courage to remove the current General Manager so as to appoint a person specifically contracted to revamp the senior administrative culture of Newcastle City Council.
It is clear to us now that at least two directors need to be removed from their current positions.
What is certain is that many of you will be removed at the September election.
This seems like poetic justice to us. You removed the figs, we remove you. You put the riot squad on to us, we put Novocastrian egalitarian history on to you.
The irony is that you as a body are now condemned by your own majority logic. You require the political chop to ensure our sense of safety as citizens. You appear to us as a greater danger than any beautiful fig tree.
Since it is the habit of most of you not to respond to our communications, we look forward to seeing you on the campaign trail.
Paul F Walsh OAM
Susan Harvey
Enraged Ratepayers
What we have witnessed in Laman St we regard as obscene environmental vandalism and a crime against the historic beauty of Newcastle.
Recent alarming revelations from within council administration regarding Novocastrian Park and the surfacing of council documents that supposedly could not be found by council administration in its own data management system are further contributory evidence in our opinion of the apparent maladministration that led to the obscenity in Laman St.
The latter documents are certainly clear evidence in our opinion of just how badly the council betrayed the citizens of New Lambton. Ward 3 councilors might like to visit our home to view them, but we doubt that you will.
We understand that most of you within the council do not want to know the truth of the matters of Laman St, Novocastrian Park et al.
We also recall the moment when the riot squad was deployed on leading citizens of this town by virtue of your remit as councilors and the self-proclaimed oxymoronic neutrality of the State Government. Freeman of the City, Citizens of the Year, a doctor, grandmothers, the Lord Mayor, young people, very elderly people all on the receiving end of the riot squad when clearly there was no riot.
We personally experienced this unique moment in Novocastrian history when our elected representatives decided to use martial force to silence those who elected them. Have you read Judge Sidis' comments on her hopes for the new council yet?
The visuals from Laman St will tell the tale at the electoral booths: ranks of armed riot police, double rings of fencing, ranks of security guards all testifying to your apparent inability to govern without armed protection to exclude your own citizenry.
Look at the photos for yourselves, but the photos don't tell the full tale of the intimidation that we citizens experienced under your remit. Was this good old Newcastle or downtown Syria?
Is an armed perimeter around the civic precinct and perhaps the council chamber the new face of our local democracy?
We look forward to the forthcoming election campaign where we sincerely hope that a new council may be elected with the courage to remove the current General Manager so as to appoint a person specifically contracted to revamp the senior administrative culture of Newcastle City Council.
It is clear to us now that at least two directors need to be removed from their current positions.
What is certain is that many of you will be removed at the September election.
This seems like poetic justice to us. You removed the figs, we remove you. You put the riot squad on to us, we put Novocastrian egalitarian history on to you.
The irony is that you as a body are now condemned by your own majority logic. You require the political chop to ensure our sense of safety as citizens. You appear to us as a greater danger than any beautiful fig tree.
Since it is the habit of most of you not to respond to our communications, we look forward to seeing you on the campaign trail.
Paul F Walsh OAM
Susan Harvey
Enraged Ratepayers
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Fig Trees, Towers, Insurance and Public Endangerment - Open Letter
The Minister for Local Government
Donald Page MP
Mr Ross Woodward
CEO The Division of Local Government
Dear Minister Page and Mr Woodward
We write as a matter of considerable urgency with regard to the need for the sacking of Newcastle City Council.
Please note that we are forwarding to you the following email interchange between us and Councilor Bob Cook of Newcastle City Council where Councilor Cook refers to our 'paranoid analysis'. We are copying this communication to you to the office of the NSW Ombudsman hopefully for their continuing operational intelligence. We suggest that you read our original email to which Councilor Cook was responding while you gauge the appropriateness of his response.
We believe that this email from Councilor Cook has no place in any public democratic discourse with regard to perceived public risk, council negligence and public endangerment. We do not accept that the arguably apparent lampooning of ratepayers or constituents who are expressing genuine and well-founded anxieties about the safety of their lives and property has any place within behaviour required under the Local Government Act. This should be especially so in a situation where ratepayers are asking elected representatives to make representations to the insurance company concerned. In seeking such representations residents are keenly aware that no insurance company on the planet can genuinely compensate for loss of life or physical injury due to arguably apparent council negligence.
Councilor Cook's email may or may not yet prove to be further evidence that the current council administration may be not fully briefing councilors as to the unfolding revelations via ABC Radio concerning a complete lack of compliance certification documents and related construction irregularities in a development whereby Newcastle City Council enabled an inexperienced developer, working 'on behalf' of council, utilising volunteer labour of unknown skill set to construct four-storey-high metal structures, some within falling distance of residential properties.
Council's current position, as we understand it, is that NSW planning legislation grants council the apparent legal right to effectively breach their duty of care under the Local Government Act and thus arguably endanger the lives and property of the public.
We do not accept that a legal right to endanger the public exists within NSW Local Government instrumentalities and we urge you gentlemen to intervene in this matter immediately in the interests of preserving public safety.
Considering that Newcastle City Council has adopted an apparently hypocritical and diametrically opposed position regarding duty of care with respect to the Laman Street Fig Tree fiasco (see today's front page Newcastle Herald) the operational integrity of Newcastle City Council is now firmly in public question. Councilor Buman is quoted in the Herald today as saying: 'We're becoming a dysfunctional council because of this issue.'
As you gentlemen should be aware from previous correspondence from us it is our view that the council was effectively dysfunctional before this issue confirmed the matter.
It is also our view that Councilor Cook's regrettable email may be but a window into arguably apparent widespread dysfunction within the council chamber. It is our continuing concern that this apparent dysfunction in the chamber coupled with arguably dangerous maladministration within council administration may be contributing to a situation where the public has lost faith in the democratic process from the top down.
Since council has not been able to credibly refute or respond to our many previous code of conduct complaints within a six month period we believe that the Minister for Local Government should intervene now to bring Newcastle City Council back within the parameters of its own code of conduct and the Local Government Act.
Our primary continuing concern is that the current fig tree fiasco and the ongoing Novocastrian Park debacle may be but signs of a wider dysfunction based on a new organic norm of administration and governance arguably existing outside proper legislative frameworks.
We can only urge that you take immediate action with regard to Councilor Cook's email and the level of dysfunction it may be revealing with respect to Newcastle City Council.
We urge that you sack this council now before the matter worsens and appoint an administrator, perhaps with judicial experience, to sort the matter out. To paraphrase Albert Einstein: 'a problem is rarely solved within the parameters that created the problem in the first place.'
In the interim, we urge that you move to protect the historic fig trees in Laman Street from destruction, a potential destruction which we argue would be a function of council's dysfunction. We also urge that you take whatever steps are required to remove the suspect uncertified towers in Novocastrian Park, some within falling distance of residential properties, immediately.
And we further urge that you establish a genuine and rigorous independent investigation into arguably dangerous maladministration within Newcastle City Council.
We note with democratic alarm the following quotation attributed to Newcastle City Council's Director Liveable City in this morning's Newcastle Herald regarding declaring an exclusion zone in the city patrolled by police and security guards: 'The patrols will also help us manage the safety of the community and council staff, given the threat of protests.' This massive and arguably inflammatory overreaction is yet further evidence in our opinion of democratic dysfunction, lack of administrative discernment and proper oversight and dangerous maladministration.
Any council that feels the need to declare exclusion zones patrolled by police and security guards to protect itself from the democratic protests of the community it is instituted to serve does not deserve to remain in existence within our Australian democracy. There is a worrying authoritarianism here in the face of potential peaceful protests that seems out of place with current events around the globe and our city's proud egalitarian traditions.
We await your responses
Susan Harvey
Australian Reconciliation Award
The Premier's Award for Community Service
The Gold Serif Award for Event Media
Paul F Walsh OAM
The Medal of the Order of Australia
Australian Reconciliation Award
The Premier's Award for Community Service
Newcastle Citizen of the Year 2001
The University of Newcastle's Newton-John Award
The Gold Serif Award for Event Media
----- Original Message -----
From: Bob Cook
To: Susan Harvey & Paul F Walsh
Sent: Wednesday, July 20, 2011 10:09 PM
Subject: Re: Fig Trees, Towers, Insurance,and Public Endangerment
Susan and Paul,
Thank you for being consistent, 'at risk'. Objective by degree.
It's a remarkable world, and you make it more so! I would be interested in the names of councillors that slightly agree with your paranoid analysis of the lighting tower matter.
Without dissecting your persistent monotonous dialogue, it is simply worth indicating that though I understand your point of view, particularly regarding who is in charge, I disagree with you totally.
I assure you that councillors who act appropriately do have good working relationships with all staff, participate in setting directions, and are well informed on proposed actions.
Perceptions of maladministration are always in the mind of those who have a grievance, rightly or wrong. I know the reality.
You are entitled to your opinion and I am happy to hear it, but I will not be engaging with you.
Regarding the trees, look at my video on YouTube, it provides a clear description of the issues.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3zq7d4DhjA
Regards,
Cr Bob Cook
The City of Newcastle
Ph 49261117
Mob 0419241731
PS A majority council decision is not an 'attempt'. The decision is made, once the obstacles are cleared it will be implemented.
On 20/07/11 1:34 PM, "Susan Harvey & Paul F Walsh" wrote:
Dear Councilors
We write as 'at risk' ratepayers.
We note that a majority of your chamber last night attempted to persist with the removal of arguably healthy, much-loved and historic fig trees in Laman Street, Newcastle, on the disputed basis of insurability, structural integrity and viability of the trees.
We note that the same arguably dangerous maladministration within council that led to the continuing Novocastrian Park debacle appears to be underpinning the fig tree controversy.
It seems remarkable to us that a majority of your number appear to feel personally comfortable in resisting attempts to have that arguably dangerous maladministration independently investigated while blindly accepting advice that may be the poisoned fruit of that arguably apparent maladministration.
It is truly remarkable that neither council administration nor a majority of councilors appear to perceive any whiff of hypocrisy in wishing to retain structurally uncertified towers on Novocastrian Park while trying to remove arguably healthy trees in Laman St on the basis of supposed structural viability issues. If the trees are not insurable, (which we do not believe for one minute), how could four-storey-high towers, some built within falling distance of residential homes, built with the aid of volunteers of unknown skill set, amidst observed and photographed construction irregularities and no observation of compliance certifications, be insurable?
It is clear that we have apparent documentary evidence that council administration was aware of apparent construction irregularities on Novocastrian Park, documentary evidence that we argue further compounds council's potential culpability and potential negligence issues. All of this evidence will eventually be presented to council's insurers and other interested regulatory agencies.
We are also deeply alarmed at council's apparent breaches of its duty of care to ratepayers under the Local Government Act. Arguable council administration attempts to hide or justify such arguably apparent breaches on the basis of planning legislation of any kind is not only embarrassing but a leap through the looking glass beyond the boundaries of common sense. We do not accept that council has any legal right whatsoever to endanger the lives and property of ratepayers. It should be noted that residents are currently experiencing stress and anxiety as a direct result of council's arguable negligence in this matter.
Could it be that the unelected council administration is effectively in charge of your elected chamber by default?
We request that each of you as our democratic representative make representations to council administration and to council's insurers in order that each of you might explain to us the meaning behind council's apparently hypocritical 'structural integrity' stances vis-a-vis the towers and the fig trees.
We request specifically that this email be sent by you to council's insurers so that the latter may be fully informed without that information being 'filtered' by council administration. We request also that you as our political representatives request that council's insurers open up direct dialogue with us with regard to their views on the insurance viability of the towers.
.We can only urge you as an elected body to retain the fig trees in Laman St, remove the towers in Novocastrian Park immediately and regain proper democratic and oversight control over council administration.
Susan Harvey and Paul F Walsh OAM
'At risk' ratepayers of New Lambton
Donald Page MP
Mr Ross Woodward
CEO The Division of Local Government
Dear Minister Page and Mr Woodward
We write as a matter of considerable urgency with regard to the need for the sacking of Newcastle City Council.
Please note that we are forwarding to you the following email interchange between us and Councilor Bob Cook of Newcastle City Council where Councilor Cook refers to our 'paranoid analysis'. We are copying this communication to you to the office of the NSW Ombudsman hopefully for their continuing operational intelligence. We suggest that you read our original email to which Councilor Cook was responding while you gauge the appropriateness of his response.
We believe that this email from Councilor Cook has no place in any public democratic discourse with regard to perceived public risk, council negligence and public endangerment. We do not accept that the arguably apparent lampooning of ratepayers or constituents who are expressing genuine and well-founded anxieties about the safety of their lives and property has any place within behaviour required under the Local Government Act. This should be especially so in a situation where ratepayers are asking elected representatives to make representations to the insurance company concerned. In seeking such representations residents are keenly aware that no insurance company on the planet can genuinely compensate for loss of life or physical injury due to arguably apparent council negligence.
Councilor Cook's email may or may not yet prove to be further evidence that the current council administration may be not fully briefing councilors as to the unfolding revelations via ABC Radio concerning a complete lack of compliance certification documents and related construction irregularities in a development whereby Newcastle City Council enabled an inexperienced developer, working 'on behalf' of council, utilising volunteer labour of unknown skill set to construct four-storey-high metal structures, some within falling distance of residential properties.
Council's current position, as we understand it, is that NSW planning legislation grants council the apparent legal right to effectively breach their duty of care under the Local Government Act and thus arguably endanger the lives and property of the public.
We do not accept that a legal right to endanger the public exists within NSW Local Government instrumentalities and we urge you gentlemen to intervene in this matter immediately in the interests of preserving public safety.
Considering that Newcastle City Council has adopted an apparently hypocritical and diametrically opposed position regarding duty of care with respect to the Laman Street Fig Tree fiasco (see today's front page Newcastle Herald) the operational integrity of Newcastle City Council is now firmly in public question. Councilor Buman is quoted in the Herald today as saying: 'We're becoming a dysfunctional council because of this issue.'
As you gentlemen should be aware from previous correspondence from us it is our view that the council was effectively dysfunctional before this issue confirmed the matter.
It is also our view that Councilor Cook's regrettable email may be but a window into arguably apparent widespread dysfunction within the council chamber. It is our continuing concern that this apparent dysfunction in the chamber coupled with arguably dangerous maladministration within council administration may be contributing to a situation where the public has lost faith in the democratic process from the top down.
Since council has not been able to credibly refute or respond to our many previous code of conduct complaints within a six month period we believe that the Minister for Local Government should intervene now to bring Newcastle City Council back within the parameters of its own code of conduct and the Local Government Act.
Our primary continuing concern is that the current fig tree fiasco and the ongoing Novocastrian Park debacle may be but signs of a wider dysfunction based on a new organic norm of administration and governance arguably existing outside proper legislative frameworks.
We can only urge that you take immediate action with regard to Councilor Cook's email and the level of dysfunction it may be revealing with respect to Newcastle City Council.
We urge that you sack this council now before the matter worsens and appoint an administrator, perhaps with judicial experience, to sort the matter out. To paraphrase Albert Einstein: 'a problem is rarely solved within the parameters that created the problem in the first place.'
In the interim, we urge that you move to protect the historic fig trees in Laman Street from destruction, a potential destruction which we argue would be a function of council's dysfunction. We also urge that you take whatever steps are required to remove the suspect uncertified towers in Novocastrian Park, some within falling distance of residential properties, immediately.
And we further urge that you establish a genuine and rigorous independent investigation into arguably dangerous maladministration within Newcastle City Council.
We note with democratic alarm the following quotation attributed to Newcastle City Council's Director Liveable City in this morning's Newcastle Herald regarding declaring an exclusion zone in the city patrolled by police and security guards: 'The patrols will also help us manage the safety of the community and council staff, given the threat of protests.' This massive and arguably inflammatory overreaction is yet further evidence in our opinion of democratic dysfunction, lack of administrative discernment and proper oversight and dangerous maladministration.
Any council that feels the need to declare exclusion zones patrolled by police and security guards to protect itself from the democratic protests of the community it is instituted to serve does not deserve to remain in existence within our Australian democracy. There is a worrying authoritarianism here in the face of potential peaceful protests that seems out of place with current events around the globe and our city's proud egalitarian traditions.
We await your responses
Susan Harvey
Australian Reconciliation Award
The Premier's Award for Community Service
The Gold Serif Award for Event Media
Paul F Walsh OAM
The Medal of the Order of Australia
Australian Reconciliation Award
The Premier's Award for Community Service
Newcastle Citizen of the Year 2001
The University of Newcastle's Newton-John Award
The Gold Serif Award for Event Media
----- Original Message -----
From: Bob Cook
To: Susan Harvey & Paul F Walsh
Sent: Wednesday, July 20, 2011 10:09 PM
Subject: Re: Fig Trees, Towers, Insurance,and Public Endangerment
Susan and Paul,
Thank you for being consistent, 'at risk'. Objective by degree.
It's a remarkable world, and you make it more so! I would be interested in the names of councillors that slightly agree with your paranoid analysis of the lighting tower matter.
Without dissecting your persistent monotonous dialogue, it is simply worth indicating that though I understand your point of view, particularly regarding who is in charge, I disagree with you totally.
I assure you that councillors who act appropriately do have good working relationships with all staff, participate in setting directions, and are well informed on proposed actions.
Perceptions of maladministration are always in the mind of those who have a grievance, rightly or wrong. I know the reality.
You are entitled to your opinion and I am happy to hear it, but I will not be engaging with you.
Regarding the trees, look at my video on YouTube, it provides a clear description of the issues.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3zq7d4DhjA
Regards,
Cr Bob Cook
The City of Newcastle
Ph 49261117
Mob 0419241731
PS A majority council decision is not an 'attempt'. The decision is made, once the obstacles are cleared it will be implemented.
On 20/07/11 1:34 PM, "Susan Harvey & Paul F Walsh"
Dear Councilors
We write as 'at risk' ratepayers.
We note that a majority of your chamber last night attempted to persist with the removal of arguably healthy, much-loved and historic fig trees in Laman Street, Newcastle, on the disputed basis of insurability, structural integrity and viability of the trees.
We note that the same arguably dangerous maladministration within council that led to the continuing Novocastrian Park debacle appears to be underpinning the fig tree controversy.
It seems remarkable to us that a majority of your number appear to feel personally comfortable in resisting attempts to have that arguably dangerous maladministration independently investigated while blindly accepting advice that may be the poisoned fruit of that arguably apparent maladministration.
It is truly remarkable that neither council administration nor a majority of councilors appear to perceive any whiff of hypocrisy in wishing to retain structurally uncertified towers on Novocastrian Park while trying to remove arguably healthy trees in Laman St on the basis of supposed structural viability issues. If the trees are not insurable, (which we do not believe for one minute), how could four-storey-high towers, some built within falling distance of residential homes, built with the aid of volunteers of unknown skill set, amidst observed and photographed construction irregularities and no observation of compliance certifications, be insurable?
It is clear that we have apparent documentary evidence that council administration was aware of apparent construction irregularities on Novocastrian Park, documentary evidence that we argue further compounds council's potential culpability and potential negligence issues. All of this evidence will eventually be presented to council's insurers and other interested regulatory agencies.
We are also deeply alarmed at council's apparent breaches of its duty of care to ratepayers under the Local Government Act. Arguable council administration attempts to hide or justify such arguably apparent breaches on the basis of planning legislation of any kind is not only embarrassing but a leap through the looking glass beyond the boundaries of common sense. We do not accept that council has any legal right whatsoever to endanger the lives and property of ratepayers. It should be noted that residents are currently experiencing stress and anxiety as a direct result of council's arguable negligence in this matter.
Could it be that the unelected council administration is effectively in charge of your elected chamber by default?
We request that each of you as our democratic representative make representations to council administration and to council's insurers in order that each of you might explain to us the meaning behind council's apparently hypocritical 'structural integrity' stances vis-a-vis the towers and the fig trees.
We request specifically that this email be sent by you to council's insurers so that the latter may be fully informed without that information being 'filtered' by council administration. We request also that you as our political representatives request that council's insurers open up direct dialogue with us with regard to their views on the insurance viability of the towers.
.We can only urge you as an elected body to retain the fig trees in Laman St, remove the towers in Novocastrian Park immediately and regain proper democratic and oversight control over council administration.
Susan Harvey and Paul F Walsh OAM
'At risk' ratepayers of New Lambton
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)