So much happening and so little change.

 Well it is official; Council has been granted permission to increase rates to residents of Liverpool by 12.5%. You all know my stance on this; I think the timing is poor.  I expect there are a great number of our citizens who will feel the increase of rates, water and electricity (averaging at about $600 per year) will leave them even further behind the eight ball. But alas, what can you say, even if you rent, expect that it will increase also as your owner will try and recoup the costs via your weekly rent.

This brings me to my current theory? Is this just clever manipulation by the State Government to further alienate residents from councils, is this another nail in the coffin of local government? Why do I say this, it is becoming increasingly obvious that State Govt legislature is systematically tearing away controls from council, things like Planning is now a regional issue, systems are being set in place where councils will now have to hand over plans so that State can monitor community participation and consultation. Little by little State government is making things either difficult or downright taking things away from Local Councils.

It is often said that we are over governed, is this a slow and steady way of making councils seem redundant? Is this my view alone, or do you have a theory of your own?

Don’t misunderstand, I support our local council, I am not totally against having ‘big brother’ keep an eye on local government, heaven knows, where were they when the OASIS project was costing us millions? Along with the DFO and other such projects. Was the State actually a party to some of the ‘financial woes” and “poor planning” that affected our city?

One more question while you are reading…. what do you think of Liverpool?  At a forum last evening I heard a local parent say she was saddened when her own children, who had been raised here in Liverpool in a basically ‘normal’ upbringing,  stated they wouldn’t even consider living in Liverpool or raising their children here in Liverpool. She was saddened because she works to improve the environment and the amenity of the city and is a supporter of all things “Liverpool’ and here her own kids were disparaging of ‘her’ city. A city she believed had served them well. So what do you think? Are we raising our kids not to appreciate what we have here in Liverpool or is it all too late?

Seems my blog this week has more questions than answers, so help me out here…

Council meeting 29.6.09

Last night saw the rescission motion for the School at Hoxton Park Rd lost.  A number of residents are understandably disappointed as well as the many hopeful parents of students to attend are delighted.  Sadly this issue is being portrayed as racial, yet for those of us who have been keeping a close eye on the situation are well aware it is more about the access than anything else.  Even though the school is approved  to go ahead, the light at the end of this tunnel is that the school board is still looking to work with the residents so all involved will get a positive outcome.  There is still time to lobby the State Govt and the RTA to reconsider access via Hoxton Park Rd which with the installation of a private access road and hopefully a walk bridge will allay any concerns for safety.

Most people who attend do so for their one particular issue. Meeting after meeting we see people attend the council meeting for their issue and leave.   There are a few of us who attend to watch what is happening all over the LGA. And I have to say, after the school vote, not much else happened.  Pretty much they moved through the agenda with their rubber stamp, ticking the boxes and shuffling paper. Cllr Lucas and Harle both presented council with awards presented to them (on behalf of council), Cllr Harle for the GRCCC hosting Council had done over the last two years and Cllr Lucas  from the Cities for Climate Protection Program for reaching Level 5. Although somewhat ambiguous in that I’m not aware if 5 is the top or half way etc, but his comments later that he thought it amusing he accepted the trophy when he doesn’t believe in any of that global warming guff made me wonder… who of Councillors’  does care about the environment. I am a member of the LCC environment advisory committee so I am aware that the council on the whole has a program working towards a better environment, but how much can be achieved if our councillors don’t give a damn? I find it a little disillusioning that this even is a debate.  Forget the rhetoric, shouldn’t we as human beings care about our planet, shouldn’t we be aiming to impact less not more. I attended a sustainability symposium last Friday and was taken when one of the keynote speakers said (I Paraphrase)  why do we aim to just  impact less when we should be aiming at creating a better environment not just minimise harm. Here we are in Australia debating on how much is enough effort, why aren’t we saying this is our home, what can we do to improve and enhance our interaction with nature, not just how much is acceptable to damage and not feel bad.

Two weeks ago a colleague (Bill Cashman) and I sent off a press release to the local papers asking who of our councillors are willing to declare where they stand on the issue of resource management and sustainable power initiatives. With so many things happening locally this has not as yet been taken up, so when will it become important, when will we know if there is support of our environment amongst our elected few?

I get pretty indignant on this topic, I would like to buy an electric car, but I can’t… there isn’t one. And if I did, it would run on coal generated electricity when here in Australia we have an abundance of sun, wind, wave and geothermic options.  None of which are in place in any real manner, and if and when the vehicle makers do embrace the technology of electric or alternative cars, will I be able to afford them on my humble salary? WHEN will all this become important and not merely a laughing matter in council chambers and the like?

If I sound disillusioned I am, I asked a councillor after the meeting what had happened to debate after the school motion was handled and he said “I pretty much lost interest after the motion was lost, we discuss stuff in there (pointing to the councillors room) which probably isn’t right.”  I and others attend council meetings week after week to watch democracy in action. That was “in”-space-”action” not inaction) There were other matters on the agenda, so it seems if we lose our favourite, we don’t want to play anymore…this is crap and I expect more… where is the passion?

Enough of my rant, I guess wanting a better city, better environment etc is a big ask. There is so much happening in Liverpool, did you know that Railcorp wants to build a car park on the Remembrance Drive Park (Green space) along the highway at Warwick Farm, did you know that the residents of Casula (& Warwick Farm)  still aren’t getting any noise walls from the rail or from the M5. Did you know that residents in Cecil Hills are fighting to save the native reserve (lakes) across from their homes, that the residents of Kemps Creek watched as the OTC heritage items were bulldozed into oblivion, that if you live further west that Carnes Hill the idea of catching a bus to Liverpool is a daydream and a cab will cost anything up to $110 to get you home. So much is happening and they lose heart after one loss…damn I want more, I expect more.

update 24.6.09

Saturday was the local Greens meeting and I must say I totally enjoy attending, what an amazing opportunity to discuss the needs of our community alongside some truly dedicated people. Greens Councillor Lesa De Leau was a guest speaker and gave a wonderful overview of her role as the only Green councillor at Rockdale and the opportunities it presented for her. She spoke of the State conference (I also attended) and was most encouraging for those like me who aspire to achieve more in local council. It is great to see we have guests attending, you don’t have to join to attend, we welcome your input and look forward to sharing ideas with you.
These events serve well as a reminder of how accessible the Greens MPs are and that I simply need to pick up a phone when I have a question or am working on a project within our LGA.

Tuesday saw the Central forum, these always inspire me, the access to Council officers is great and as mentioned previously they are presenting the Bike plan for the LGA, which by the way will go on public view in early July, so look out for it and make sure you comment on what it is you’d like in your local area.

Cllrs Lucas, Harle & Hadchiti were also in attendance and to my delight one of the more senior residents took them to task on what is and is not being achieved.  Now if that were me asking the same questions I’d have been accused of knocking the councillors so for me Yippee and I’m glad you came Don. I think most of us understand there has been a huge learning curve for these councillors but now they need to step up and make some significant moves to get things done. A chat later with all three councillors and it’s lovely to see that they are continuing to question/ challenge the access for the school at Hoxton Park. I’ve also made some enquiries and hopefully there will be good news for the residents of Hoxton Park soon. So HP Residents don’t give up, we might, with a huge amount of luck, just get the RTA to rethink the access issue…. I truly hope this is the case, but time will tell and then I’ll let you know… keep watching and don’t forget together we can achieve much more than anyone of us could achieve alone.

Reminder 20.6.09

Tomorrow is our Greens Meeting at Liverpool Library… we have a couple of guests and few issues we’d love your input on. 10-30 to 12.30 come along we value you and your involvement.

2nd chance

As per my previous blog LCC councillors Harle, Hadchiti and Lucas have had the matter of the school held over until the next council meeting on the 29.6.09.

From information forwarded to me from Cllr Hadchiti, we have an opportunity to approach this school from another angle. As you know all along my problem was with the access and safety issues and in several blogs (street corner and the like) I have suggested that Hoxton Park Rd should be the only access considered and that the RTA had withdrawn this as an option. I have been told that Cllr Hadid has had conversations with the MFIS board members and that they prefer the use of Hoxton Park Rd also and that if we work together we might be able to persuade the Minister to over ride the RTA and suggest this. I have included a copy of the email I sent to the Minister and if you feel so inclined copy the pieces you feel represent your feeling s or make up your own email and send it as a matter of haste as we need an outcome before the 29^th.  Please do what you can to get this email into your own words as we need the Minister to understand how it affects each and every one of the residents in Hoxton Park and the surrounding suburbs. click on the link below to view my email:

Minister Daley re MFISchool

Council Meeting 15.6.09

Last night saw a huge crowd of people attend the Council meeting designated to decide on the fate of the proposed school at 612 Hoxton Park Rd.

Many are aware that the residents have worked tirelessly to point out to council and the community that this particular location was not appropriate for safety and traffic reasons. I have also commented on Street corner that I would not send my children to this location, it’s a 2600sqm site proposed to school 800 children and 50 or so teachers and support staff. Anyone who knows me will know that this for me is not a religious issue; this is purely a “locational” one… alas last night the councillors in their lack of infinite wisdom voted to allow the school to proceed.

To their credit Cllrs Hadchiti, Lucas & Harle voted against this proposal on all the right reasons… namely the aforementioned location and that the residents themselves were pleading for support against the development. Sadly the other councillors hid behind jargon and rhetoric rather than vote for what was best for the community. The Applicant advised he would abide by the council decision regardless of the outcome; some of our councillors ignored the residents in favour of a school whose origins were outside our LGA.

Onto other matters raised during the meeting, Councillors had the opportunity to have a 2.5% pay increase and Cllr Stanley proposed that the councillors choose not to accept the 2.5%. Good news I say, as I had already begun preparing documents to stifle any chance they might have had, with council in dire financial circumstances (hence the need for 9% rate increase)  the thought of paying some of these councillors to do so very little is abhorrent.

Other matters were mostly operational issues, but I heard that Cllr Lucas wouldn’t be available for the Heritage committee meeting next week as he was attending the Canberra summit… which takes me back to my last meeting comment of how many councillors put their hand up to attend on our dollar…seems my request to send two and take notes fell on deaf ears…alas I wonder what the cost of this sojourn costs us, the people of Liverpool.

The Lehmann oval situation has become untenable and council has closed it for sporting groups, hear! hear!… this particular oval has been a money pit for way too long. Perhaps we could encourage the locals to set up a community garden on the site,  according to Cllr McGoldrick…”someone” is looking at a proposal for the land… I guess time will tell although Cllr McGoldrick was keen to withhold info for the moment.

My understanding is that the Hoxton Park School site is to be readdressed at the next council meeting on the 29^thas a rescission motion was lodged last evening. More on this as it comes to hand.

Tender spot

Seems to me I may have hit upon a tender spot with some people. I felt it best to set the record straight and on this blog I can put forward my opinion unedited… (I refer comments in the Champion on line)

For the record, I didn’t vote for any of the present members of Liverpool council, after running alongside them for the months prior to the election I decided to choose individuals I believed would do what is best for Liverpool and who wouldn’t hide behind a group or party(although in some cases they were members of a party). Ok not enough people agreed with me but for now I will continue to make comments, you certainly don’t have to agree with me and are free to make comments also, I actually encourage it. This doesn’t mean I either like nor dislike them personally or politically.

LCC deserves the best representation we can get, if at times I hurt the occasional feeling, I’m sorry for that, my comments are not designed to hurt but to awaken – draw a positive result, in the end a council who is active in the community is the ultimate goal. Personal feelings aside we need them awake, active and engaged… if my comments help achieve this I have achieved my goal.

June Long Weekend

Hi all,

I just wanted to wish you all a safe and happy long weekend… with the submission for Draft Man Plan done, I can now turn my time to some other local matters that are in need of some attention. 

If you have a concern in your local area, please don’t hesitate to drop me an email or leave a comment. As I’ve said in the past, when we all work together so much more can be achieved.

Happy weekend…

Signe

ps…mark in your diary the  20th June 10.30 – 12.30 for the Local Greens meeting, come along and work with us to get things moving in Liverpool and Fairfield.

Signe’s submission re Draft Management Plan

As you all know I am strongly against the Proposed 9% increase in rates or the Council borrowing an additional $5m for infrastructure works. Please feel free to read my submission. Your comments are welcome.

click on this link  Submission for LCC Draft Management Plan or on the Petitions & Submissions page  and don’t forget to leave your opinion.

Council Meeting 25.5.09

 Well where does one begin? What a shambles.

Clearly the Groups have formed.

The mood was set…sniping continued  throughout the meeting, Cllr McGoldrick has quite a lot to say when it enters the sniping department but contributes very little to the actual debate process. If he isn’t sniping he is sucking up to the Mayor, Paul Lynch or K Rudd so he really isn’t contributing much at all.

Cllr Stanley introduced a good motion regarding the Bill posters program being pursued by both Sydney & Ashfield Councils, debate proceeded. It seems in this instance the local paper’s “call to action” has made Cllr Hadchiti want action not investigation.  His amendment to Cllr Stanley’s motion brought the factions into place, the now liberalised  group managed to have their amendment accepted – Note I wrote ‘ the Liberalised Group’… it seems we now have two distinct groups in council, you know the Independent Council you voted for…well it’s looking more and more like Liberal Vs Labor.  6 to 5.

Now here’s the kicker towards the end the General Manager introduced information not provided in the minutes due to its late arrival, the Gen Man and the Mayor were invited to attend another “money hand out” conference in Canberra, costing $800 each plus accommodation. No Kicker…true, but what happened after was…Cllr  Lucas, Cllr Mannoun (could make himself available) and some others want to be included… so here we have possibly 4 more  now wanting to attend as well.  Making  costs of $4800 plus 6 x accommodation for 3 days and travel to be paid for by our Council (US)…you know the Council  that is struggling so much that Gary Lucas couldn’t be issued with a Blue tooth (Sad but true just ask Gary)and we are to be slugged for 9% more… My suggestion boys and girls send the two with the most clout and ask them for a written account of the 3 days… why in the devil do we need an entourage? …Mayor Waller and the GM can take notes and pass them around on their return… I see no need for so many to attend. It really doesn’t matter what you think of the Mayor, she got the job, albeit by the hair of her chinny, chin chin, she got it, so trust her to do her job and let’s face it if she gets the opportunity to chat with her friend Kevin she might just be able to swing some more cash our way…$5 mill for infrastructure works would be nice… would save us 9% and we have Phil Tolhurst there to keep things on track for us. I hear he’s a bit thrifty on handing out the $$ so he suits me fine.

Cllr Hadad: MY personal favourite for the evening, Mr GM can you please explain the process if a councillor doesn’t indicate a vote.  Explained by GM… “No” vote recorded, so he then took Mayor Waller to task about insisting that Cllr Karnib (usually napping or non responsive) to choose to vote one way or another earlier in the evening.  Something he rarely does if he isn’t 100% sure which way his Labor colleagues are leaning. Fair point Cllr Hadid… I think if Cllr Karnib cannot participate effectively in the voting process his vote should be nay… perhaps then someone would spend some time with him and see if he actually is being left behind or needs a wakeup call before the meeting.

Cllr Napolitano asked that the Auto Voting System – (especially after the debacle with Mayor Waller earlier in the evening) when will it be installed etc, seems she doesn’t like the lack of hands being shown and the blinding speed at which the Mayor speaks through the process. (Have to admit that the idea of privacy may make our councillors vote more to conscience than a show of hands) This may just leave Cllr Karnib in a bit of a pickle though. GM advised that Modifications were being sought and he’d get back to her.

Then last but not least Cllr Lucas… announced he had 29 questions but had managed to load a memory stick and would keep it brief.  He asked 9 questions from current use of Liverpool Skating rink and possible hand back to original owners to missing pathways and blocked drains.

I personally would appreciate if some of the councillors could  speak  a little more clearly and/or loudly as I’ve certainly missed some things and I know others are in the same boat as they’ve  come up to tell me. The Bickering is unnecessary, we know you groups don’t like each other, but that is irrelevant – some of you campaigned on being independent.

Voting will be an either /or situation so maybe it’s time we got hold of some of the supposed independent councillors and reminded them why they got the job. They’ve been striking deals since before the election while all along making comments about Labor caucus etc… Come on fellas… WORK FOR US….I can’t imagine 3.5 more years of this crap and nothing achieved. Or perhaps even worse ideas not being given fair debate because of one- up- man-ship.