Too long, too messed up

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

AND again! For the third time? It is a fact that the Minister for Local Government must wait for the report on the Glenorchy City Council, but perhaps the time has now come we think that he must step in and stop this continual blocking of a report that he requested and that the Glenorchy ratepayers wanted. The cost to our community is going to be enormous. We have two senior managers still off on leave and have been for months. We have three suspended aldermen who had their responses in on the original date set, but we have one suspended alderman and others prepared to thumb their noses to the very community that they purport to represent. It is obvious to everyone that their plan is to carry this on until the date of their suspension is up and then they no doubt think they will just walk back in and sit around the council table. If that is their plan, there will be terrible damage done to Glenorchy that will take a long time to repair.

Be honest

CLARENCE City Council has done the right things according to the regulations governing projects with its remittance, and because the NIMBYs aren’t happy because they missed it they want the council to stop something that has passed its requirements.

If the NIMBYs were honest about their campaign, it would be residents not just anyone from anywhere signing the petition. So the mayor won’t withdraw from this project, which has passed. Why should he? Like anything in this state, the NIMBYs want to stop everything and make us stay the backwater of Australia, reliant on federal government handouts instead of having progress and jobs and growth. Grow up, accept that you were too slow to stop something for once.

Turn the sod

HOW dare the Kangaroo Bay Voice group claim to represent the views of “the community” in opposition to the proposed development at Kangaroo Bay ( Mercury, June 22). Clarence City Mayor Doug Chipman was there at the community meeting on June 4 and, like myself, heard the repetitive and negative viewpoints from the Greens, who organised and promoted the event. About 1500 people attended the event and — even if opposing signatories registered were all from the Clarence municipality, which has since been disproved — then that would only represent less than 3 per cent of the population. Hardly the voice of the community as claimed.

I suggest the poor attendance at the group’s recent community meeting clearly showed that most citizens of Clarence are in fact much in favour of the development and are looking forward to further improvements at Kangaroo Bay.

These proposals are in keeping with the quality of the recently established recreational park, and for the majority of local residents will further enhance the attraction of Bellerive village.

I cannot see the Kangaroo Bay Voice group’s reasoning for opposing the hospitality school on the basis it would mainly benefit overseas students and that it may actually make a profit. Firstly, returns A new way to have your say themercury.com.au readers have a new way to have their say. It’s free to use, just register and have your say. For more details and to register, visit the website. from the school will benefit the economy of Clarence and Tasmania, and, secondly, most students will return home to uphold their education, promote the new facility and the produce of our island. What better way to endorse Brand Tasmania.

I strongly advocate those opposing the development on the belief it is too high or not in keeping with developments at Bellerive familiarise themselves with existing buildings, which far exceed the proposed height of the hospitality school and are more exposed to street frontage than the hospitality school will be. I also ask them to visit the award-winning works of Circa Morris Nunn, the architects, and consider how many of their projects complement and enhance their local environments.

Like the vast silent majority who reside nearby, I look forward to the first sod being turned.

Council concerns

THE suggestion in Talking Point by Greens Alderman Helen Burnet that the Minister for Planning and Local Government should leave council matters to the council ( Mercury, June 22) is ironic considering it was she who originally moved the motion that Hobart City Council change Australia Day (a matter for which the Federal Government is responsible). Perhaps if Hobart City Council was more focused on local issues, such as the city’s abysmal traffic and infrastructure, Alderman Burnet would have more credibility. Otherwise, to tell others to stay in their own lane is deeply hypocritical.

High price

IMMIGRATION Minister Peter Dutton would rather spend $90 million than risk the emergence of the truth regarding Australia’s immoral offshore detention program. Why pay if they have nothing to hide or fear and believe in fiction that the refugees are being detained legally?

Tunnel decoy

A PEDESTRIAN tunnel? Another example of this Government and its spin doctors trying to deflect from the real issue. Where are we at with the traffic headaches facing everyday motorists from the Western to the Eastern shores.

Onya Jan

MANY thanks to Jan Davis: her concise and well-argued Talking Point pieces are always wonderful to read.

Make it public

THE report into the Glenorchy City Council should be made public. We have a vested interest. The community asked for the inquiry and the community is paying the bills.

In for a penny

DO not use pay wave when paying bills at Service Tasmania. It automatically goes to credit, and Service Tasmania charges a surcharge for credit cards. Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves.