Consultation over ‘ bus hub’ a true farce

THE community consultation process for the “bus hub” in Ogden St was a farce.

The residents and businesses who potentially could be most affected by the establishment of a bus hub were advised on April 18 that a meeting would be called with representatives of the Townsville City Council, and I quote, “to provide feedback on the proposed concept design”.

Whereas “rumours” of an Ogden St Bus Hub had been circulating for months, all of a sudden the meeting with stakeholders was scheduled for April 20 – a mere two days after the possibility of a meeting was flagged.

The 5pm meeting I attended on the 20th was chaired by an employee of the council.

The real value of our “feedback” was made abundantly clear when not a single councillor attended the 5pm meeting. Not even the Division 3 representative, AnnMaree Greaney, was to be seen.

The chairperson came to the meeting armed with plans/ sketches. It was obvious that a great deal of ratepayers’ money had already been spent on the Bus Hub for the Ogden St project.

1. The plans were, as far as I could tell – the final draft, not preliminary deliberations supposedly open for discussion.

2. The council had recently purchased land in Ogden St, an integral part of the council’s proposed strategy.

Surely these measures indicate that this project is “all over red rover”. Surely the time for deep and meaningful discussions with stakeholders should have been at the beginning of the deliberations.

I don’t know about you but I am sick and tired of elected officials not listening to the wishes of their constituents. From the beginning to the end, the handling of this process has been a farce. I trust the Division 3 voters will have long memories when next we trudge to the ballot boxes. WAYNE HALLER,

Townsville City.