Utopia whitewash doesn’t cut the mustard

Utopia - not

In last week’s Gazette we were reminded to have our say on the Baw Baw Shire pound master plan.

Council has an online response form seeking comment: what you like, what could improve the master plan, removal/non-removal of the dwelling and any other feedback.

You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. The decision to purchase the Utopia Pet Lodge near four years ago was a rushed decision deserving strong condemnation. The mayor at the time stated the decision needed to be made as council was moving into caretaker period.

The current consultation exercise is simply shifting the chairs on the Titanic, certainly not a master plan. It is about council being able to say there was community consultation; tick another box.

We have been invited to comment on master plan items such as access pathways and ramps, improvements to car parking area, improved fencing and gates including security fencing, extension of pen areas for expansion, removal of an old septic tank and upgrade of water tanks. As well, set aside an area for future storage and shedding, with not a single word on what might be the “future municipal operations”.

This whitewash does not cut the mustard. It is not a master plan but simply a maintenance and minor upgrade statement together with some maybe future unknown uses.

Our mayor was quoted last week saying “unfortunately when this site was first purchased, no long term master plan was put in place”. Apart from the fact it has only been purchased once, why was no master plan prepared before the purchase? The mayor raises the question but no answer.

There are so many questions on this questionable council decision. Just one, from Walhalla to Longwarry is 101kms, around double the distance from Walhalla to the Latrobe City Council pound. Will animals from the north east sector of Baw Baw Shire be taken to the Latrobe City Council pound and save ratepayers time and out of pocket transport costs when collecting an animal?

Establishing a new municipal pound for Baw Baw Shire commenced with extensive community consultation on three options, with the North Road site at Lardner in June 2016 identified as the preferred location. The three options were dumped with haste for the debacle we now have at Longwarry. With no business plan and no access to the consultant advice on the purchase we have no opportunity to assess how such an appalling decision was made. My requests to the Ombudsman and to the Local Government Inspectorate have produced “nothing to see here” and no investigation.

While this fiasco has been running two CEOs and an Acting CEO, together with a number of directors have left Baw Baw Council.

The mayor last week is quoted saying “All options are on the table”.

Council has the chance to make an enlightened decision; sell Longwarry, take the loss and go back to the preferred June 2016 option at Lardner. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Don McLean, Warragul

We should not revert to the lunatic ideas of no clearing along our roadsides and allowing tinder dry vegetation to burn out properties in the next round.

There will be another round of bad fires, that is one thing I am absolutely sure of.

You know that saying, you can be sure of two things, “death and taxes". Let's alter that to ‘taxes, bushfires and death".

The 2009 fires showed that after the neglected burning left the Bunyip state park, the thick and dry road side vegetation was the cause of several properties being raised to the ground.

We must take control of responsible management of our bush, so no more lives and animals are lost.

Ian Honey, Warragul

On Anzac Day earlier this month I organised and held an Anzac Day ceremony in my home town of Trafalgar, and also used the event to protest against the poor decisions made by our government over the lockdown acts, and the ensuing economic devastation Australia faces as a result.

It is the strong belief of many that our Diggers would be churning over in their graves at the current political incompetence, the abuse of our freedoms, and the dishonour of their sacrifice as we continue to allow our country to be held hostage with no end in sight.

Bar a few out-of-towners, the demonstration was made up purely of concerned Gippslanders who clearly have the measure of the situation far more in hand than our state and federal governments.

I think I speak for a growing number of Victorians who are fast becoming tired of overpaid, well-fed politicians and high-salaried health ‘experts’ telling us we ‘are doing a good job’ and we are ‘all in the same boat’. We're not in the same boat. We are in the same storm, but their situation is so very different from that of ordinary Australians around the state and the country.

Many people will soon lose their businesses, homes, assets and are losing their mental health whilst being penned in their houses unable to gain comfort and support of loved ones without fear of reprisal.

A big bouquet to the women who assisted me at the Coles Express petrol station on Tuesday morning after I was accidentally sprayed with fuel. It was not until you had left and I went in to pay that the staff attendant passed me a packet of baby wipes that you had purchased for me to clean the fuel off. It was much appreciated.

Bouquets to Scott Morrison, Dan Andrews, Gary Blackwood, Russell Broadbent and Melissa Bath for their information in the media, Gazette and mail at this virus time. Good to see that they are in touch with us.

Bricks to Harriet Shing - before the virus her picture was often in the Gazette (as well as other politicians) but recently no show around here..

Bouquets to the kind person who found my hearing aid at Woolworths, Drouin. Your kindness is appreciated.

Our elderly are sitting miserable and alone. Our young mothers are struggling. Our young men are worried and depressed. Our children are confused and sad, deprived of the one thing children do best – playing in the sun with their peers. The asinine ‘rules’ pertaining to the lockdown are so contradictory and unrealistic that sensible people are fast becoming unsupportive.

Whilst predominately a vehicle to honour the brave boys who fought for our country and our freedoms, we also used the event as a lever with which to educate the population about Daniel Andrews’ rushed-through legislation, COVID-19 Omnibus (Emergency Measures) Bill 2020, which saw him essentially sideswipe democratically elected representatives, set up a seven-member special cabinet of his peers, and grant himself unprecedented, unaccountable and unchallengeable powers for the next six months.

Mr Andrews has also used the COVID-19 situation to borrow a further $24.5 billion, and with a state debt that looks to be heading up to $80 billion and a federal debt which may soon reach a trillion, there are a growing number of concerned individuals who are wondering how indeed we will pay this back.

Mr Andrews himself admits the state of Victoria is likely to see an 11 per cent loss of employment and a 14 per cent shrinking of the economy, and makes no bones about the fact that “this will be worse than the GFC”, yet whilst other states are opening up, Mr Andrews' grip remains tight around our state.

Prue Foley, Trafalgar

A brick to Baw Baw Shire. Walking home with my poor old mother having just helped her get a few things shopping, we were both sprayed with stones as a tractor and a ute with a blower thing strapped to a trailer came around the corner. Not very happy at all must be a better way .

Bouquets to the people who assisted us on Tuesday when we had an accident at the intersection of Warragul-Korumburra Rd and East West Rd. Many people stopped to assist and nearby residents brought out chairs and a drink to us while we waited for emergency services. Your help was appreciated.

A brick to the Baw Baw Shire Parks and Gardens staff. Brooker Park Warragul, and the whole Linear Park from Burke St is looking terrible, the worst I've ever seen it. The amount of chemical spray used is killing the grass, and endangering wildlife and the community members. And in these COVID times, it (the park) is getting plenty of use to see its effects.