When the path is narrowed because of the accumulation of sticks, branches and leaves, it is difficult to move to the side to allow cyclists a clear forward path. Following the clean-up, it is now a safe track. 

My imagination went wild when I thought the BVSC was responsible for the work!

I recently attended a prospective councillor information session and left with more questions than answers.

Firstly the timing of this meeting left any people thinking of nominating with little if any time to:

Get through the mass of paperwork involved and get it posted and returned – which with current postal times could be an eight-day turn around.

Get their faces out in the community promoting what they stand for. Close of nominations is August 10, giving nominees only 14 days to get all this done.

On asking a question about this I got a lot of smoke and mirrors about it being the electoral commission’s fault. 

Any senior staff of council and councillors with any vision would have been well aware when the election would probably be and could have put this meeting on three months ago. 

Makes it very easy for the incumbents including the Mayor to get re-elected as they have had a lot of time to work on their campaign and no-one knows much about the prospective councillors.

Some of the handouts that were given in relation to accountability and engagement were interesting. Things like:

Councillors are accountable to the community and open and transparent decision making. If this is happening why do local papers carry so many complaints about these issues?

Did council take any notice of the majority of residents’ complaints about moving the clock? Did council take any notice of the complaints about the destruction of Littleton Gardens? Did council consult with the community about the purchase of the Old Bega Hospital with our rate money and no logical vision of its future uses?

You can’t have a partnership without a relationship and you can’t have a relationship without a conversation. Why bother having a community engagement officer if you are not going to actually engage with community in a meaningful way and actually put into action what you have heard.

“We consulted community” are the three most overused words in the vocabulary of councils. Give them their due, sometimes they actually consult. Problem is they usually go away and do what they were going to anyway.

I would suggest also that the mayor needs to be popularly rather than politically elected.

Something that puzzles me is that all councillors are supposed to be completely independent in all thoughts and actions. How can this happen if two or more can get elected in a block sometimes along political affiliation lines?

Our Probus Club members were quite perturbed by the cessation of the funeral notices at 6.57 each morning on our local ABC radio as it was a valuable community announcement which many relied on to find out about the death and funeral of friends and relatives.

Attached you will find a copy of the petition we set up and signed at one meeting (Editor’s note: The petition sent to me has 30 signatures).

We are hoping that you may be able to influence the ABC to reintroduce this three-minute community announcement each morning.