• Create a safe nightlife in the Illawarra. There have been too many assaults in the city of late.
• Plans for the CBD, day and night. The city’s nightlife is a random assortment of pubs and clubs scattered around the CBD. A little more thought should go into future projects. Catering to retail shops during business hours shouldn’t be the only concern of council planners. It could also make it easier to police and patrol.
• Fix the worsening traffic bottlenecks. With increasing developments in the north and south, something needs to be done to keep traffic flowing. A dual carriage way all the way to Kiama is a must.
• Utilise the Sea Cliff Bridge. This ties in with my previous point. We finally managed to get the Sea Cliff Bridge and yet there is no way to get to it. Some thought should go into extending the Northern Distributor, or some form of it, all the way to the bridge.
• Improve Rail. With all the connections Wollongong Council seems to have in state parliament, you would think someone would be able lobby government to improve the rail network from here to Sydney.
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Pyrrhic Victory?
Well it worked. The cardboard cut-outs and rowdy antics from the opposition has forced the government to scrap the Friday sitting. The trouble is, since Vaile and Downer have shown little interest in doing the job they were elected to, the opposition has come off as whingers not victors. Saying they ‘deserve’ time off has not helped the situation.
But, in what could be an own goal, speculation has arisen that the government could be scrapping the $1,600 carers bonus for a $500 utility bonus.
Safety nets, baby bonuses and first homebuyer grants are just band-aid solutions. Ultimately the system needs to be fixed so that band-aids are not required. The carers bonus is a bad place for the government’s razor gang to start.
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Are we about to see change?
It’s not a surprise the speculation arising from the change at council’s head office. The status quo had been around for a long time, with council’s demise, emotions in the city have fluctuated between excitement and dread. Everyone wants to know what’s going to happen next?
It is yet to be seen whether Labor will lose its monopoly on politics in the region and even the state. Both levels of government are unable to find a viable opposition and the results are clear, corruption and complacency. Now that the community is showing a lot of opposition to the state Labor party, we will not have a chance to exercise it for four years. By that time Labor would have found ‘clean’ representatives for council and the rage would not have been maintained. Likewise, state politics will have moved on by the time the next elections arrive in three years time. So I find myself agreeing with Barry O’Farrell, we should have elections within two years, not four.
With the arrival of the administrators the faces in council will definitely change but the system may not. The powerbrokers who put the public figures in charge will still be there. Any guidelines and recommendations passed on by ICAC and the administrators could likely be just that - recommendations and guidelines. Oxley wrote the code of conduct and procedures for DAs and he only followed them when it suited him.
I will be interested to see what the administrator’s brief actually is. Are they there to cut out anything they see as corruption? Are they there to take the city in a new direction, to get it back on track? Or are they just a political device to protect state politicians?
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A radical idea
Now would be the perfect time to refresh the city and take it in a new direction. Both Shellharbour and Wollongong City Council have had their fair share of controversy, it’s about time we amalgamated the two and restarted the development of the region.
Wollongong and Shellharbour are already intertwined in business, sport, education and entertainment. Residents from both areas move fluidly between jurisdictions to get what they need.
For years ratepayers of both councils have been paying far above the state average. And yet we are faced with financial struggle and lagging infrastructure and a region that has been ignored by state parliament for years. An amalgamated council would have a stronger voice in state politics and could pool its resources to improve efficiency.
Let’s scrap all the baggage of the past and start again.
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3 hours is too long to wait
Lee wrote: Bring on the TASERS... for police and business owners to use if necessary (in the event of an attack or robbery). Three hours is too long to wait for police assistance.
I agree 3 hours is too long to wait, sometimes they don't come at all.
While tasers might be used on crims, they can also be used in holdups.
But I am in favour of the free holidays at Bathurst with return fares paid.
... and there's only one problem I have with the death penalty!
Someone has to pull the lever, the trigger, inject the toxin, or throw the switch. That makes another killer - albiet a legally paid one.
Fergie. | 
