Bottomline
Wollongong at the crossroads
It appears that soft targets are now the solution for the Administrators to recoup the millions of sweetheart deals developers received. Would it now be appropriate that the Administrator pursued the developers to recover ratepayers funds? May I say that the sacking of Wollongong Council may appear to be extreme; nevertheless to change a culture that has existed in Wollongong for decades this new broom must sweep clean the errors of the past.
Don’t tell me that the mayor and independent councillors did not see that the Victoria Square development did not comply with the permissible site coverage. Blind Freddie could see that the footprint of the building was excessive and the height was suspect. No one questioned this obvious out-of-order development. If the non Labor councillors were not cognisant of this glaring anomaly then surely they were either part of the problem like our Labor councillors or ignorant of the fact. Either way, sacking this non-compliant culture of Council is the first step in changing this unsavory culture.
Getting back to the Council heavy handing our volunteers, this is just a continuation of the bully element of Council. Giving our wonderful volunteers 14 days to sign a lease is appalling. My belief is that the whole concept of demanding a lease should be questioned. The very land and buildings belong to the community; as such some voluntary organisations do not have a tenant / landlord association. The current tenancy may be protected in terms that no existing contract exists between the parties in terms of a lease and obligations pertaining to any such lease.
Whoever devised this brain dead idea lacks the first rule in business that is survival then growth. The volunteers of Wollongong and in every society are the glue for the fabric and if Council pursues this folly and places these ridiculous imposts on people who provide millions of FREE services to the needy and, in the museum context, a place of importance and interest to visitors to the region.
This proposal beggars commercial reality. Will Council provide these essential services and places of tourism interest other than have guided bus tours past the Wollongong Council building that housed such infamous behaviours; I think not.
To highlight Council’s inability to provide basic services, each morning our children freeze in non-compliant so-called heated pools in the Illawarra. From experience, each morning my daughter is exposed to cold water that does not meet contemporary standards. It appears every other Council with heated pools can meet a minimum standard, but not good old Wollongong Council.
We bask in our world record breaking swim team; simply Council’s failure to provide this basic service reflects an attitude that the Illawarra does not want to create BASIC facilities to contribute to our national team or meet ratepayers’ expectations.
Afterall, Council was given the land and improvements on site and charges fees to enter the pool and fees from coaches to train our swimmers. If Council has a multi-million dollar asset given to them surely they can provide simple heating.
In reality Council may be in breach of the sale of goods act and falsely representing a service that fails to meet consumer standards.
Robert Hurley has improved his times where he is right on the cusp of qualifying for the Olympics. It is believed he moved to seek conditions that are conducive to winning. Are we to witness the likes of Ron McKeon developing champions and see them walk out on Wollongong?
Surely a little planning and understanding of contemporary management and resource the correct projects requires major review. Kill the ability of our volunteers to function and we will see the ongoing failure of Wollongong Council escalate to the point of user or Council pays and simply we and they cannot. Goodbye volunteers and excellent free services for the Community and Council.
Obviously more sackings are required and CAN DO people appointed to move this Council into this millennium.
Yours in major Council reform and admirer of our voluntary organisations.
Ian Fulford for ATCS NSW When the museum article appeared in the Mercury it was almost immediately followed by 49 'Reader's Opinions' - only one of which was sympathetic to the Illawarra Historical Society. The other 48 were whinging on about wasting ratepayers’ money.
Fergie
Sacked Wollongong councillors
There's a petition circulating for WCC residents to vote in September.
While everyone is crying 'democracy' (which didn't do us much good over the last umpteen years), the fact remains that the Administrators have been appointed and I would like them to stay there till they clean out the stables.
P Ferguson
Berkeley Dave Martin has been criticised
The record of former Wollongong councillor, Dave Martin, has been criticised of late by Rod Oxley among others.
As I recall, Dave was one of the hardest working councillors over very many years. He was also one who actually spoke out often about Council's numerous deficiencies. The Rawson St deal was a major example.
However, his incisive and constructive contributions were usually ignored or opposed by the "controlling group" (both councillors and officers) at Council.
His record was definitely in sharp contrast to that of former Lord Mayor Alex Darling. Alex never saw much wrong with Council at all and was perceived as a regular cheerleader for Rod Oxley during Rod's tenure as General Manager and CEO.
Alex was also recently quoted as saying "I don't know what a developer is". What a pity, since he might otherwise discover what his friend, Ken Tugrul, actually does for a living.
David Moulds | 
