Paying for his practice of 20 years
With David Farmer ready to slash the council budget to bring ratepayers their real money’s worth, one can now see how badly Wollongong City Council was run under the Rod Oxley management regime.
Let’s make it clear, it was Rod Oxley’s responsibility for 20 years. Except for one or two councillors (as others changed over the years), Rod Oxley was the one constant factor, having full responsibility as deemed under the general manager’s role and outlined in the Local Government Act. He was well paid for it too.
Now we are paying for his absolute incompetence including the known deals with one of them mentioned on the recent superb Four Corners. This person will never be forgotten as we pay out of our own pockets for, in his own words, his practice of 20 years. Off target
What’s going on here? In the Mercury article re the gun shop, the actual owner supposedly stated that they, and not JS (Joe Scimone) Consulting were seeking a redetermination on their application. Going to great pains to point it out. Yet in the Council notices of the Advertiser, 16 April, the applicant is stated as JS Consulting. This is certainly off target.
If they can’t get simple information right, how can anything else be considered valid.
Council’s original rejection should be upheld. What has changed?
JS (Joe Scimone) Consulting for a gun shop! You have got to be kidding! He’s not involved this time, right? Yeah!
What’s wrong with these people who want a gun shop? Are they trying to put bikers out of business? Haven’t they seen what happens in the USA with the mix of kids, schools and guns? Don’t say it won’t happen here.
Look at the rampage through that Sydney school recently. I guess guns weren’t available to them through a convenience store on the corner near the school. There has been enough questionable activity in the Illawarra without making guns available as well.
In view of this, one asks, has the world gone mad on inappropriate development proposals? Allowing guns, assaults on the Illawarra Escarpment for a Golf suburb, Landcom 3 bombed in Helensburgh with only 4 out of 16 blocks sold in a month, town houses also in the Burgh not sold in over 6 months, mortgagee sales in the Burgh, and developers defending developers, thumbing their big nose at the Illawarra daring the people to prove their shady deals.
There may have been an ICAC Inquiry, but what has changed? Four Cornered
After watching that superb Four Corners program on political donations, the Illawarra residents may be in the wilderness for four years, but there is no way on God’s earth, that the ALP will be back in at the next state election and 40 years after that while anyone associated with the present state Iemma fovernment is still in existence. There have been too many trips to worship the Golden calf.
The pathetic excuses and stories wouldn’t even be believed by primitive cave men. This is more than the Titanic, this is climate change.
As for the developers, what a bunch of thugs. How could you trust them? But it’s just not in the Illawarra, it’s rampant everywhere.
Areas for residential development in the middle of nowhere, like the Hunter Valley, or the so-called areas of Dapto that supposedly would be only available after 25 years if required and has been quietly pushed to the top of the ladder by former senior Gong management, oh, that was not on Four Corners, but true none the less, and worth more detailed investigation.
Good on former Councillor Dave Martin’s appearance and what he said. Details of ratepayers’ $500,000 please
I find it interesting another person leaves Wollongong City Council. Bob Doyle, Manager of Economic Development. Each year his department received $500,000 of ratepayers’ money for economic development.
Not bad for a guy who was employed to promote Wollongong’s image, discovering, as they all do, that it’s an attractive place. Just ask ICAC.
The only trouble was when our former councillors from Ward 1, Dave Martin and Alice Cartan, received the annual reports on this yearly amount - it only stated $500,000 had been spent, without details or breakdown on what it had been spent on!
The current amount has been put towards Advantage Wollongong, a concept that former senior management was involved in. That says a lot.
I think it’s the right of the ratepayer to demand the details on exactly on what and where our money is spent, down to the last professional person involved and what pen they write with.
Hopefully this will be explained by the administrators to the ratepayers, who are in reality, shareholders in our Council. If they are not happy, they have the right to elect a new board of directors. Only an hour away
Perhaps if Albion Park Airport was over 3 hours from Sydney, I could understand the need for a larger airport. However, the area is only an hour away, so the advertising signs of a local tourist attraction keep telling everyone in southern Sydney tell us. Coincidentally, owned by the person who did the dummy spit of also wanting $50-60 million since Nowra and Newcastle got similar amounts!
However, like all business minded people, one forgets, that the prime tourist attraction in the Illawarra does not consist of people sitting at outdoor tables sipping latte coffees. This can be done anywhere in Australia. Even the beaches are not unique. What we have of course is the spectacular Illawarra Escarpment.
The concerned business minded people also forget the campaign against a proposed Sydney second airport at Holsworthy. This would have entailed aircraft flying over the Illawarra escarpment and catchment areas, sometimes in extremely bad weather with a thousand foot cliff somewhere in front of them. The objection campaign was successful.
Circumstances may be a bit different at Albion Park, but the Illawarra escarpment, would still come under threat. Threats are bad enough from the ground. We don’t need them from the air. Traffic on Lawrence Hargrave Dr
With the closure of Bulli Pass for three weeks, already the amount traffic on Lawrence Hargrave Dr is beginning to show, again.
On the Saturday morning before the closure Stanwell Tops residents were treated to behaviour and language that would make a coal miner blush. There was verbal abuse of the foulest language echoing along the canyon of the Drive bends adjacent to the Tops.
This hilarious stoush was going on between bicycle riders and car owners as they traversed their slow way to the crest of the Tops. It would appear that if the bicycle riders didn’t go faster they would become hood ornaments, to put it politely.
It’s amazing that no one has been killed yet, despite near serious accidents on this section of road.
Particularly vehicles getting caught in the drains or the number of deer and wildlife that cross the drive at various times. And most motorbike riders don’t let a double white line stop them from overtaking.
Resurrected golf suburb at Maddens Plains Dust off the objections to the golf suburb on Maddens Plains. They’re at it again.
The only difference seems to be the 200 permanent residential component has changed into 200 short stay tourist accommodation. This is to get around the concern shown by Frank Sartor’s department on permanent living in the middle of a highly sensitive biodiversity area that is isolated, being surrounded by special catchment areas, high bush fire zones and subject to extreme weather. The hailstorm that recently went through Stanwell Tops also went through the proposed area.
But let us not forget the 100-room hotel and 10 serviced apartments they propose as well. There’s going to be more people stuck in that isolated area than live in the Illawarra!
Do we expect to see an amendment when they realise that their 200 short stay tourist accommodation will not be full all the time, so they are better off making them permanent residences?
Giving only until 16 May to object, or support this proposal, you can contact the Department of Planning on 1300 305 695 or seek the relevant information from Wollongong City Council, who objected to this development proposal last time. | 
