The long awaited ICAC inquiry into town planning and other deals done in and around Wollongong has begun and Pandora’s Box has certainly opened on what to date have just been rumours around the place.
For so long now there have been whisperings of dirty deed where town planning approvals have been concerned and after only one day the long awaited hearing has brought this home to roost.
For many of us what’s come to light so far was generally suspected, but the width of the names being brought before the hearing has surprised somewhat.
And from what I’m told we “ain’t heard nothing yet”.
It could be our local version of the on – off again TV drama “Underbelly”, which is allegedly based on certain criminal practices in downtown Melbourne.
Your Opinion Counts. CLICK HERE >>>>>>>>>>>>>> Planning for Dapto march continues
Planning for the proposed march at Dapto with locals to publicly protest to the city council at its failure to properly recognise overdue major works in the suburb, i.e. Fowlers Road bridge, is gathering momentum.
Local police are being contacted this week about venues and a date and “Don’t Dump Dapto” will, I believe, be the motto for the day.
The public venting of local despair will centre largely on Fowlers Road, Reed Park and the Tallawarra Power Station development.
Your Opinion Counts. CLICK HERE >>>>>>>>>>>>>> Tallawarra plan under the microscope
The Tallawarra power site re-development at Mt Brown in Dapto is being closely watched by a group of locals headed by the East Dapto Residents Group.
They have grave concerns that the proposal will not only take away from the area open space which has been enjoyed for years, particularly where horse riding is concerned, but they are also worried about the noise from the planned three generators and accompanying stacks.
The open space area which flows down to the lake has produced over the years many of the district’s, and in some cases Australia’s, top equestrian riders. This area will all go under the new proposal.
Included in the Tallawarra plan I believe is both low density and high rise housing plus business and commercial areas.
But, wait for it… I also understand one of the objectors recently saw a couple of people involved in the ongoing negotiations dining together, and what’s more ICAC are showing an interest in this.
Your Opinion Counts. CLICK HERE >>>>>>>>>>>>>> A true icon
The passing last week of the last of Australia’s original country music pioneers Smoky Dawson will leave quite a few of us oldies saddened.
Smoky, who was 94, was a man of and for the people and he was a great entertainer.
As current country music star Lee Kernaghan said, “Smoky was a legend in every sense of the word”.
I guess we have been fortunate over many years to have had the likes of Smoky, John Williamson, Lucky Starr and now Kernaghan to help keep country music alive and well.
Your Opinion Counts. CLICK HERE >>>>>>>>>>>>>> Since when is feeding people a council concern?
Let’s not worry about the massive backlog in attention to necessary infrastructure upgrading in our city and proper service to ratepayers, why not involve council officers and staff in helping to ensure locals get fed properly?
It’s a sad fact, if it is entirely true, that some 20,000 Illawarra residents do not have regular access to fresh fruit and vegetables because of where they live, or their financial situation.
One presumes, however, that they somehow get meat, petrol and the kids find their way to school, so access to shopping outlets is not entirely out of the question.
I understand more than a million dollars is being allocated by the State Government towards the problem locally and councils have been asked to manage the matter.
Anyway, what concern is this really of the city council? And not everybody out there likes fruit or vegetables.
How many bosses do we need?
There they were two lots of advertisements in the local daily at the weekend which seemed to correspond.
Firstly, our city council wants a Divisional Manager Communications and Strategy who would among other things be responsible for media management and the implementation of communication strategies. In another advert the council sought a middle management job for a public relations manager.
They also advertised for a Divisional Manager Cultural and Library Services and also for a branch libraries and community facilities manager.
And I thought our new CEO was supposed to be culling the management structure!!
Your Opinion Counts. CLICK HERE >>>>>>>>>>>>>> Give us the facts
Here they go again, our local tourism types basking in the fact that the latest NSW tourism stats indicate a 30 per cent plus increase in trade in our region.
As I’ve said many times before just show us where these figures actually come from and we might start to believe there’s an element of fact in them
Your Opinion Counts. CLICK HERE >>>>>>>>>>>>>> | 
