Has a misinformation campaign begun ahead of public exhibition of proposed linemarking intended to replace a 'stolen' section of the Regional Cycleway on Yamba Road?

On walking out of the 13 November 2012 Clarence Valley Council Committee Meetings one local resident was of the opinion that the attitude of the dominant clique to requests to replace a section of the Yamba Road Cycleway (which was removed without notice or community consultation) would likely see letters begin to appear in the local media presenting a distorted history of these requests.

It may be a coincidence, but this strangely ill-informed letter to the editor was published in The Daily Examiner on the morning of the 20 November council ordinary monthly meeting:

Leave road alone
CAN someone please explain to me why Clarence Valley Council is considering removing a perfectly good access and median strip in Yamba Rd? My elderly aunt and uncle feel very safe using the new access point on Yamba Rd but now a cyclist (who can ride on the road anyway) wants three cycle paths in the location - one on each side of the road and one on the road - and wants the council to spend more money undoing the great job they just did.
Residents along Yamba Rd near Freeburn St be aware, if this goes through, you are just about the lose your bus stop, street parking and the safe pedestrian access point along Yamba Rd all because the cyclist refuses to use the road, which they are able to do under the laws of the road.
On behalf of my elderly aunt and uncle and the safety of the locals, please just leave it alone.

John Wilcox

Bent Street

 

A direct response to Mr. Wilcox of Grafton (who is a big fan of the mayor*) was not published, but this letter to the editor set out below did make it onto the pages of The Daily Examiner on 23 November 2012:

 

Call for answers on lost cycleway
Nobody suggests the much-needed and absolutely necessary pedestrian refuge crossing recently installed on Yamba Rd at the Freeburn St intersection be removed.
But why has Yamba lost 150m of its Yamba Rd cycleway during construction when there was an abundance of land space available to widen the road and allow the cycleway to continue?
The Yamba Rd cycleway forms part of the regional cycleway that has safely served the community for decades.
The unnecessary loss of the section of cycleway has dangerously exposed cyclists of all ages and ability to the fast-moving heavy Yamba Rd traffic.
The erection of signs diverting all cyclists onto the Yamba Coastal Walkway - now called the "shared use pathway" - has placed the safety of pedestrians at risk.
The coastal walkway was partly funded by the NSW Government ($418,500) and was not designed for prolific cycle usage.
What's more, council is fully aware the pathway does not comply with its own safety standards, thereby deliberately breaching its "duty of care" responsibilities, which are to provide safe public facilities.
The destruction of the Yamba Rd cycleway occurred over six months ago, but still our mayor, Cr Williamson, avoids an explanation.
In fact, the subsequent erection of signage diverting all cyclists onto what is now called a "shared use pathway", knowing the pathway does not comply with council's own safety standards, suggests an attempt to cover up council's mismanagement and waste of public funds.
It's about time Mayor Williamson displayed some courage and provided a public explanation for council's waste of funds.

Ray Hunt

Yamba

 

* With all the numbers in, not only in the Clarence Valley, but on the North Coast, it is worth pointing out that Richie Williamson is the most popular councillor on the North Coast.

Not another candidate (or group even) got near the 6975 primary votes that Mr Williamson received.
Mr Williamson has always served our community with our best interest at heart and the community thanked him for this dedication on Saturday.
Congratulations Richie! [John Wilcox 10 September 2012]

Here's another fine mess courtesy of Clarence Valley Council management

On 15 November 2012 The Daily Examiner published an article with this opening:

CLARENCE Valley Council achieved "the biggest failing you can have in project management".
Costs are spiralling for the redevelopment of the Townsend Depot and councillors at this week's committee meeting grilled management.
By his own admission, council deputy general manager Rob Donges conceded the plans for the redevelopment had not been thought through.
"The biggest failing you can have in project management is that at the start of the project not all parties agree on what you're doing," Mr Donges said.
"That's what happened here."
The initial "plucked" figure given to councillors for the project, which started in 2010, was $1m, which has since increased to nearly $2m.
Now, there is a request for an additional $589,867, which would bring the total cost of the project to about $2.6m.

What the article did not say was that when council management put a $1million guesstimate as to total project costs to a council meeting before the redevelopment was put out to tender, it had done little or no prior investigation of the site or consultation in relation to the work related needs of the end users.

In December 2010 three of the seventeen tenders submitted for demolition, site preparation, electrical work and construction of buildings were accepted and, council management was authorised to negotiate with one or more of these successful tenderers for construction of Modular Offices and Amenities because their original tenders were not considered best value for money in that area.

During the same meeting Council's elected members were also made aware that the redevelopment budget had blown out to $1.9 million. Around that time it was decided to sell and lease back the nearby Water Cycle Townsend Depot to assist with redevelopment costs.

The sale of the North Coast Water site brought in more money than council management expected. However by September 2011 when authorization was granted to transfer the property title to the new owners, council management was telling a council meeting that sale of the North Coast Water depot had resulted in $21,474 worth of costs not budgeted for.

The next piece of bad news for councillors and ratepayers did not turn up until 13 November 2012, when Clarence Valley Council's Civil & Corporate Committee Meeting was informed that further cost overruns had blown the Maclean Depot redevelopment budget out to somewhere between $2.6 and $2.8 million.

It seems that every stage of the redevelopment is running over budget, primarily because council management decided that it would be a competent project manager.

This is now a running joke among increasingly cynical residents and ratepayers.

Graphic from Google Images

New definition of Clarence Valley Council management gaining currency

Is it any wonder that Clarence Valley Council management is now frequently referred to as a bucket full of ar$eholes and a few other unprintable phrases?

Spot the not so subtle alteration of the history of Clarence Valley shire councillors’ response to residents’ concerns over the sudden removal of part of the Yamba Road Cycleway by council management without prior community consultation.

These concerns directly related to cyclists' safety when using a section of Yamba Road in the vicinity of the Freeburn Street T-intersection and pedestrian safety on the nearby designated 'shared use' footpath which does not meet council's own minimum width requirements as set out in the Pedestrian access and mobility plan (PAMP) and bike plan (2008).

Click on the images below for a larger and clearer view of the text.

Ordinary Monthly Meeting Minutes of 26 June 2012:

Voting recorded as follows:

For: Councillors Williamson, Comben, Dinham, Howe, Hughes, McKenna, Simmons,

Tiley and Toms

Against: Nil
 

Ordinary Monthly Meeting Minutes of 17 July 2012:

Ordinary Monthly Meeting Business Paper of 16 October 2012:

Included in this council officer's report as Background was Item 021/12 Yamba Road Cycelway, Yamba, containing the precise wording as is set out in the minutes below.

Ordinary Monthy Meeting Minutes of 16 October 2012:

Yes, that’s right. By including that last item in the October official business paper and minutes as it is written, council management totally ignored the fact that the June 26 Ordinary Monthly Meeting did not fully endorse the NSW R&MS Clarence Valley Local Traffic Advisory Committee recommendation (which had been heavily influenced by the very same management advising this committee) and, as Clarence Valley Council's 9 October Civil & Corporate Committee Meeting Business Paper contained the very same wording this was not a simple mistake.

It is a distinct possibility that council management did not make the Local Traffic Advisory Committee aware of the fact that its recommendations had not been fully endorsed and that this external committee has an imperfect understanding of the true status of its recommendations.

It is also possible that councillors have been voting since the beginning of October under a manufactured misapprehension concerning council's own past decisions relating to the Yamba Road Cycleway.

Council management obviously believed that newly-elected and re-elected councillors would not easily recall the details of the Yamba Road Cycleway debate and therefore decided to rewrite the record in order to do exactly as it pleased.

At the same time as council management improperly seeks to go against the 26 June 2012 OGM resolution and erect additional signs directing all bicycle traffic onto inadequate footpaths, it is avoiding any meaningful in-depth evaluation of the problem it created on Yamba Road in the first place

Thereby showing nothing but contempt for the democratic process and once again flipping the bird to the Yamba community behind councillors’ backs.

You are cordially invited to a local government lynching on October 16 at 4pm. Dress casual. No RSVP required.

 

The Daily Examiner 17 October 2012:

 

THERE were tears and hugs in the public gallery at 7pm last night when Clarence Valley councillor Karen Toms was cleared of breaching the council's code of conduct.

It took councillors three hours, one of which was spent in private, to finally put an end to accusations the elected representative had acted wrongly in her dealings with a party that had held a contract for local swimming pools.

Two parties, the names of which were not revealed, complained Cr Toms breached the code of conduct by contacting a contractor….

About an hour later, Cr Margaret McKenna's recommendation that the council determine Cr Toms made no breach of the code of conduct and that the council review the report and procedures was supported by Crs Toms, Simmons, Challacombe and Baker with Crs Williamson, Howe, Hughes and Kingsley voting against….

 

What this newspaper report does not say is that more than a few local residents had a strong impression that a number of Clarence Valley shire councillors and senior council management thought that they had come together at the ordinary monthly meeting on 16 October 2012 to conduct a quick public lynching.

 

Three hours later this little noose party was in disarray and those watching from the ‘public gallery’ had heard concerns raised about the reliability of the contents of a 132 page confidential report for council's eyes only, due process, natural justice and a possible conflict of interest existing for some of those involved in consideration of Item 13.180/12 Conduct Review Committee.

 

All in all – a painful three hours for Cr. Toms and her family and a testing time for the newly-elected council.

Baker states financial problems not related to his position on council

 
The Daily Examiner on 10 October 2012:

ASSETS worth millions of dollars, including the Maclean Hotel, Maclean retail shops and two major subdivisions at Gulmarrad, are being liquidated by receivers looking to recover debts incurred by companies previously under the control of Maclean developer and Clarence Valley councillor Andrew Baker.

Three advertisements appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald on Saturday and more advertising is being booked in publications in Brisbane, the Gold Coast and the Clarence Valley.

The Daily Examiner has advertisements booked for the next three Fridays….

Cr Baker said there had been no change in his financial situation since the Daily Examiner story on August 20. 

When asked if this financial situation increased the risk of a by-election, he said it was not related to his position on council.

 

Not related to his position on council? A statement possibly open to interpretation, given that Clarence Valley Council itself was one of the unsecured creditors of Maclean Hotel Holdings Pty Ltd (apparently solely owned by Cr. Baker) listed as of 20 August 2012.

Council being owed $3,753.09 of the $81,523.62 in unsecured debts.

 

Excerpt from Australian Securities and Investment Commission document Report as to affairs From Controller Under S.429(2)(C) (507F):

 

Quite rightly, Mr. Hunt is not amused

 

Letter to the Editor in The Daily Examiner 4 October 2012:

 

Due process important

I WAS not at the CVC Extraordinary Meeting September 25, but having read the business papers I wonder whether Mr Deefholts was there.
His claim that "Cr Karen Toms a caravan park operator in the Lower Clarence, opposed a council staff initiative to have Grafton declared an RV Friendly Town" (Time to be RV Friendly) appears to be incorrect.
One thing that came across loud and clear during the council elections was the failure of the past council to implement "due process", particularly the failure of public notification or community consultation.
At the very first meeting of council, "due process" (or the failure thereof) raised its ugly head.
From reading the business papers it appeared to me that it was another example of senior council staff endeavouring to dictate council policy, taking shortcuts in a laidback style of local governance, where ratepayers suddenly find their lives affected by a council decision of which they were never consulted or made aware.
It is my understanding that it is part of the role of the mayor to set council agenda.
If Mr Deefholts is concerned at the time it has taken to have Grafton declared an RV Friendly Town, he had the opportunity to search for the truth and write a very informative news article.
Instead he chose a news headline and commented without any factual foundation or legal substance.
I, like many of your readers, would like to know the whole facts of this story and it is not too late to publish it before the next "thumbs down" edition is published.

Ray Hunt

Yamba

 

How not to conduct yourself as a newly elected shire councillor with mayoral ambitions

Opinion article by The Daily Examiner Editor, Jenna Cairney, 22 September 2012:

Divided council will fail

THERE are some interesting rumblings coming from council quarters and I'd love to be a fly on the wall at this weekend's induction training weekend, which new councillor Andrew Baker this week publicly said he wouldn't attend because it was at a private resort.
I hate to be a fence-sitter but I am trying to reserve judgment on the issue. I'm sure Mr Baker won't mind me referring to him as a rogue councillor.
On one hand, I admire someone who challenges, questions and defies. But I tend to agree with letter writer Greg Clancy today when he says a successful council must work as a team.
The truth is, regardless of whether his cause is noble or not, Mr Baker needs to get the other councillors to vote with him.
Word is, council is planning to hire a media officer in coming months, which should make life interesting for us.
Speaking of media officers, I think if councillor candidate Jane Beeby has any intention of running again in four years, she may be wise to hire one (see Thumbs Up Thumbs Down).
Joke or no joke, publicly bagging Grafton on Facebook made me very defensive and someone who sees us as "fat, sick and nearly dead" is not someone I want representing us on council.
As we have all learned in recent months, the only way for the Valley to survive and prosper is to stick together and take a bit of pride in ourselves and what we can achieve.
Here at The Daily Examiner it's become a mantra. Don't miss Monday's paper for a great story by Kate Matthews about what can be achieved when we take a united stand.

The politically pugnacious property developer and recently elected Cr. Andrew Baker has apparently decided who his enemies are, even before his first Clarence Valley Council ordinary monthly meeting, if this Letter to the Editor in The Daily Examiner on 24 September 2012 is any indication:

Response to editorial

HELLO Jenna,
What an interesting page 14 you have in your paper of Saturday 22nd September last.
Are you suggesting I should join "the team" in the way you joined the $8000 State Government-sponsored weekend away in Sydney recently? That $8000 has sure prevented any more bites at that hand.
Your page does many things to draw attention to opinions of me and a couple of failed candidates.
You give failed candidate Clancy free reign to show his true self in his presumption to lecture me on how I should conduct myself in public life. Now that is news when the failure seeks to teach the successful. With your encouragement, that's really precious!
Perhaps most disgraceful of all is your use of a prominent article where you seemingly advise all councillors to now think as one mind. You just don't say which one mind we should use? Or did you mean the mind of Guru Greg? In giving your advice you just repeat the worthless advice of failed candidate Clancy - yet you completely ignore the hopes expressed on the same page by the highly-respected, long-time community leader Des Plunkett.
The following facts are available to all of us:
Of the 28,647 formal first preference votes, 11,899 voters (41.5%) did not want any previous councillors returned.
Five of the previous six councillors received a combined total of just 7,515 (26.23%) of the vote.
3,075 voters (10.73%) gave their vote to me (more than 40% of the combined votes of those 5).
1,275 (4.45%) voted for Greg Clancy. He was not elected.
You might further note Clancy admitted to a comprehensive election campaign.
I had no paid advertising, no leaflets, no posters, flyers, letterbox drops, or polling place meet and greet. I did no door knocking or anything else really. I started independent, finished independent-and-alone, and will remain so. I am non-factional, unaligned and am not beholden to anyone.
So you publish the diatribe of a failed candidate telling me where I have gone wrong. Well, Greg now has four years to cry into his glass of organic vinegar.
Perhaps before you next repeat the advice of failed candidate Clancy on how others should conduct themselves in public life, you might avoid the appearance you too have sucked on that glass of vinegar. It just seems your eyes have misted over to the truth of the election outcome.
I accept you have the editorial benefit of giving a malicious spray whenever you feel so moved. Can I suggest you avoid doing it directly into the wind?
Please be clear. I did not ever offer to climb on board the council bus to nowhere. The bus I have witnessed for four years. I would prefer to walk by myself to somewhere than have a jolly time riding to nowhere, thanks.
And please, please, never think I will be encouraged onto the bus by a weekend of indulgence at ratepayers', or taxpayers' expense. MY soul ain't for sale.
I certainly do understand the team mentality thing that some naive people hold up as the answer to every institutional prayer.
This is still apparently the forlorn hope of a team that has trained hard for four years to perfect mediocrity. Of course they will say "let's try it for one more year to see if, by some miracle, a different result occurs". I don't subscribe to the theory that repeating one year of mediocre performance three more times will produce anything better than a wasted four years.
In the meantime, the 73% of voters that didn't want ANY of the five incumbent councillors will be left to wonder how your recycling of advice from a failed candidate can help this Clarence Valley? Please tell them.
Now to the good news.
Your announcement that council has decided to employ a media officer creates another low point in council decision making. This major policy-decision-by-media-release, before all councillors have even heard about it, let alone agreed to it, is a monumental insult to those councillors who thought they would receive some respect when it came to decision making. I didn't naively expect that respect, by the way.
Maybe all our decisions will be made for us by media release?
Of course, and it's clearly too late now, had I been asked if I agreed to this new policy of having a media officer employed in a new position, I would have suggested to my colleagues that we try truth-in-government to see how that feels. And it would have saved the money. Looks like I won't get that opportunity?
Please feel free to encourage my views anytime you like.

Andrew Baker

Clarence Valley councillor

Editor's note: In reference to the trip to Sydney for the Country Expo, I (Jenna Cairney) drove to Sydney to help promote the Valley in my own time. The fuel and my accommodation was paid for by The Daily Examiner.

On the basis of the Editor’s note alone this round goes to The Daily Examiner in the face of Baker’s needless penned aggression.

One has to suspect that Cr. Baker may be trying to cow the local media into not reporting any further on his financial difficulties and the forthcoming fire sale by appointed receivers of ten of his companies'  properties.

Culture and arts the focus of a Clarence Valley Council survey - participate now!

This media release is posted at the request of one of North Coast Voices’ regular readers. He would like to see Lower Clarence residents in particular participate.

Clarence Valley Council Media Release: 3 September 2012

Culture and arts the focus of council survey

Clarence Valley Council has launched an online survey to allow residents to voice their opinion on where the Valley’s heading on cultural and art issues.

As a part of council’s aim to revise its Cultural Plan, the survey urges communities to voice their opinions about what interests them culturally, and where they would like to see improvements.

Council’s General Manager, Scott Greensill, has urged all Clarence Valley residents to complete the online survey.

“The survey takes less than 10 minutes to complete and is an opportunity for residents to tell council what is important to them when it comes to arts and culture in the Clarence,” Mr Greensill said.

“The survey will be available online until Monday September 24. Hard copies of the survey will also be available at libraries and council customer service centres.”

To access the survey, simply go to the CVC website www.clarence.nsw.gov.au and select the link.

“Council adopted its inaugural Cultural Plan in 2007,” Mr Greensill said. “A review of the current Cultural Plan is underway to assess the progress that has been achieved over the past five years. The revised Cultural Plan will be launched in early 2013 and will cover a period of four years.”

Release ends.

Authorised by: Scott Greensill General Manager 02 6643 0212  

For further information contact:

Des Schroder Deputy General Manager (Environment & Economic) 0447 430 261 or 02 6643 0203

Interested residents can take the survey here.

Clarence Valley Council rips the green heart out of Maclean, the 'Scottish Town'

Maclean's small and unique central business district has once more fallen victim to the unelected triumvirate which governs the Clarence Valley Local Government Area, with more of its green heart ripped away to please the developer, IGA Metcash.

Despite the eloquent pleas of those councillors hailing from the 'Scottish Town', a majority at the 26 June 2012 Ordinary General Meeting voted to further reduce the size of Cameron Park - until it will resemble nothing more than a barren pocket handkerchief of sun damaged turf between so-called improvements jammed together willy-nilly (see Item: 13.080/12  below).

McLachlan Park which straddles the town's vital flood levee is also under threat to compensate for the original carpark land sold to IGA at an almost bargain basement price.

Once again Clarence Valley Council has broken faith with Lower Clarence residents and ratepayers.

Avid council watchers tell me that It is not hard to work out that this unelected triumvirate is possibly taking full advantage of nine shire councillors who have formed into dysfunctional cliques and, that on most matters it favours National Party political aspirant Mayor Richie Williamson's faction.

Item: 13.080/12 REPLACEMENT PARKING OPTIONS FOR MACLEAN CBD

….options to replace Maclean CBD public carparking lost due to the sale of 3,750m² of Centenary Carpark to Metcash for a supermarket development.

1. Cameron Park, Maclean

Plan A (attached) shows an arrangement whereby 15 additional 90º nose-in spaces can be provided by encroaching 6.0metres into Cameron Park green space. While acknowledging that this is contrary to Council's September 2011 resolution that Cameron Park green space be excluded from consideration, the space sought in this instance is approximately 230m² (out of total green space of approximately 5,500m²) and is located on that section of the Park having least public usage.

Plan A also indicates the provision of an additional thirteen 90º nose-in spaces immediately adjoining the swimming pool. This would require the relocation of the three long-vehicle spaces currently at this spot, and it is proposed to relocate those to the northern side of Argyle Street, shown on Plan B.

2. McLachlan Park

A concept plan prepared by the Maclean Chamber of Commerce for the upgrade of McLachlan Park incorporates 45º nose-in parking. Council staff have refined that plan to provide 16 additional spaces (29 new – 13 existing), including 3 in the carpark beside Spar following demolition of the existing toilet block (refer Plan C)……

3.5 Cameron Park

Remove 7-9 trees and excavate topsoil from 6 metre wide strip, construct carpark and line mark for 15 spaces; construct carpark adjacent to pool and line mark for 13 spaces. In conjunction with those works, the remainder of Cameron Park should be upgraded including new toilets, improved playground, additional seating and BBQ shelters. An improvements plan will need to be prepared and all works could be funded from the proceeds of the supermarket site sale.

3.6 McLachlan Park

The preliminary concept plan suggests the following works:

 Remove 5 Camphor Laurel trees

 Remove existing footpath and excavate 2-3 metres into park.

 Underground power along park frontage as required.

 Construct retaining wall along edge of excavation, designed to protect the integrity of the levee.

 Relocate the bus bay approximately 30 metres to the north.….

The total number of replacement spaces is now 86, leaving a shortfall of 23 spaces.

Mapping here.

Before Clarence Valley Council moves further with this park theft, local people might like to write or email councillors (details here) and tell them just how 'thrilled' they are at the prospect of losing more of Maclean's public, passive green space.

When unelected council officers decide that they know best.........

Letter to the editor (below) in The Daily Examiner today, which once again points to the dysfunctional nature of the information flow between Clarence Valley Council management and local government elected representatives.

Cycleway options

In Item (13-082/12 Clarenza Cycleway Options) listed before the CVC General Meeting 26-6-12, it discloses the recommended widths for shared pathways by Councils Pedestrian & Mobility Plan (PAMP) - Desirable width 2.5m - 3.5m depending upon use. Acceptable width 2.0m to 2.5m and at squeeze points 2.0m. The Clarenza Cycleway Plan recommends a general width of 2.5m.
But also listed before Councils General Meeting 26-6-12 is a diversion of the Yamba road cycleway (which complies with PAMP) to a shared use pathway which does not comply with Council's recommended safety standards as prescribed by PAMP. Its width never exceeds 2m and continually narrows in some places to 1.6m. It also has sign posts positioned on the pathway instead of 0.3m from the pathway as recommended by PAMP.
Despite divulging these narrow widths to firstly the Traffic C'tee and then the Civil and Corporate C'tee and tendering an alternative plan that enables the Yamba road cycleway to continue without a necessary diversion, at no stage has Council staff revealed to either the Traffic C'tee or the Civil and Corporate C'tee that its shared pathway does not comply with Council's own recommended safety standards. Instead the recommendation continues to request Council to erect more signs diverting cyclists onto its (unsafe) shared pathway which it has been made aware does not comply with its own recommended safety standards.
Should there be a serious injury, any insurer would be entitled to deny indemnity on the basis Council was aware its shared pathway did not comply with its own recommended safety standards, yet did not inform the insurer exposed to the risk.
It would be reprehensible if ratepayers were then asked to meet liability to any compensation claim.
The system prevents me from making any further deputations. It is an issue involving public safety yet can easily be overcome by a tape measure, integrity and initiative to continue the passage of the Yamba road cycleway to ease the loading on the unsafe shared pathway.

Ray Hunt

Yamba

What is it with these rednecks from over the range?

The Daily Examiner on the 5^th March 2012 ran with this:

“A PROPOSED two-way railway line from Moree to Yamba could ease the bottleneck experienced by coal exporters in north-west NSW, its proponents say.

Preliminary plans are afoot to build a two-way double-height railway line from Moree to Goodwood Island to speed the export of coal from the Gunnedah coal basin and overcome the congestion in the state's two major coal ports - Port Kembla and Newcastle.

According to one proponent, Inverell Shire councillor and civil engineer David Jones, it would require a 12m deep channel to be dredged from the river mouth at Yamba to a fully redeveloped Goodwood Island about 5km upriver.

The channel is around 4m deep at low tide.

The total cost of the ambitious project is estimated at $6 billion.

Though the proposal is in its infancy and has been touted and dismissed in the past, funding ($1-$2 million) is being sought by the northern inland committee of Regional Development Australia (RDA, NINSW) to complete a feasibility study on the idea.

It is being championed by RDA, NINSW chairman Mal Peters, who is also the head of the newly established Regional Institute, a former NSW Farmers president and mayor of Inverell…”

A 12m deep dredge field all the way up to Goodwood Island? In one of the best family tourism and fishing areas on the NSW North Coast? 
It's a safe bet that the Yaegl community won't be too impressed with this plan either as the Dirrangun Reef spiritual site is smack bang in the firing line.

What is it with these New England rednecks? First they want to steal our fresh water and now they want to permanently wreck the lower Clarence River.

Fair dinkum – it’s enough to make a bloke chunder!

I agree with Clarence Valley Mayor Richie Williamson - "In the words of Darryl Kerrigan (in The Castle), 'tell 'em they're dreaming' - it's not going to happen".

Clarence Valley Council - matured or over ripe?

The Daily Examiner letter to the editor 3 November 2011:

A mature council

THE Clarence Valley Council's recently appointed GM, Scott Greensill, reportedly claimed "the council was now maturing past amalgamation" (DEX, October 27). Well, just how much has our forced amalgamated council matured?
At the council's general meeting on September 13, the staff's recommendation to councillors seeking federal funding for a $7m extension to the Grafton Gallery was prepared (in part) by none other than the Grafton Gallery's director, Jude McBean (item 12.167/11). That privilege included "waiving development assessment and construction fees" of $40,692 as well as "identifying a potential $4.13m which could accrue from developer (contributions) over the next 20 years". But no mention was made that the developer's contributions plan showed Grafton's projected population growth to 2021 was only 494 and zero to 2031, thereby contributing little S94 revenues.
In contrast, at the same meeting, council staff recommended to councillors the "waiving of hire fees of $150 for the cost of council's events trailer" for Iluka's Family Festival to raise money to build a sports shed for Iluka (item 12-168/11). Yet the developer's contributions plan shows Iluka's projected population growth of 642 to 2021 and 627 to 2031, thereby generating far more S94 funds than Grafton, as well as experiencing significant pressures on its existing infrastructures.
It must be a niggle in the guts for Iluka's volunteers to work their butts off to raise community funds, but not be given the privileged opportunity to prepare their own recommendations to a mature forced amalgamated Clarence Valley Council.

RAY HUNT
Yamba.

Antimony mining raises ugly head

Another North Coast resident adds her voice to the protest and asks, "Why do the local Australian people seemingly have no recourse to consult or object or reject such dangerous toxic projects and why are our local, state and national representatives supporting these projects. They are clearly not in the national interest."

Letter to the editor, The Coffs Coast Advocate

I live in an idyllic little community on the Dorrigo plateau amid pristine rainforests at the head waters of the catchment area for the Clarence River (Wild Cattle Creek) as well as living and working here in Coffs as an osteopath.

Once again the spectre of mining (this time antimony) has raised its ugly head.

The old mine processed its antimony at a site in Urunga which is now a toxic dead zone. Hillgrove Antimony mine has polluted the Macleay River, which feeds Kempsey.

The mine at Wild Cattle Creek just up from us, has been bought from Anchor mines, which was an Australian-owned company, by a Chinese consortium. I've heard it claimed that China is no longer mining antimony in their own country due to the toxic pollution levels it causes. Antimony is used in plastic drinking bottles and microchip technology and is extremely harmful to the health of human and other life forms.

It is with alarm that I've learned that more than 90% of all mining leases in this country are now owned by Chinese and Indian companies.

My question is how has this been allowed to happen? Why is it that we no longer own or control our own resources and pleas for help fall on deaf ears as really serious long-term pollutants are released into our pristine waters.

What I really don't understand is the legislative process in relation to mining rights and why we, the local Australian people, seemingly have no recourse to consult or object or reject such dangerous toxic projects and why our local, state and national representatives are supporting these projects. They are clearly not in the national interest. Why has the whole country been sold from underneath us?

I understand that we need minerals and mining but it seems to me that it needs to be done responsibly with a great emphasis being put on the value of what is mined and care being taken to use these valuable products in the most responsible way, so that they can be recycled and reused to limit the amount of earth disruption that takes place when they are removed and processed.

Surely we need to change our attitude to the Earth's resources and see them as precious and finite and legislate to protect the other living creatures and ecosystems that are affected by there removal.

Claire Thompson

Source: Letters, 25/10/11, Coffs Coast Advocate