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

A whacky message from your Aussie transit authority

http://youtu.be/IJNR2EpS0jw

What's happened to Steve's friends?

The former and disgraced Member for Clarence, Steve Cansdell, has resurfaced on Facebook and it would seem he can now hold get-togethers with his friends in telephone boxes. Yes, that's right, Steve has so few friends he can count them on one hand ... one, two, three, four.

Wild Cattle Creek antimony harvest still plagues the NSW North Coast

 

 

 

 

According to the NSW Soil Conservation Service most of the contaminated material at the Antimony Processing Plant site in Hillside Drive Urunga; came from Stibnite ore mined at Wild Cattle Creek, Dorrigo. The poor management of the site during such activity has caused the contamination. [Email 15 November 2012]

Metgasco starts to drill at Glenugie in the Clarence Valley

 

Metgasco appears to be leading a charmed life when it comes to government support as the coal seam gas industry appears to have the NSW Energy and Resources Minister Chris Hartcher and the O’Farrell Government in its corner.

 

The Managing Director's Presentation to the 13 November 2012 Annual General Meeting supplied to the Australian Stock Exchange is littered with favourable quotes from government and Chairman Nicolas Heath told this meeting that the political cloud over coal seam gas in NSW has been removed.

 

As I write Metgasco is said to be clearing land at Glenugie on the NSW North Coast so that yet more exploratory drilling can commence in the face of widespread community opposition.

 

South Grafton firm McLennans Earth Moving is said to be preparing the site and embattled construction company AJ Lucas contracted to undertake the drilling.

 

According to The Daily Examiner  today:

 

COAL seam gas miner Metgasco has downplayed the significance of activity at a site at Glenugie where it is preparing to take rock samples.

A neighbour, George Oxenbridge, was alarmed when he saw trucks and an excavator on the site on Avenue Rd at Glenugie yesterday.

Mr Oxenbridge said Metgasco had promised to notify people in the region before any activity took place, but nothing had been provided.

Late yesterday CSG protesters were considering a blockade of the site.

What is fascinating about this mining company’s relentless drive is that it is already operating at a considerable loss in a period when even it admits that it has been unable to attract a major player to farm in to its project and in a market which it told its shareholders is currently oversupplied with gas on the east coast of Australia.

 

In July 2012 The Australian reported that; UBS analyst Gordon Ramsay said the whole LNG industry was building projects in a high-cost environment. "The issue for the (CSG) industry is that when you get out of the sweet spots, the wells aren't as productive and that means you have to drill more wells or use more technology to drill more horizontal ones or you fracture stimulate and that means higher costs to get the gas out," he said.

By September analysts were downgrading Australian energy company valuations because of expected supply-based pressure on LNG prices and worries over the prospect that LNG export prices may drop dramatically.

 

While in October James Baulderstone, Santos Vice-president for Eastern Australia, in his turn admitted that the return to coal seam gas producers is not growing; The reality is that the price of natural gas has remained essentially flat for the past 10 years.

 

Metgasco’s monthly listed share price has reflected this overall situation – going from above 1.100 in 2008 to below 0.200 in 2012.

 

Despite its rhetoric for media and local government consumption, the company does not appear to have prospective customers knocking down its door and is hardly likely to find a ready market for residential customers given the impact of CSG industry costs on price are predicted to keep network and retailer charges rising.

 

The demand for domestic gas generally will remain relatively flat to slow growing through to 2027 according to the ACCC in its State Of The Energy Market 2009 report.

 

It would appear that Metgasco is likely to join other suppliers in finding that, even in a highly competitive and volatile international market, exporting its product overseas is the more attractive option.

 

That may create yet another headache for the Northern Rivers region as the company is still keeping its options open with regard to a floating LNG facility off the coast.

 

One thing which does stand out is that Metgasco is a small-time player in the Australian gas industry and one has a strong suspicion that local communities will see little benefit from its activities – now or in the future.

 

Metgasco might believe that politics no longer plays a part in its wildly optimistic plans, but all three tiers of government may find that this company’s activities will cause them considerable pain at the ballot box over the next decade.

Black-necked Stalkers Twitchathon Report (part 2)

One spinoff from searching for nocturnal birds is that you often see other fauna especially mammals.  The only drawback is that you can’t add them to the tally.  We had great views of a Long-nosed Potoroo at the base of the Gibraltar Range and two Rufous Bettongs between the Range and Grafton.  A young Parma Wallaby in the Washpool and a third Rufous Bettong on the way to the coast were others seen.  Dodging large alpha male Eastern Grey Kangaroos on the road was also an entertaining pastime which kept us on our guard.  It was still dark when we left the house on the coast north-west of Grafton the next morning.  As we climbed into the Land Cruiser we heard a Brush Cuckoo, our first bird of the day.  Off to the coastal heath where it was still very dark due to heavy cloud cover.  It wasn’t long though until we heard a Ground Parrot and also ticked off White-cheeked and Tawny-crowned Honeyeaters.  Then to the estuary where we were welcomed by a vociferous Leaden Flycatcher as we were trying to identify a flock of small terns that weren’t right to be Little or Common Terns.  It turned out that they were Whiskered Terns, more common in freshwater wetlands than estuaries in our area.  A grey morp Eastern Reef Egret, a Striated Heron and a diversity of shorebirds were added to the list.  Two small plump shorebirds took some time to identify as the overcast weather made them look darker than normal.  They were Sanderlings, a species not usually found in this estuary.  As we left the estuary an Eastern Osprey flew over the road and brought the total to 141 at 6.17 am.  At a small lake nearby a Swamp Harrier was observed and a pair of Pied Oystercatchers was at their nest and at a rock platform two Sharp-tailed Sandpipers were the first seen by us for the season.   A large raft of Wedge-tailed Shearwaters were foraging off the rocks but the Australasian Gannet was nowhere to be seen.  Four Coastal Emus were in a cane paddock on the trip back to the Pacific Highway.  As we disembarked from the vehicle at the Iluka Nature Reserve we heard a monarch.  Someone called out Spectacled Monarch and we all agreed at first but then I the realised that it was a White-eared Monarch and not a Spectacled Monarch.  We did add Spectacled Monarch as well as Regent Bowerbird and Large-billed Scrubwren before leaving the rainforest for the estuary.  At an inlet we heard Mangrove Honeyeater and then on to Woody Head.  The extremely high tide meant that all of the shorebirds and terns were clustered together on rocks, making it relatively easy to check them off.  There were Greater and Lesser Sand Plovers and Little and Common Terns, making 180 species at 9.39 am.  To be continued.

Greg Clancy

Head Stalker

Black-necked Stalkers Twitchathon Team 

 

* GuestSpeak is a feature of North Coast Voices allowing Northern Rivers residents to make satirical or serious comment on issues that concern them. Posts of 250-300 words or less can be submitted to ncvguestspeak AT gmail.com.au for consideration.

I'm Kevin, I'm from Lismore and I'm here to wipe the egg off my phiz

Half the Clarence Valley must’ve been rolling on their kitchen floors on Thursday morning 15^th November 2012 when NSW North Coast Nats candidate at the next federal election, Little Kevvie Hogan, came out swinging at sitting MP Janelle Saffin in The Daily Examiner:

"While I have the utmost respect for Her Excellency Marie Bashir, I must voice my vehement opposition to any plans to pinch water from the Northern Rivers," Mr Hogan said.

"These plans have been rehashed time and time again, and each time the people of the Northern Rivers have made their position loud and clear - not a drop of our water should be diverted to the Darling.

"Ms Bashir's comments may have won a few fans in Menindee, but she's in for a shock if she thinks they will get any sort of a hearing within our local communities.

"Anyone with grand designs on our water should consider themselves on notice - Northern Rivers people won't stand for it, and I will be doing my utmost to make sure it is never allowed to happen.

"I would call on the local Member to offer a similar guarantee, rather than standing idly by and allowing these outrageous plans to go unchallenged."

What Kevvie forgot was this 6^th October 2012 published letter to the editor:

“Not A Drop still holds water
I have noticed a growing number of correspondents expressing concern about the Clarence River, specifically about those who would dam it and divert our water inland or to Queensland.
I reiterate my rock solid commitment to 'Not A Drop', the slogan we all adopted from The Daily Examiner's highly successful 2007 campaign against such moves.
I simply will not allow it, and the Australian Government, as expressed many times through the Leader of the House Anthony Albanese in Federal Parliament, will not allow it.
I wanted to put this firm policy stance on the public record again, for the benefit of people among us who have moved to the Clarence Valley in recent times.
I am sure that these new residents will be surprised and shocked to hear that many vested interests have tried this on for years.
I have urged locals to make submissions to the NSW Legislative Council's Standing Committee on State Developments' current inquiry into the adequacy of water storages in New South Wales.
While the closing date for submissions was August 31, the inquiry is prepared to take late submissions for another six weeks. They can be emailed to statedevelopment@parliament.nsw.gov.au
The primary contact is Cathryn Cummins on 02 9230 3528. I understand the inquiry will hold further publics hearings in Wagga Wagga and Sydney in November and possibly more hearings early next year.
One thing I can be sure of is that there will be some of the regulars who want to raid our water supply - the mighty Clarence.
I call them the River Raiders; they seek every and all opportunity to lay claim to our river.
I thought it was a big worry when the NSW National Party's 2008 State Conference resolved to "support greater efforts to reduce the amount of eastern water lost to the ocean and campaign for more in-depth investigations into finding ways to turn this water inland." - Tweed Daily News, June 16, 2008.
I urge Clarence Valley residents to be watchful of anyone who would have designs on tampering with our most precious natural resource - water.

Janelle Saffin MP

Federal Member for Page”

Now his silliness is writ large in The Daily Examiner and the laughter continues because a day after his public dig at Saffin he was quoted again; "No I did not read that particular letter," Mr Hogan said. He said his comments were solely in reaction to Prof Bashir's comments and not Ms Saffin's long-held stance on the issue.”

Kevvie either doesn’t bother to buy the main newspapers in the electorate he hopes to represent or he just doesn’t bother to read anything but Chris Gulaptis’ old election campaign running sheet.