Angst on airfield lease justified
THERE is a lot of angst and concern regarding this decision, and rightly so.
Whilst council did not act outside the bounds of its charter as the lessee, it nevertheless left a few loopholes in its council function.
Gannawarra council consists of four wards, and each councillor is elected by the constituents of that ward; however, once elected that councillor becomes part of the Gannawarra council.
When the councillor is inducted into the council they are required to swear, among other things, to represent the Gannawarra council and the community as a whole.
That seems to be getting overlooked a bit at the moment.
For many years now, and more so since the amalgamation of the Shire of Cohuna with the Shire of Kerang and Borough of Kerang in 1995, which formed the Gannawarra Shire with a single council, the council has worked hard to do exactly that – represent the community as a whole and foster good and amicable relationships between the various wards and their communities.
Albeit tenuous at times, that was working.
With one fell swoop that whole process has been set back – probably forever, but to put an estimate on it, let’s say for a generation.
Instead of council working with Cohuna and the district people to try to alleviate angst and anger plus find an alternate lessee, this motion of cancellation of the airfield lease was put on the agenda. Without doubt this had been discussed prior to the agenda being published in one of council’s briefing meetings.
That again is within council’s right.
Without doubt too was the continuous disruption to harmony caused by the grant received for the Cohuna airfield and the inaction by council on that.
So to unburden them, council dreamed up this concept.
A couple of years ago, the dominant part of council had added and shoved through a motion re briefing information not being allowed to be discussed with any members of the public.
So in defence of councillors opposing the relinquishing of the airfield lease, they could not discuss this outside council – technically not with family, and especially not with members of the public who were going to be affected by the concept.
In other words, no community consultation!
This motion only became apparent in the week of the council meeting when the agenda was made public.
Please note the comments of Damien Wells, the CEO of Coliban Water, that he was not aware until reading the agenda.
What sort of lack of etiquette, let alone communication between CEOs is that?
I believe the opportunity to take this action at short notice and at this particular time was aided by the exclusion of a public gallery due to imposed restrictions.
The scenario at the live-streamed budget meeting was pretty evident of that, as both Mr Thompson and Fehring were politely dismissed after their budget submissions.
Just the touch of a button is all it now takes.
These were submissions that had been sought, mind you, not some question time at a council meeting.
The arrogance is astounding!
Cr Gibson in moving the motion added an amendment to add working with the community after the lease is relinquished.
Why not work with the community before the motion was put and again shoved through?
Work with the community first and find the solution, and then and only then, relinquish the lease!
So now we have this relationship breakdown in our Gannawarra Shire – again.
The second part was the concern council had with the approximate cost of $37,000 per annum associated with the lease, with $400,000 quoted as a 10-year figure.
Ask yourselves, people of Gannawarra and councillors, how many other public facilities cost council money?
Let me name a few – libraries, halls, swimming pools, parks, sport and recreation ovals.
When you view all these critically, they are all a cost to council.
None of these show a positive return financially, especially when labour and on-costs are added.
Labour and on-costs, by the way, are wages, superannuation, holiday pay, sick leave and long service leave pay.
To be fair, not all of these costs are borne by ratepayers.
There are generous grants provided by state and federal governments to support local government to enable these public facilities to exist and operate.
These allow projects like the proposed park for people with disabilities and the glamping site in Koondrook, the new bridge at Appin over the Loddon, or the expansion of the waterfront development at Cohuna and Kerang Lakes district and the expansion of the CBD and industrial area in Kerang.
Possibly none of these will pay their way from a council point of view but still become assets of council to be maintained and added to the depreciation list.
Now that is a cost that will be borne by ratepayers!
Mind you, the Cohuna airfield is not included in this list of assets as it is not council property, merely leased land with responsibility.
However, the concept of this action doesn’t, as the Gannawarra Times correspondent wrote, pass the pub test.
It is un-Australian and smacks of self interest, shedding responsibility and lording it over others.
It does not show responsible action as a council or councillors.
As a matter of fact, council has a duty of care to look after the Cohuna facility and its necessity to and use by the community.
But the question now remains after this episode of council action: what is next?
We the public might not be aware of what will get dealt with now nor will we be consulted when the next facility is abandoned.
There’s an election in October and I doubt this will be gone and forgotten by then.
The new council must be seen to act more open and transparently and communicate more with their ratepayers and constituents.
People of other wards should not forget that this is not simply an action that affects Cohuna.
A facility like this airfield adds to the whole of the Gannawarra shire.
For the good harmony and progress of the Gannawarra shire my suggestion to council is: have the motion rescinded at the next council meeting or at a special meeting called specifically for this purpose!
Keith den Houting,
Kerang
Liberal Nationals will rebuild and restore the CFA
CFA volunteers have helped to keep our community safe for more than 75 years, and the tradition of volunteer firefighting predates our federation.
Volunteers battled Ash Wednesday, Black Saturday and the 2019/20 bushfires, but are now having to contend with a state government that is fixated on sidelining them.
The CFA is being undermined because we have a government more interested in its own political interests than standing up for the CFA’s 54,000 volunteers and the communities they serve.
The changes to the CFA are so toxic that they’ve led to the resignation or the sacking of one of the government’s own ministers, the CFA board, as well as multiple chief executives and chief officers.
From July 1, CFA will lose stations in 38 districts, millions of dollars of annual funding, 295 assistant chiefs, commanders and instructors and at least 171 support staff.
The changes also mean the CFA will be managed by Fire Rescue Victoria staff wearing Fire Rescue Victoria uniforms.
If there are going to be changes to Victoria’s fire services, they should be about strengthening the CFA, not smashing it.
That’s why the Liberal Nationals have committed to consult with Volunteer Fire Brigades Victoria and CFA brigades and volunteers across Victoria to identify the essential powers, people and resources that are needed to rebuild and restore the CFA.
We will ensure all members of the CFA Board sign up to, and are bound by, the Volunteer Charter.
We will also appoint an independent Commissioner for Emergency Services Volunteers, with the power to investigate issues raised by volunteers, make recommendations on policies and practices, settle disputes, and ensure that the voices of volunteers and CFA members are heard.
Only a Liberal Nationals Government will rebuild and restore the CFA as an independent, volunteer-based, autonomous fire service.
Nick Wakeling, MP,
Shadow Minister for Emergency Services
