Clarence Valley News

Council split emerges

Published

11 months ago

23 August 2023

Liam

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Council split emerges

By Tim Howard

A Clarence Valley councillor has accused a group of five councillors of “colluding” after an extraordinary meeting rejected two items it was called to decide.

The meeting on August 18 had been called recommending council note the general manager’s report on the result of negotiations with the companies who tendered for work on two controversial council projects, the Treelands Drive Community Centre in Yamba and the Grafton Aquatic Centre project.

But instead of voting to note the progress of negotiations, the council voted them down 5-4.

The vote led the councillor who moved the officers recommendation, Cr Karen Toms, to say she and three other councillors had been “blindsided”.

Cr Karen Toms said meeting decision “blindsided” her and other councillors.

She also said the way it happened led her to believe the five councillors, including Mayor Ian Tiley, deputy mayor Greg Clancy, Bill Day, Peter Johnstone and Jeff Smith had colluded or caucused ahead of the meeting.

“It certainly looks like that, there are five names on the rescission motion,” she said on Loving Life FM breakfast radio on Monday morning.

“I can imagine the Office of Local Government would take a dim view of that conduct.”

She also questioned Cr Tiley’s claim he knew nothing about the proposed rescission motion for the Treelands Drive project, which Cr Clancy lodged just prior to the meeting on Friday.

“He gave us the impression he knew nothing about that,” he said. “How could that be true?

“His name’s on it. I think definitely we were misled. He’s saying he didn’t sign it.

“Obviously Cr Clancy was expecting a signature from him.”

She said general manager Laura Black had misgivings about the rescission motion.

Clarence Valley Mayor Cr Ian Tiley

“The general manager has emailed all councillors and explained to them that she feels it it’s actually an unlawful rescission motion,” Cr Toms said.

“She is making inquiries and she has been up front with the Mayor and all the councillors were copied in on her concerns.

“She is going to the Office of Local Government just to clarify her belief based on the code (Code of Meeting Practice) that it’s unlawful.”

Cr Toms said the extraordinary meeting “should have been a one-minute meeting”.

“It was just note to say the negotiation were ongoing for both items,” she said.

“But both of them were voted down by the five councillors.”

Cr Toms said the vote changed nothing as the report was merely to note the council was negotiating with the tenderers after it refused to accept any offers at the July meeting.

During the extraordinary meeting the mayor informed the councillors their vote could only be on the items at hand but advised that a rescission motion was the only way to influence the course of council’s actions.

“My expectation councillors, and this would probably apply to the following item, is that a rescission motion to change course or direction should come forward very quickly, so that we can get on with things,” the mayor said.

He said a rescission motion must to be lodged seven working days prior to a meeting, which ruled out raising it at this meeting and making it too late for the August 22 ordinary council meeting.

Cr Toms said that would mean waiting for the September council meeting, meaning further delays for a project the council had approved in February.

But it’s understood the majority of councillors now have concerns about the quality of information they received ahead of decision in February to approve the project.

The project attracted an $11.1 million Bushfire Local Economic Recovery Grant, which would be the basis for council to undertake a $15 million replacement of the current Treelands Drive centre.

Clarence Valley deputy Mayor Cr Greg Clancy.

But some in the community objected and an alternate Option B to refurbish the original centre and include a library gained traction and it became the council’s option and approved as such in December.

But some councillors and officers had doubts the BLER funding would be approved for the revised project, because it was differed too much from the original proposal.

At its February meeting the council rescinded its approval for Option B and re-installed its the demolition and replacement option.

Since then, the YambaCAN group, through GIPA requests to the Department of Regional NSW, which handled the BLER grants and the council, found Option B had always been viable.

Cr Clancy, who originally moved to go with Option B at the December meeting, said that since the council had learned Option B had been acceptable to the funding body, it was legitimate to reinstate it.

One email uncovered, revealed the the extent to which the council had not been accurately informed.

A BLER funding project officer informed the council in March “With regard to point 2, I’m concerned that perhaps there’s been some confusion with the funding deed conditions, because for this project, we were aware Council were working on Option B and it would have been a permissible scope variation (i.e. to refurbish the existing centre, rather than knockdown/rebuild, in order to deliver the project within the available funds). I thought it would be helpful to clarify that point.”

Cr Clancy dismissed Cr Toms’ accusation that he had colluded or caucused other councillors to come on board the rescission motion as “rubbish”.

“Of course I had to ask them if they wanted to sign it,” he said. “But when you say caucusing, that means people are bound to vote in a particular way and that’s just not the case.

“Anyone who signed the motion is free to vote however they like.”

He also wanted to make clear he had not wanted to debate the rescission motion at the Friday meeting, but to move an amendment in relation to it, to halt any work on the project until the rescission motion was heard.

“Ian (Cr Tiley) didn’t allow it, but I hope the vote has had the same effect of halting the work until a decision has been made.”

Cr Clancy also said he attempted to brief the mayor ahead of the meeting.

“I sent the rescission motion to him the night before the meeting and tried phoning him the day before, but he didn’t answer,” he said.

“He turned up just before the meeting so I was unable to speak to him about it before I raised it.”

The general manager Laura Black has been approached for comment on the matter, but did not respond.

For more local Clarence Valley news, click here.

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Clarence Valley News

Community group’s council audit delayed

Published

3 days ago

24 July 2024

Liam

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Community group’s council audit delayed

By Tim Howard

A community group supposedly the target of a Clarence Valley Council audit in February 2024 over the cost of its interactions with council has pointed out the audit has not been completed. The General Manager, Laura Black commented, “I anticipate it will take a couple of months.”

The secretary of Yamba Community Action Network (YambaCAN), Lynne Cairns, said this week’s council business paper included a report, Council Meeting Checklist – update on actions taken.

The report revealed staff had not completed the action, the result of a council resolution at the February 2024 council meeting.

“On page 175 of the business paper there is a note next to the item,” Ms Cairns said.

“It reads: ‘Staff responsible for collating information have been diverted to prepare and respond to legal action taken against council by an executive member of YambaCan’.”

Ms Cairns said this was incorrect as no-one on the YambaCAN executive had taken legal action against the council.

She was aware of some matters concerning the council a member of YambaCAN had taken to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

“These matters were not matters concerning YambaCAN and the member who brought them was not acting for YambaCAN,” Ms Cairns said.

“I’m concerned this is some disinformation that somehow YambaCAN is responsible for delaying council’s investigation of its actions.

“YambaCAN is requesting an apology from council for the incorrect information in the business paper.”

The resolution read: that the general manager advises, by way of a report the:

1. allocation of resources required to respond to GIPAs submitted by YambaCan since January 2022.

2. allocation of resources required to respond to RFI (Request for Information) submitted by YambaCan since January 2022.

3. any cost implications of delays to delivering the Yamba Community Precinct project since January 2022.

The matter was passed 5-4, but debate was fiery.

Cr Karen Toms brought it as a notice of motion to alert the public to the costs the group’s GIPA requests and requests for information were incurring.

But other councillors said these costs were part of council operating openly and transparently.

Cr Greg Clancy was concerned the motion focused on just one group when council records showed it was responsible for a fraction of the requests.

“As seen in the listing of GIPA applications on council’s website, there are 22 GIPA applications and only six of these refer to YambaCAN,” he told the February meeting.

He also revealed YambaCAN had lodged a request for information, however were informed that there were 290 requests for information previously lodged by others that were waiting to be processed.

Ms Cairns was concerned that with the council going into caretaker mode on August 16, ahead of the September local government elections, council could not effectively decide on the matter.

There will be report on the outcome of this matter and other matters at council in next week’s edition of The Northern Rivers Times.

For more Yamba news, click here.

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Clarence Valley News

Clarence Valley Country Muster

Published

1 week ago

17 July 2024

Liam

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Clarence Valley Country Muster

If you are missing the country sounds from Tamworth, fret not, as the Clarence Valley Country Muster is just around the corner.

Expanded from two days to four, the event will start on July 25^th and go to July 28^th at 11 Coulters Lane, Ulmarra, near Grafton.

You will enjoy artists such as Jade Hurley, John, Lloyd, Jack Watson, Lindsay Waddington and Jamie Davis.

Special guest artists, Paul Ricketts, Winner of the Thornton Young Award and Nay McAplin, Winner of the Walk Ups in July, will also make an appearance.

Your comperes for the main stage will be Terry Gordon OAM and Ken ‘Chainsaw’ Lindsay.

And bring those nerves with you, as from 10.30am on Thursday, aspiring artists can take their turn on the microphone, with John Lloyd hosting the walk-ups.

All acts will be vying for a gig at next July’s event.

Now is the time to grab a group of friends or family members and book your spot by heading to their website www.cvcmuster.com.au or calling Wendy Gordon on 0432 741947.

Gates open for early arrival at the muster site on Tuesday, July 23.

For $120 per person, you can enjoy a full week of camping, camaraderie and entertainment at one of the best value-for-money festivals in the Clarence Valley.

Check out is Tuesday, July 30.

If you have a fire pit, bring it along as wood will be supplied.

There will be songs around the campfire, best dressed Christmas and party games and a big finale on the Sunday.

For more local Clarence Valley news, click here.

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Clarence Valley News

NSW BUDGET: NOTHING FOR RICHMOND AND CLARENCE VALLEYS COST OF LIVING CRISIS, BUT SOME WINS

Published

4 weeks ago

27 June 2024

Liam

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NSW BUDGET: NOTHING FOR RICHMOND AND CLARENCE VALLEYS COST OF LIVING CRISIS, BUT SOME WINS

The NSW Labor Government’s 18 June Budget does nothing to alleviate the growing cost of living problems in the Richmond and Clarence Valleys, although there is some good news for the region, according to Clarence Nationals MP Richie Williamson.

“Everywhere I go, every local I talk to, they all say the same thing: we’re struggling with rising costs – why isn’t the Government helping?” Mr Williamson said.

Mr Williamson said that he was all for working cooperatively with the Government, but there was mounting evidence Sydney Labor is “out of town, out of touch and the budget is out of control”.

“Calls to reinstate the $250 fuel card for regional seniors, students and apprentices have fallen on deaf ears, but Sydney seniors now enjoy $2-a-day Gold Passes on Sydney’s massive and massively subsidised public transport system as well as toll relief for Sydneysiders,” Mr Williamson said.

“Calls to save the Ulmarra ferry from Labor’s axe met a similar fate, at the same time as Labor is buying a fleet of new ferries for Sydney and took over another Sydney ferry service that has lower patronage than Ulmarra to Southgate.”

Mr Williamson did acknowledge the Government’s ongoing funding of the previous Liberals and Nationals Government’s Grafton Base Hospital rebuild, the allocation of $6.2m in the fight against White Spot disease in local rivers as well as a “welcome” $90m boost for the Resilient Homes Program, following the 2022 floods.

“These are crumbs compared to what Labor is lavishing on its Sydney heartland,” Mr Williamson cautioned.

“The Richmond and Clarence Valleys provide the timber for Sydney homes, the beef for Sydney dinners as well as the sugar and milk for Sydney cappuccinos.

“That needs to be acknowledged and we deserve our fair share,” Mr Williamson concluded.”

For more Richmond Valley news, click here.

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