Clarence Valley News

Councillor reveals “secret” SRV talks

Published

5 months ago

21 February 2024

Liam

Cr Bill Day has revealed council workshopped an SRV at the end of last year,

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Councillor reveals “secret” SRV talks

By Tim Howard

Clarence Valley councillors and staff workshopped a special rates variation at a “secret meeting” at the end of 2023 a councillor has revealed.

Cr Bill Day said council staff called a “secret” council workshop on November 9 last year to float the idea of an “environmental levy” to fund community concerns about environmental issues.

But Cr Day believed the matter was clearly a way for the council to raise money as it was contemplated large scale borrowings for projects including the Regional Aquatic Centre and the Treelands Drive Community Centre.

Mayor Peter Johnstone has downplayed concerns about Cr Day’s issues, saying workshops were a regular feature of life in the council and nothing came of the matter raised.

“Workshops can be called by councillors, but this was called by staff,” Cr Day said. “It was called by staff to discuss a rate variation in time for an application to be made to IPART to approve before the budget discussions for this coming financial year.

“It would have required a council meeting in January if were to have happened.”

Cr Day said the subject of the meeting had been kept quiet because it would have caused outrage in the community.

“I didn’t even know what the subject was when I was on my way to the workshop,” he said.

“It was called a hot topic and we hold hot topics quite regularly and I went along and was quite amazed when it was about a special rates variation.”

The timing of the meeting also caused Cr Day and some other councillors, consternation.

“I usually don’t get angry. I usually manage to remain calm, but I was quite, let me say, quite upset.

“I spoke about how if the next council wanted to do anything as silly as this, they should take it on themselves.

“For a council approaching caretake mode to bring on something like this was not acceptable to me.”

Cr Bill Day has revealed council workshopped an SRV at the end of last year,

Cr Day said the staff proposal clearly laid out how this SRV would be used to fund spending on environmental projects.

But Cr Day said it was quite easy to draw a link to the funding issues arising from borrowing for the projects.

“On the surface they laid out quite a case put forward by council staff for environmental matters, but obviously council’s capacity to do things without a levy are impacted by borrowings.”

Cr Day said the proposed SRV was also an indication the council would need to get used to functioning without the high level of grant funding that came after from the period of fires, flood and Cover.

“As we have found with the aquatic centre, grants are drying up very quickly,” he said.

Cr Day said he decided to raise the SRV proposal because the people were beginning to come forward as candidates for the next council election in September.

He noted that in previous elections some council candidates made political capital pre-election promising to not support an SRV only to change their minds when elected.

He linked this issue to his support for the rescission motion to reconsider a pay rise for the council general manager made at an extraordinary council meeting last Thursday,

“It’s called transparency,” he said. “I believe too much is done in secrecy by councils.”

He said ratepayers needed to ask questions of candidates prior to the election about their attitudes to an SRV and not to assume it was dead and buried.

The mayor said he recalled the meeting, but did not place the same significance on it.

“We discuss a lot of things at briefings and so on,” he said. “It was one of the things in the strategic plan that local people wanted more to done for the environment.

“One possible way of doing that would be to have some type of special rate variation or something like that to raise money that could be spent on the environment.

“The possibility was mentioned to councillors, but that was only one way of doing things and it wasn’t proceeded with.”

Cr Day and the mayor differed on their recollections of the tenor of the meeting..

“We had a bit of a discussion about the way these things would be funded, but certainly don’t remember anyone saying anything inappropriate,” he said.

The Mayor also agreed with Cr Day that it would have been inappropriate for an outgoing council to saddle a new council with an SRV.

For more local Clarence Valley news, click here.

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Clarence Valley News

Community group’s council audit delayed

Published

2 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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