After the drenching Sydney copped over the last weekend, there has been a lot of discussion about power outages.
Whilst not discounting the effect power outages have on people I'm a bit dismayed about the corresponding lack of complaints about our costly NBN network. At over $2000 per person in Australia, we have managed to produce an absolute joke of a Telecommunications service.
I live in an apparently remote area of Australia called Oatley (10 Kilometres from the Sydney CBD) and have been without the NBN for over a week. My biggest gripe with the system is that despite spending many hours on the phone with Telstra, nobody can inform me as to when my service might be resumed.
I gather that despite spending over $50 Billion on the network, someone forgot to waterproof it!
John Brooks
Oatley
Thanks to unknown angels
My elderly mother was run off the road at Park Rd Westfields exit Hurstville on November 18 by an unidentified grey car haphazardly crossing lanes.
She crashed the wall, wrote off the car and went to St George Hospital for emergency surgery. Mum is slowly recovering.
To the three angels that helped her at the crash site, turned off the car engine and pulled her out of the car. Bless you, for your kind actions and taking the time to assist.
If anyone has any information, please email parkroad.hurstville.carcrash@gmail.com as we would like to thank the ladies who helped.
Tina L
South Hurstville
Bring on September
The extraordinary Georges River Council Meeting was just that, but the following Social Media exchanges were even more revealing
One councillor published reasons for voting to increase rates on the old Hurstville Council area by maybe 40%. An online discussion followed regarding the council's Financial Sustainability Working Group. It seems this committee would be the one which might find savings of maybe $4 million, required to stave off rate increases which would greatly disadvantage the ratepayers. The committee is a working party, with no published agenda nor minutes and is not podcast. This is Star Chamber stuff and is like the Amalgamation Advisory Committee which unlike all adjacent councils had no published agendas, nor minutes and the members were paid for their time.
It is time the council administration understood they live in a democracy and are responsible to the elected councillors who are responsible to the ratepayers of our area. September 2020 can't come quick enough.
Brian Shaw
President
St George District Residents Network Inc.
Council home truths from the Extra-Ordinary Meeting
It was enlightening for me to listen to the debate, questions and replies at the Extra-Ordinary Council Meeting on February 10, 2020.
I, and the residents, had been promised economies of scale when the amalgamation was promoted by the then Premier Now, I know otherwise.
The number of staff has increased by 50, that is, above the number of staff, after the amalgamation of the former Hurstville and Kogarah Councils. It would seem that this increase has flowed into the ranks of management/administration at Georges River Council(GRC).
There was a lengthy statement about the financial sustainability of the former councils. Apparently, neither Kogarah nor Hurstville Councils were financially sustainable. Considering the rate rise being sought, 8.1% through a Special Rate Variation(SVR), by GRC, perhaps the financial sustainability of a larger, amalgamated council, itself, is under question.
Mention was made of the lack of cost-savings, the Financial Sustainability Committee, members being councillors and GRCs directors, has not been putting forward cost reductions.
At the lowest point in the discussion, doubt was cast upon the audited reports for the two former councils; apparently, both councils were considered to be financially unsustainable. It would seem that auditors reports can be looked at differently with the passage of time.
The councillors, whether after hearing the discussion, voted against the SRV. The annual increase of 2.5 per cent rate peg, mandated by the State Government, will be implemented in July 2020.
Where does this leave the GRC and the residents? We could look forward to a reduction in services. We can hope for a reduction in managerial staff, as was put forward, rather than front-line services. And more debate about the SRV necessity.
T Kot
Kogarah
Georges River Council
Three cheers to counsellors Hindi and Badalati for their common sense approach to the issue of Council Rate increases. A similar approach to the rebuild of Carss Park Pool would be similarly appreciated by a majority of ratepayers tired of the political spin and gobbledegook that the current council leadership seems to favour.
Simon Flack
Oatley
Speed hump distress
I'm writing to vent my frustration on the lack of responsibility by local council for the upkeep of the speed hump outside my home. I have on several occasions requested that a massive chunk of cement clipped by trucks and motorists be attended to. This ' along with a refusal to maintain the overgrown weeds' is a sham. I have spoken to several council workers who promise to have these concerned addressed all to no avail. All the concerns mentioned above now go back for about seven years. On the odd occasion ' a team will turn up and do a quick clean up, usually about once every 6 - 8 months? In the intervening time, the grass continues to overgrow till the next 6 - 8 monthly clean up. When the speed hump was originally installed, it was supposed to be near the entrance of our street like all the streets around us. However ' a solicitor who was living there at the time challenged this and had it moved from outside his residence to outside mine. This l learnt only after the solicitor moved house, and of course, the council failed to tell me this. Not too long ago ' I suggested council remove the hump if it can't be maintained. The answer I got was " that isn't going to happen " I truly feel bullied by the council on this issue. I look at all the money being spent on all our parks, yet they refuse to maintain all the speed humps scattered all around our neighbourhood, except for the main roads. It seems that speed bumps away from main roads view are the neglected. Surely someone at the council can show some responsibility?
John O Donnell
Penshurst