YOUR SAY: Respect should be given all the way around

Mr Hill, a practising Barrister, has written several similar letters over the last few weeks. He calls for RESPECT. Respect is earned, not demanded.

Residents have seen a gradual decline in respect from our council administration since Georges River Council was created and our General Manager was appointed.

In Hurstville Council from Howard Wallace's time in the 1980s and before, GMs took no part in the debate and everything was open to public scrutiny.

The Mayor and Councillors were the ones who copped the flack.

Ratepayers who ask questions are addressed with stony silence by the administration as they are not to waste time responding.

Oatley residents had to tell councillors Planning NSW was not going to process plans for Oatley Bowling Club.

Residents had to stand the councillors up against the Mayor, GM and Finance Director regarding outrageous rate rises.

And ratepayers are questioning the competence and accuracy of consultants reports which any ordinary person would not pay for.

Mr Hill QC., if you would like to have common respect, ask the GM and her staff why a large number of ratepayers have no idea about the Georges River proposed Local Environment Plan, as they have no access to the internet, customer service or hard copies in the council libraries after all the council was given $2.5 million by Planning NSW to complete such.

No other administration in our area has rattled the ratepayers cage so much and has caused so much angst. RESPECT INDEED!

Brian Shaw, President, St George District Residents Network Inc.

Editor's note: We certainly do not want to gag debate amongst our readers but we do take defamation law seriously at the Leader. Voller V Nationwide News is the law we must play by.

Georges River Council mayor Kevin Greene's theme park water slide crystal ball gazing for an as-yet fictional aquatic facility at Todd Park beggars belief - textbook bureaucratic water muddying and delay - considering one of the many tenets offered for rejecting replacement of the Kogarah War Memorial Olympic swimming pool at Carss Park had to do with funding shortfalls and cost.

And this before Todd park has been assessed for suitability and lost open space, and years after the Carss Park pool was known to be in disrepair and in need of replacement. My impression of the ex-pool, including the gym, was that it had been starved of funding and let run into the ground. The loss of the pool represents a decade in the making backward step. To equate this with forward planning and vision is somewhat of a misnomer or oxymoron.

Planning should have been synchronised with the onset of overdevelopment and extensive population increases, possibly before the much publicised civic centre vision recently created by amalgamation.

Some of us must wonder if this vision was biblical or of a political smoke and mirrors or election rhetoric kind. Most would settle for objective bricks and mortar kind acknowledged by the community, not unlike the rampant reality of high-density development and new council offices.

Richard Piech, Sans Souci

A petition signed by 10,700 residents was ignored. Mark Speakman had given the issue of mining under Woronora Dam close consideration; he did not deem mining under the dam important enough to attend the debate in State Parliament. Ms Petinos said "very few constituents" had contacted her about mining under the dam. Ms Petinos did not attend the debate; unless the issue could threaten her re-election, it would seem she is uninterested. Lee Evans did attend the debate and stated that he was "confident that the restrictions around water for this mine will preserve water quality." I do not share his confidence. The present mining around Woronora Dam has already caused significant damage. Swamps have been drained; creek and river beds are cracked; at present, we are losing thousands of litres of water daily. Pristine tributary water has turned orange. Don't be concerned, it is only our drinking water! It would appear that neither political party Liberal nor Labor is concerned. Jobs are cited for the approval to extend the mine. WATER IS PRICELESS! Once the water is gone, so are communities.

Denise Wiltshire, Heathcote

Hidden towards the end of the latest Georges River Council newsletter, is mention of another round of consultation on a proposed huge rates hike, that was knocked on the head by Councillors, following plenty of negative community feedback.

It deceptively calls the proposed huge rates increases to ratepayers of the former Hurstville Council areas as "harmonisation", to match the much higher rates paid by ratepayers of the former Kogarah Council areas. When the two Councils were merged, we were told of cost savings and efficiencies, the Administrator commented on the sound financial position of GRC, after reaping a $10M merger windfall. Why then, should we have to endure another vague and misleading round of rate survey questions?.

Greg Brown, Hurstville

The controversy over the pool continues to vex and frustrate many thousands of residents in the Georges River area. The idea of investigating the possible location of an aquatic centre in todd park is completely mystifying. The convergence of King Georges road and the Princes Highway happens right at Todd Park. Before any further work is carried out in that spot, traffic already piles up from all directions. To add to this congestion is just plain short-sightedness! Surely to refurbish what is already established in Carss Park is obvious.The council argues that the infrastructure is beyond repair. However, our prime minister seems has faith in its restoration as he has promised $5 million, providing the money is spent on the existing site. It seems the council would rather dig into the ratepayer funds and pursue its ill-conceived plan to dig up Todd Park, and spend two hundred thousand on feasibility studies. Don Leyton