Hold council to account for infrastructure we need

A lot gets said about the environment and sustainability issues.

However, what the environment and what sustainability means to some, means very little to others.

Similarly subjective is the issue of liveability.

What might be liveable to those in the back blocks and bush blocks of the local government area is not to those who prefer living life in the beachfront dress-circle.

All too often, sustainability and the environment look different depending on what side of politics you are looking from.

But what is not sustainable from any perspective is a Council that spends more than it earns and is not held to account, to the ratepayers, for this mismanagement.

What also is unsustainable is ratepayers being punished for their money being improperly and wastefully spent while those who were incompetent and presided over the maladministration get off scot-free.

One of the results of this is that we continue to live in an environment where rubbish, weeds and storm water collect and fester in unfinished, poorly designed or unrepaired roadsides, laneways, gutters, drains and gullies.

This eventually washes into and pollutes our waterways and beaches.

We live in an environment where the word of the senior bureaucrats employed to deliver public services to the community cannot be trusted.

We live in an environment of darkness when it comes to Council's dealings with our money.

We live in an environment where there is suspicion about a Council that is made to operate despite the continuing absence of elected representatives to complete the democratic process and keep the ratepayers informed and involved.

This makes for an unpleasant environment to live in.

This is both unsustainable and unacceptable.

To all community groups, associations, chambers and organisations: how about some coordination and cooperation in holding Council, and where necessary the NSW Government, to account for not providing better infrastructure and facilities needed to sustain a better living environment for us all?

SOURCE:

Email, 16 Aug 2021

Ian Weekley, Umina Beach