Council's private partnerships threaten democracy

Many years ago governments were responsible for the delivery of essential services.

Over time, this has changed with private enterprise becoming an essential partner in the delivery of services.

This is based on financial gain to industries involved, which does not necessarily protect the purposes of government.

An example is the Central Coast Regional Plan's development of residential properties.

The council relies on industry to complete this action.

This creates a strong partnership between government and private enterprise, which excludes the public and treats it as an inconvenience.

The interests of these private stakeholders are the focus ahead of decisions on important developments.

Consideration of the public interest is left until the issues have been sorted to the satisfaction of the key players, and they cannot be changed.

How many essential services and infrastructure have been sold, out-sourced, traded-off and sacrificed since this model was adopted?

The relationship between government and private enterprise has political ramifications due to the obvious fact the government puts itself in a position of not being able to supply services without the assistance of private enterprise.

This results in the situation where now some political parties do not support democracy because it conflicts with the relationship between government and private enterprise.

This can be seen at Central Coast Council meetings where comment in the public forum is all but ignored.

This enables the council to proceed with grandiose plans without public support.

The public voice should have precedence but is downplayed in council's desire for stardom and awards.

The council's asset sales highlight the reliance on these commercial partnerships at the expense of a return to democracy.

Residents should consider what actions are appropriate to regain their voice.

Some Peninsula residents have established community organisations for the purpose of regaining a democratic voice.

Well done to those organisations.

SOURCE:

Email, 21 Mar 2023

Norm Harris, Umina