John Davis :: Orange News Now

Archive for John Davis

DOES ORANGE NEED A SHOWGROUND AND, FOR THAT MATTER, AN ANNUAL SHOW?

Posted on May 11, 2012 by Derek Maitland

That question was put to city councillors and others by Orange News Now last fortnight as the event drew closer and there appeared to be no quarter being given in the administrative and operational struggle between the city council and the Orange Showground Committee.

The decision by Mayor John Davis to arrange a crucial “one more crack” negotiating meeting with the committee chair, Peter Naylor – due to happen in the next two weeks – has eased the deadlock to a certain extent, with both sides appearing anxious to come to an agreement.

And there’s no denying that the 2012 Orange Show itself was an admirable success, attracting thousands of people – mostly families with young children – and balancing a breathtaking hi-tech array of rides, sideshows and children’s recreational attractions with the more traditional agricultural, livestock, equine and arts/crafts displays.

For Peter Naylor it was more than just another successful show. It had to impress upon John Davis and his fellow city councillors that the show is as popular as it’s ever been, will remain so in the future, is vital to the city’s cultural heritage — and that all this is due entirely to the hard work and governorship of the showground committee.

It’s significant that Peter Naylor’s invitation to councillors to meet with him on the opening day of the show resulted in a meeting, guided tour and “a really good discussion” with the council’s General Manager, Gary Styles.

But one thing about the show that struck this writer, and indeed other people I’ve spoken to, is that there were two distinct shows going on at the same time on the May 5-6 weekend.

On the one hand, the vast bulk of the crowds were attracted to the Showman’s Guild funfair – its rides and its fast food, drinks, sideshow prizes and candy floss — and, on the other, there were comparatively very few visitors, and many of them in the over-50s age bracket, watching the traditional dressage, show-jumping and livestock events.

It begged the question: should the Orange Show not be separated into two shows – “all the fun of the fair” and the agricultural show – at different times of the year?

“NO MANPOWER” FOR TWO DIFFERENT SHOWS

Peter Naylor -- crucial show for committee's future

Peter Naylor says the Showground Committee hasn’t got enough manpower to run two distinct events.

Also, he says the funfair attracts the families and kids and actually pays for the traditional sections of the show, enabling it to turn a profit.

“The show is separated enough as it is these days,” he says. “People can go to, say, the arts and crafts exhibits and ignore the rest of the show.

“Also, where families don’t have enough money for their kids to enjoy all the funfair rides, they have the animals and birds and poultry and other events to enjoy free.”

Point taken. The other big question of course is where does the show and its showground go from here?

In a bid to get down to the fundamental arguments for and against the show, Orange News Now emailed the following questions to all city councillors:

1. Why does Orange need a showground, and for that matter, an annual show?
2. What purpose should the showground serve?
3. Who should use it?
4. To accommodate these uses, what facilities does it need to have?
5. To build these facilities to standard, should a private commercial enterprise be the goal?
6. If owned and operated by the City Council, how should it be structured?
7. Can we achieve (4) with the showground as it exists, and at what cost?

MARKED SENTIMENT FOR CONTINUING, BIGGER SHOW

The response so far has shown a marked sentiment on the council to retain the show as a cultural hub or icon of the community and to upgrade the showground to make it a bigger reflection of our heritage in the future.

In an ONN Video interview with Orange News Now, this is what Cr Fiona Rossiter had to say:

As for other council responses, Cr Chris Gryllis says the annual show is “part of our heritage, is well patronised, and should continue so.”

Cr Glenn Taylor wants the show to remain an annual cultural highlight, but asserts that “there no way around the fact that we have to resolve the current legal issue” – a move threatened by the Orange Show Committee to challenge the council’s bid to replace its deed of covenant on the showground with a Crown Lands Trust agreement.

“I have nothing but utmost respect for Peter Naylor as a completely honest, hardworking, well-meaning bloke and for what he’s accomplished over the years,” Cr Taylor says.

“But we have to resolve the agreement dispute and get on with forward planning to try to attract the funds we’ll need to upgrade the showground to a multi-purpose facility.

“The Showground Committee and other users must trust that we will give them an unequivocal commitment to the present showground site if they can reach agreement with the council.”

SHOW “DEFINES WHO WE ARE, WHERE COME FROM”

Dressage and showjumping -- comparatively few spectators

Cr Neil Jones describes the Orange Show as a “unique event that not only reflects the agricultural importance of our region and defines who we are and where we come from, but it is the one event that brings the community together for two days of the year.”

Cr Jones defends the present showground itself as invaluable public open space that not only caters for a wide range of exhibitions and events but also provides “opportunities for sport and passive recreation amidst beautiful trees and level grassed areas.

“[It] can also,” he says, “provide an outdoor display area for significant historical items — e.g. machinery – that could not be accommodated inside the proposed Orange Regional Museum.”

On the question of the showground site, Chris Gryllis feels that “in an ideal world if funds were available” it could be relocated elsewhere to provide much-needed new parking space and new facilities.

“But that’s in an ideal world,” he stresses, ”and an ideal world would need around $15 million which we just haven’t got.

“Meantime, we have to treat the present site with tender loving care.”

PRIVATE/PUBLIC PARTNERSHIP COULD UPGRADE SHOWGROUND

Both he and Cr Fiona Rossiter believe that private developers could be an answer to the cost of turning the showground into a cultural mecca, but strictly in partnership with the city council.

It worked satisfactorily with the new Orange Hospital, they both point out, but Chris Gryllis reckons an issue like that must include the views of “the show people.”

And he warns against taking complete control of the showground away from the long-experienced showground committee and its users. “Once you’ve dismembered a group like that for whatever purposes, it’s very hard to get it together again.”

Says Fiona Rossiter: “If private business wanted to build a function centre in the showground it would be to the betterment of the city and have no impact on ratepayers.”

And, as she says in her video interview with ONN, she discounts completely any question of moving the showground and shows to the currently reviving Towac Park.

SHOWGROUND SITE A “DINOSAUR” SAYS SAM ROMANO

One councillor who remains convinced that Towac Park is the right venue for the show is Sam Romano, and in fact he wants the council to rescind its decision to pour $250,000 in development funds into the present showground if and when a new administrative agreement is reached with the show committee.

“I’m not prepared to spend $250,000 of our ratepayers’ money to upgrade what is in fact a dinosaur that’s unappealing, has disgraceful parking limitations and is not an ideal location,” he says.

“I’m not prepared to pay $600,000 to put a drainage pipe through the site either.”

Cr Romano sees Towac Park as the obvious new location where, as he says, “we can develop a multi-purpose complex, with an indoor arena for shows, for instance.

“When the Sydney Show moved to Homebush the traditionalists said it wouldn’t work, but it’s been a success – you don’t hear any complaints about it these days.”

And what about the existing site? “The state government owns it, we don’t,” Sam says. “It could be used for new housing.”

These are just some of the views and opinions of our civic leaders that both John Davis and Peter Naylor must be mindful of when they hold their crucial talks in the coming days.

In analysis it’s obvious that no-one really wants the Orange Show to end, and most want the present showground retained along with the Showground Committee to ensure the show continues to reflect our community values and heritage in the coming years.

It’s also clear that an agreement that reflects, as close as is possible, the needs of both sides must be negotiated, and it must end once and for all the growing distrust between the council and the committee that has made this such a damaging, divisive public and political issue.

SHOWGROUND QUESTIONS UPDATE

Councillors Neil Jones and Reg Kidd responded in writing to our invitation to reply to our questions regarding the showground and its future, and these are their full written comments:

Cr Neil Jones:

1. Why does Orange need a showground, and for that matter, an annual show?

A Showground is the focal point for the whole community for a wide range events, activities and services. It is a large area of public land centrally located in the city; easily accessible to all (walk, bike, car and bus), and particularly those from lower socio-economic backgrounds who live nearby. It can meet the needs of everyone in the community; no matter who they, where they come or what their interests are.

And yes, Orange needs an Annual Show. It is a unique event that not only reflects the agricultural importance of our region and defines who we are and where we have come from, but it it is the one event that brings the whole community together for two days of the year. Whether you are an exhibitor, participant, spectator or visitor; there is something for everyone to be involved in or simply watch and enjoy.

Rides and showbags. Children, teenagers, older persons, families, business people, farmers and orchardists all mixing together enjoying themselves. Exhibitors and competitors being rewarded for effort and excellence, business people showcasing products, and service clubs and community organisations volunteering.

And “The Show” and other events bring visitors from outside the city who spend money locally benefiting a range of businesses.

Money raised at many of the activities and events by different organisations is often donated to needy community groups.

2. What purpose should the showground serve?

Because it is a large area of public open space with pavilions and sheds, the Showground provides a venue for not only “The Annual Show”, but for almost any activity that requires space for many spectators and participants, for animal/ livestock events, for motor vehicle displays, markets, camping, concerts and plays. And much, much more.

The Showground can also provide opportunities for sport and passive recreation amidst beautiful trees and level grassed areas.

The Showground can provide an outdoor display area for significant historical items (eg machinery) that could not be accommodated inside the proposed Orange Regional Museum.

It can provide a large overflow or specialised camping area for large touring groups or for other events in the city.

3. Who should use it?

Everyone!

4. To accommodate these uses, what facilities does it need to have?

A multipurpose round or oval “show ring” with good spectator viewing.A large multipurpose covered/enclosed pavilion, with catering facilities. Restoration of the original “Agricultural Pavilion” for special events in keeping with its heritage and rustic appeal.

5. To build these facilities to standard, should a private commercial enterprise be the goal?

No!! It should be run by the Community for the Community. If it came under control of private enterprise, the very essence of community ownership, involvement and responsibility would be lost. A Business Plan as part of the Redevelopment Strategy should identify sources of funding, and any appropriate commercial opportunities.

6. If owned and operated by the City Council, how should it be structured?

Irrespective of who “owns” it, it should have a Management Committee of representatives of the Show Society and other user groups, and community organisations and Chamber of Commerce.

7. Can we achieve (4) with the showground as it exists, and at what cost?

Of course we can, and at a cost that is comparable with other major community projects; the Aquatic Centre/Anzac Stadium/Museum/Library/Gallery/Wade Park. It would have more widespread use than all of these other facilities put together.

Cr Reg Kidd:

SHOWGROUND – ORANGE COMMUNITY OPEN SPACE AND FACILITY

Greenspace accessible to all the community in an area bordered by low socio-economic area, new suburbs and access to Northern Distributor road and public transport. A multifunctional greenspace.

Accessibility from three roads, therefore lends itself to easy access and egress with a suitable traffic management plan. Also, lots of internal parking, and parking that could be developed outside the precinct.

Events that have/and or could be conducted at the showground: motorcross, fireworks, circus-type events, car/bike rallies, sporting events, dog shows, country fair shows (as there is an increasing awareness of our children re-connecting with the sources of their “food and fibre”).

Simple “open space” where folk can go to fly a kite, let the dogs have a run, and basically have space to “play” that may not be available at home (particularly in units or small urban backyards).

Therefore a “show” is only part of a community facility. At present it is used by various horse groups, including comp draughting and rodeo and lots of others that seem to be ignored in the present debate.

If the amenities had not been run down, i.e. the toilets etc, there would be more groups using it.

The drain access to the site was put there by the council and should be a covered pipe.

Some general maintenance, modification etc could see the pavilions used for all sorts of events – farmers markets, bird shows, sales.

I have attended balls and other fund-raising events in the pavilion, including events to raise money for cancer, sportspeople, schools and other community charity organisations.

I have visited many showgrounds across Australia and whilst called “the showground” they are very much more than that.

As an example, recently I have been at Condobolin, Cobar and Mudgee at very successful “gardening weekends” – all held at their showgrounds.

It is also a space where camping can take up the accommodation overflow. Perhaps also an area for RVs.

It is easy to give negative aspects and easy to talk up things like how it would work in conjunction with thoroughbred horse training and racing facilities [Towac Park]. It would not!

I have been involved in thoroughbred racing at a number of levels for many years and I am adamant that many of the comments being made show a complete lack of knowledge of the racing industry, security, animal welfare and a number of other issues.

Basically, all events at the showground are run by volunteers for the benefit of the whole community, and as such it shows a need in itself.

Remember the ELF, Environmental Learning Facility was specifically built and funded as a community resource at a location where it was easily accessible by sections of the community in possible most need — i.e. the indigenous community. Thus the Aboriginal input in mural at the ELF.

Also the community garden at the ELF. This was opened by Governor Marie Bashir who commented on its appropriateness and suitable location. This facility is a community benefit, no different from the indoor pool, library and parks and gardens that do not pay for themselves.

But the area could easily move towards self-sufficiency if a community-driven Management Committee could be formed and supported and encouraged to develop a strategic plan and associated business/marketing plan. There are so many possibilities.

NOTE: Also, the caravan park is in the grounds of the showground. If it is to stay where it is it must be part of the overall package.

There needs to be transparency and genuine consultation. That has been lacking to date.

Categories : Front Slider, Latest news

Comments (0)

MACQUARIE PIPELINE – REPORT SAYS IT COULD HAVE SAVED US FROM DROUGHT MISERY

Posted on May 8, 2012 by Derek Maitland

Suma Park Dam at 30% capacity in April 2009

Orange City Council’s controversial Macquarie River Pipeline Project has been given what Mayor John Davis calls an “encouraging” boost by an expert report which says the city would have had plenty of water if the pipeline had been operating during the long, harsh drought.

The report, the findings of a long-term modelling conducted by the environmental and civil engineering consultants Geolyse, asserts that the city’s dams would have remained at 50 percent full and emergency water restrictions wouldn’t have been needed.

Moreover, it says that at the height of the drought in 2010, when the dam levels fell to 23 percent, water from the pipeline would have maintained a level of more than 60 percent.

The Geolyse report was produced for a hydrology and water security assessment as part of the state government-required environmental assessment of the pipeline project.

Not surprisingly, the city council has welcomed the findings on a number of fronts: it goes a long way toward supporting and vindicating the council’s decision to stick to its guns on the pipeline scheme; it fires a potentially muffling shot across the bows of environmental and community groups bitterly opposed to the pipeline; and it could well remove the pipeline project as a probable major, divisive issue in the September council elections.

According to John Davis, the Geolyse report is the “result of modelling across more than 100 years of information [on Macquarie River capacity and flows] which demonstrates the project is viable.

“While some people believe there had been little or no flows in the Macquarie River for much of the last decade,” he says, “the actual data tells us as very different story.

“MINIMAL IMPACT” ON RIVER

Chart shows 10-year dam capacity (blue line) and estimated pipeline input (red)

“What the data reveals is that even when the city was in drought the Macquarie Pipeline would have delivered water security to the city with minimal impact on the river.”

The modelling estimates that the pipeline’s annual average extraction of water from the river between 2000 and 2010 would have been 1.5 percent of its flows.

On a long-term basis, the pipeline’s planned average extraction of 1,665 megalitres, or 0.54 percent of flows, would boost the city’s secure yield – water in the dams – “by 2,800 megalitres, almost double that first estimated.”

The project has yet to be assessed by various departments of the state government, which is going to mean more time and work before a final approval is granted, but there was no mistaking the heartening effect this latest report is having on Mayor Davis when Orange News Now interviewed him in this ONN Video report.

Categories : Front Slider, Latest news

Comments (0)

SEPTEMBER COUNCIL ELECTION CAMPAIGNS ABOUT TO ROLL

Posted on May 3, 2012 by Derek Maitland

The campaign for the September 8 council elections is about to start rolling with a series of prospective candidate seminars scheduled for Orange, Cabonne, Dubbo and Forbes next week.

The sessions should give some idea of who in each electorate is prepared to contest the polls, though candidates with prior experience will probably put off announcing their challenges until the campaigning heats up closer to the election.

The information seminars, conducted by the NSW Electoral Commission, begin in Dubbo next Monday, May 7, and other meetings are scheduled for Orange, Tuesday May 8, and Forbes on Wednesday May 9.

Cabonne Council is holding its own information session at the council chambers in Molong on Wednesday July 11, and is also inviting prospective candidates to attend its regular meeting on July 16 “to see how meetings are conducted and to speak to current councillors.”

Another Electoral Commission session is scheduled for Parkes on July 4.

Tuesday’s meeting in Orange will be held at the Ex-Servicemen’s Club in Anson Street from 5pm to 8pm.

As with the other regional meetings, the Orange seminar will explain “candidate’s obligations and responsibilities” under the Local Government laws and recent legislative changes to campaign rules covering such topics as who’s eligible to be a candidate and how to nominate, election advertising, how-to-vote material, scrutineering and funding and disclosure stipulations.

COUNCIL INCUMBANTS-ONLY AT THE MOMENT

With six months to go, the early profile of election candidates for Orange shows nothing new. The field is exclusively sitting councillors at the moment, with deputy mayor Jeff Whitton, Chris Gryllis, Neil Jones and Glenn Taylor confirming they’ll run again.

Reg Kidd says he hasn’t decided, but it’s thought highly unlikely that he’ll not stand. Sam Romano and Peter Hetherington are among the undecided, along with Gavin Priestly and Jason hamling; but that doesn’t mean they’re not going to run.

As Jason Hamling says: “At the moment I’m concentrating on this term and all the work that remains to be done. I’ll turn my mind to the question of my candidacy when the time comes.”

This view is also shared by Peter Heatherington, who says he has no intention of engaging in a long campaign over the next six months in which councillor candidates battle for media attention.

But the campaign is sadly overshadowed by Cr Fiona Rossiter’s disclosure that she’s “98 percent” unlikely to run again as a candidate in September.

She’s told Orange News Now that the two precent gap is “huge,” and depends to a great extent on the calibre and community dedication of all candidates who field in the election stakes over the coming months.

“I’ll be watching for signs of a positive change in the council,” Cr Rossiter says. “It needs a better mixture of people seeking office who are community minded and family oriented as well as being respectable, reputable Orange citizens.”

“You know what would be a good idea? I’d like to see a pastor in there standing for election.”

FIONA ROSSITER CONCERNED FOR OWN HEALTH, FAMILY

Cr Rossiter says the 98 percent that’s convinced her she shouldn’t run again reflects her deep concern for her own health and the welfare of her family.

It comes after a term in council in which she’s had to face debilitating attacks by fellow councillors like Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham – who’s said he definitely won’t be running again in September — and the persistent, heavy-handed moves by Brian Wood and other notables of the Orange Ratepayers Association, to block a liquor licence application for the family restaurant, Bissys, in Anson Street.

She’s particularly worried about the emotional effect that the association’s crude campaign had on her daughter, who runs Bissys.

The association’s move against her, in particular, led to claims by Mayor John Davis and other councillors of a vendetta by the tiny action group against the mayor and his staunchest supporters.

“These personal crusades have hurt me and my family,” says Cr Rossiter, who’s a firm ally of John Davis.

“I’ve stayed in there fighting while they’ve been going on, but there have also been too many times when I’ve put up sound projects and ideas to the council for the betterment of our community, knowing full well that they’re going to be pigeon-holed, completely ignored or discarded by the elected chamber.”

As Orange City Council’s only female councillor, Fionar Rossiter’s firm hesitation over whether to stand in September throws a big spotlight on the possibility of an all-male council again in the future.

She believes her innate outspokenness on community issues has triggered a lot of the resistance, along with “outright bullying” by certain councillors.

“If we could get a better mix of candidates, and therefore elected councillors, we could change this council for the better – and that means Orange too,” she says.

RATEPAYERS ASSOCIATION TEAM TICKET LIKELY

As far as community interest in the election candidacy is concerned, we may well get an idea on Tuesday as to who’s likely to put up their hand to run.

It’s thought likely that the Orange Ratepayers Association will field a team – its key complaint, the city council’s Macquarie River Pipeline Project, is expected to be one of the major issues, if not the issue, on the campaign trail.

But an Orange ratepayers ticket may well depend on whether the Mayor, John Davis and Cr Reg Kidd are able to get enough numbers in council on their proposal to abolish the group ticket system in this election so that all candidates have to run as individuals.

John Davis believes the move would go a long way toward achieving what Fiona Rossiter, and probably a lot of other people in Orange, would like to see in this upcoming poll, a narrower field of independent, serious candidates with a personal, and not a group political or activist, appeal to voters — maintaining a true community-oriented city council.

Categories : Front Slider, Latest news

Comments (0)

TOP-LEVEL TALKS AGREED IN BID TO END ORANGE SHOWGROUND STAND-OFF

Posted on May 2, 2012 by Derek Maitland

Not exactly show weather as the rides were being erected Wednesday

The two key figures in the Orange Showground impasse, Mayor John Davis and Showground Committee chair Peter Naylor, have arranged vital face-to-face talks in two weeks from now in a bid to resolve the bitter dispute.

The meeting was set up yesterday (Tuesday May 1) when Mayor Davis rang Peter Naylor for what he told Orange News Now would be “one more crack” at finding common ground with the committee which would allow redevelopment of the showground to go ahead.

“I want to see where we are, and whether we can come to terms on the issue,” John Davis said.

“It’s a 25-year-old problem that’s now come to a lack of confidence of all parties, and I’m not pointing the finger at any one group.”

Asked to comment on the mayor’s call, Peter Naylor confirmed the meeting would be held in two weeks, after he’d taken a short rest from work on this year’s Orange Show this coming weekend.

“The show is coming up so quickly,” he said.”I’ll need to have a rest when it’s over, and then meet the mayor.”

COUNCIL’S NEW TRUST PROPOSAL UNDER COMMITTEE SCRUTINY

Mr Naylor said the focus of his interest in the talks would be the council’s proposed Crown Land Trust which it wants to replace the deed of covenant, signed in 1986, which gives the Showground Committee control of the showground.

A new trust management deal would give the council operational control and direct negotiation with the showground’s users on fees.

The committee has threatened legal action against the council, claiming the existing deed of covenant is inviolable.

“I want to see what this new trust proposal is all about, and whether we can live with it,” he said.

In a hopeful sign, he’s been quoted elsewhere this week as saying: “If we had a trust management up and running now we could sit down and work out what we’re going to do.”

He told ONN: “This dispute has been going on for so long that I can’t say I have any confidence in the council yet.

“But I’ll go into the meeting with an open mind.”

$250,000 AT STAKE IN TALKS

The city council is offering to release $250,000 in funding for renovation of the showground if the committee allows the proposed new trust agreement.

“We’re ready to put that redevelopment project into action immediately we have a deal,” John Davis said. “The $250,000 was agreed by council months ago.

“We’ll spend that money in a positive manner, and then be prepared to discuss the showground budget for 2012-13.

“I think that once we begin spending and sorting out what the showground needs, the committee and other users will feel more inclined to be a full partner with us in the showground’s future.”

Peter Naylor sees this year’s 140th Orange Show as an opportunity to press home the event’s traditional community and cultural importance to the Orange region, along with its abiding family-oriented popularity.

It’ll feature a new circus, new rides and new agricultural events, and, for the first time since the Centenary Jubilee Show in 1912, a ceremonial flypast by at least a dozen planes and a helicopter or two during the Grand Parade on Saturday.

He’s invited all the city councillors to join him on a guided tour of the fair after the Grand Parade “to make sure none of them can say they know nothing about the show.”

SALE OF SHOWGROUND SITE APPEARS OFF THE BOOKS

With the meeting between Peter Naylor and John Davis now scheduled, and the mayor’s promise of renovation funding and a new showground budget to come, it would appear that the main fear of the Showground Committee and its supporters – that the council will sell off the showground site – is no longer an issue.

It’s a question now of whether the two sides can come up with a management formula which will satisfy the council’s demand for more operational control of the showground and guarantee the Showground Committee that it still runs the annual show itself and has not been shoved on to the sidelines.

According to one of the committee’s key council supporters, Neil Jones, it’s also important that an agreement be reached before the showground becomes a widely divisive issue in the council elections in September.

He says he and ECCO (Environmentally Concerned Citizens of Orange) regard the site as vital green space that must be preserved, whatever its function, for the “green future” of our city.

Here’s what he told Orange News Now in this ONN Video interview:

Categories : Front Slider, Latest news

Comments (0)

A “PEOPLE’S MAYOR” — BUT WHAT ABOUT THE REST OF THE COUNCIL?

Posted on April 4, 2012 by Derek Maitland

Mayoral chains -- takes special skills to wear them, councillors say

Should the people of Orange elect their own mayor?

It’s an issue that’s finally broken the surface of local politics here, with the Orange City Council deciding to put the question to a referendum in the council elections in September.

It’s going to be a difficult question for people to decide, and one that could drive a wedge through the community — with undeniable democratic principles on one hand and the reality and requirements of local government politics on the other.

And that’s why it’s being approached with measured care by the city councillors that Orange News Now has spoken with on the issue.

The consensus of three leading councillors – Glenn Taylor, Neil Jones and deputy mayor Jeff Whitton – is that while, in a perfect world, the citizens of Orange should be able to elect their own civic leader, politics is politics, even in local government, and the successful candidate has to live and work in reasonable and positive harmony with the rest of the councillors for four whole years.

That means someone who’s familiar with council politics and is popular not only with the people who elected him or her in but with the majority of the councillors too.

As Cr Glenn Taylor points out: “It’s a question of numbers – that’s the crux of the issue.

“We’ve already had one popularly elected mayor who failed to get the numbers, or majority support, on the council.

“As a citizen I’d say yes, that the people in the streets should elect their mayor has a lot of merit to it. But as a councillor I’d have to say no – it’s a diverse, complicated job in which it’s difficult to work with a mayor you just don’t get on with.”

Jeff Whitton sees the same problem – a “people’s mayor” with public popularity and support but lacking the support needed in the council to get anything done.

“I’ve been on the council for eight years,” he says, “and the mayor must be able to work with the 11 other councillors.

“With due respect to the public, the mayor they choose may please them but may not have the support and leadership in the council chambers.”

COMMUNITY NEEDS LOCAL GOVERNMENT AWARENESS

Cr Neil Jones says it’s still a popularity poll, whether the mayor is elected by 11 fellow-councillors or tens of thousands of Orange citizens.

“In an ideal world it would be good to see the population of Orange vote for the leader of the city.

“But unfortunately the community is not aware of the crucial role of the mayor and the special attributes it requires.

“And until we have a population and community that understand local government and the skills required we could end up with someone who’s popular for the wrong reason and doesn’t deserve to hold the position.”

Among publicly-chosen candidates who wouldn’t fit the mayoral robes, it’s suggested, would be someone who’s backed by considerable financial resources and is “buying” into the position to promote a personal agenda.

“AGGRESSION, ANTAGONISM” WON’T WORK

Furthermore, as Glenn Taylor puts it: “While I’m not saying a popularly elected mayor wouldn’t work, there’s a danger of someone who’s overly aggressive or antagonistic creating a difficult situation.

“Also, a popular election for mayor might provide opportunities for political parties, when the position of mayor should be independent along with all the other councillors.”

Another important point on the candidate’s CV, says Neil Jones, must be the ability to “articulate well, to have the council’s professionals around you, and the ability to represent the council in complex technical and funding discussions.”

Not to mention, it might be added, the key skill that incumbent John Davis cited in an interview with ONN last year — a good mayor is the “sales, marketing and promotional manager” of the town or city he or she represents.

Orange City Council was meeting last night (Wednesday April 4) to decide on the wording of the question for the referendum.

The recommendation before them was this: “Do you approve of a change to allow for the direct election of the mayor by voters enrolled in the Orange City Council area for a four year term?”

Immediately, it presents a potential confusion – whether the voters have to have been enrolled for a four year term in the council area or would be voting in their mayor for four years.”

The council is reportedly seeking the help of the Western Research Institute to get the right, “balanced” message across to the electorate.

Categories : Latest news

Comments (0)

BRIAN WOOD ACCUSES MAYOR, COUNCILLORS OF “WILD ACCUSATIONS”

Posted on March 22, 2012 by Derek Maitland

Cr Fiona Rossiter -- motion to make Wood letter public disallowed in council

The president of the Orange Ratepayers Association, Brian Wood, has apparently claimed there’s no foundation to accusations that he’s conducting a personal vendetta against the Mayor, John Davis and other city councillors.

His rebuttal is “apparent” because it’s contained in a single-page four-paragraph typed letter which bears no letterhead, carries a handwritten signature — “Brian Wood, President ORPA, 14 March 2012″ – and is not an original document but a scanned and printed copy.

Therefore it can only be assumed that he wrote it – and this reflects again the amateurish, almost cavalier manner in which the self-proclaimed lobby group conducts its business and the way in which Mr Wood himself, aside from two unheaded one-page written statements, has hidden behind the group throughout the vendetta dispute.

The letter appeared in the mailboxes of all city councillors last week prior to their regular meeting. Councillor Fiona Rossiter presented it at the meeting and asked that it be placed on the record, but for some unknown reason the motion was disallowed.

The letter reads: “The Statements made by John Davis, Mayor, and Councillor Hetherington, that a personal vendetta is being conducted by the President of the Rate payers (sic) Association against the Mayor and certain Councillors is without foundation.

“The Orange Ratepayers Association is an Organisation which seeks to ensure that the Orange City Council and staff, including its Councillors and Mayor are carrying out their duties efficiently and without fear or favour in the interests of all rate payers in Orange.

“If the Mayor and Councillors are so sensitive that they cannot withstand direct questions from the Association as to their activities and the efficient running of the Council then they should not stand for public office at an election.

“The Rate Payers (sic) Association has and will continue to regularly seek answers from Councillors and staff in relation to decisions that have been made which do not appear to be transparent and which appear to be irregular. If the Association does not make these representations then there is no accountability by Councillors and staff.

“The wild accusations made by the Mayor and Councillors that a vendetta exists is an attempt to discredit the Association in its endeavours to represent the citizens of the City of Orange.”

GLARING IRONIES ON ”SENSITIVITY,” ”TRANSPARENCY”

The letter is interesting for the glaring ironies that it contains when you compare the lobby group’s recent conduct with its comments, for one thing, about sensitivity and transparency.

As Orange News Now’s reporting on the issue in recent weeks has shown, it could be said that it is Brian Wood and other leaders of the group who have been “so sensitive that they cannot withstand direct questions as to their activities”

This in fact is week three of ONN’s attempts to obtain answers to a series of questions it put to Brian Wood and the group regarding his public comments in the Central Western Daily on the Bissys cafe liquor licence application which triggered the “vendetta” affair , and the group’s apparent complete lack of transparency – no website, no apparent charter, no public information of any sort regarding its membership, decisions and activities – which brings into question its right to claim representation of the ratepaying electorate of Orange.

We still have received no answer to our questions to Brian Wood himself, nor has the association’s secretary, Janette Churchill, honoured her promise to provide answers to these questions, which we repeat once again, on the organisation’s structure and conduct that Orange ratepayers have a right to know:

1. How many members are enrolled in the association?
2. How many of the membership turn up regularly at meetings?
3. Where are the association’s meetings held and how often?
4. Is your membership list available for public information?
5. Do you record the minutes of all your meetings?
6. Does the association have a website or any other form of open informational contact with the Orange public?
7. Does the association distribute information about its meetings or media releases about its activities and decisions?
8. How does the association attract and recruit new members?
9. Does the association claim to represent the interests of all ratepayers in Orange?
10. Does it inform all ratepayers of its activities and decisions on their behalf?
11. Does the association have a written, recorded charter and if so when was it recorded and where is it displayed?

Two weeks ago, Mr Wood told Bob Holland, CEO of Central West Photo News which publishes Orange News Now, that he would provide information on “how the association started.”

He was reminded of this via email just a few days ago, along with our latest request for a reply to the questions we put weeks ago to Janette Churchill, but there’s still been no reaction.

“A RATEPAYER LOBBY GROUP” — CWD

Meantime, it’s interesting that the Central Western Daily, in running two stories with pictures of Brian Wood and vice president Garry Kind in the past week of ORA public interest in the state of our roads and the fees at the swimming complex, referred itself to the ORA as “a ratepayer lobby group.”

Whether an oversight or not, it certainly put into context this small, secretive group of community activists whose title suggests they represent all the ratepayers of Orange.

Lest we at Orange News Now be accused again of “bias” or running a crusade against Brian Wood and the ORA, we make the point that we are seeking information for the public record about a registered community organisation – claiming to represent the public — that this organisation seems to prefer to keep secret and which the community at large in Orange deserves to be informed about.

In that respect, we can refer again, with a few significant changes, to Brian Wood’s statement to the city councillors.

“If Brian Wood and the Orange Ratepayers Association are so sensitive that they cannot withstand direct questions from the media as to their activities … then they should not stand for public office at an election.

“Orange News Now has and will continue to regularly seek answers from Brian Wood and the ORA in relation to decisions that have been made which do not appear to be transparent and which appear to be irregular.”

Categories : Front Slider, Latest news

Comments (0)

JOIN THE ORANGE RATEPAYERS ASSOCIATION — IF YOU CAN FIND IT

Posted on March 5, 2012 by Derek Maitland

If ever there was an organisation in Orange that needs a massive influx of members and funding it’s the Orange Ratepayers Association.

Registered two years ago, its mission, as its name clearly suggests, is to represent the city’s ratepaying electorate, of which there must be many thousands of households.

Yet its meetings, held weekly at the Orange Bowling Club, usually attract about 15 members, sometimes only around eight, and the group apparently doesn’t have the resources to inform the ratepaying public what it’s discussing, or doing, on their behalf.

In fact there’s no real public record of the ORA beyond its registration as the Orange Ratepayers Association Inc , number INC9894091 on September 28, 2010, with ASIC, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.

After two years of operation, the group doesn’t appear to have a website, or blogsite, or any online publicity organ that almost any new business or organisation hastens to establish from day one of its inception these days. There’s no public evidence of a charter, even.

And so, the ORA is struggling along after all this time representing the interests and opinions of thousands of Orange residents at City Council meetings and in the Orange media with most of its constituents completely unaware that it’s there to work on their behalf.

If it’s held annual general meetings and elections of officers, there’s no immediate evidence of it.

It needs far more membership if it is to truly represent the interests of the people of Orange, but as one regular meeting goer points out: “It is not an association that is going to get followers in their droves, certainly not in Orange.

“But eventually it should take off. Publicity etc is difficult with a new group and limited funds.

“If the ratepayers don’t get involved then the association will fold, which is a pity.”

WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHY, WHERE?

The pity is that the ORA risks all the good work it may be doing being ignored because the only time it gets publicity is when it appears to be following a personal agenda.

And again, this goes back to the crux of the organisation’s weakness – it’s not communicating with its constituents. Neither is it providing any real information about its structure and conduct of its members and officials.

Last week we presented the following questions via email to the organisation’s president, Brian Wood and colleague Garry Kind, along with its secretary Janette Churchill:

These are quite reasonable questions of any organisation that purports to represent a large segment of the Orange population. After all, any organisation that calls itself a Ratepayers Association plays, or should play, a very important and transparent role in the community.

However Messrs Wood and Kind have not replied, and Secretary Janette Churchill says: “The answers to your questions will take some time, which I don’t have at the moment.

“I will address these questions at my earliest opportunity and forward my response.”

ONN’s response is this: how long does it take to say yes or no to our questions, unless there simply are no positive answers to them?

COMMUNITY GROUP OR VIGILANTES?

And in the wake of the “Bissys” issue and the verbal squaring off of the ORA and the Mayor John Davis and other city councillors, doesn’t a small, rather secretive association with such a wide-ranging umbrella title risk being seen as a political vigilante group and not a community service?

“An independent group like ORA, so long as it is not used as a selfish vehicle, can be a benefit in keeping some sense of honesty and a level playing field so everyone is treated the same,” says our close source to the association.

“Just because a person is on Council does not give them the right to have regulations overlooked.

“If we turn a blind eye here then another blind eye there, are we in the true sense of the question any different to the soldiers from the German camps who just said, ‘I was following orders’?”

With that point truly acknowledged, the question remains whether the ORA is going to take itself seriously as a potential voice for the good for the Orange community, or remain a small, unrepresentative body whose only aim is to keep bashing councillors whenever they can and anyone else who challenges them.

The point has been made that, in some respects, its status is like that of ECCO – Environmentally Concerned Citizens of Orange – that works on behalf of the community even though not all the community is involved in it nor shares its views.

But a group challenging a far more focused issue like environmental welfare, and claiming to be made up of citizens concerned with that issue, is certainly quite different to an organisation whose title infers that it works for everyone in Orange who pays rates.

It doesn’t. Its vociferous opposition to the Macquarie River Pipeline Project – whatever the rights or wrongs of the scheme – ignores the prospect that there may well be a huge silent majority out there in Orange who don’t oppose it. All of them ratepayers.

And the only way the Orange Ratepayers Association is going to be able to make that kind of distinction is if its membership is swelled by people of Orange who want the organisation to work with the community – and that includes the City Council – to solve, not constantly hammer and politic against, issues that this city needs a solution to and personalities it sees as enemies..

And to do it with proper organisation and complete transparency.

If you’re a ratepayer who truly believes in the just development and progress of our community, not simply a constant war against our elected councillors, join the ORA now.

It needs YOU.

Categories : Latest news, Uncategorized

Comments (0)

“BISSYS” UPDATE — MAYOR CHARGES GROUP WITH VENDETTAS

Posted on February 29, 2012 by Derek Maitland

Mayor John Davis

Senior Orange City Councillors, including the Mayor John Davis, have supported claims that the Orange Ratepayers Association is being used as a vehicle for personal vendettas against the council and individual councillors.

They say the association’s president, Brian Wood, is using the group for personal crusades, including a long-running vendetta against Mayor Davis and his closest council colleagues with unsubstantiated and unproven allegations.

Peter Hetherington believes the Ratepayers Association’s “negative campaign” against councillors “has to stop.”

He says: “If Brian Wood has anything substantive in his constant complaints then let’s see it. Otherwise stop.”

Cr Hetherington says the complete rejection of the association’s unproven charges against the mayor and councillors of corruption should have convinced them there was no point in continuing their venedettas.

“If Brian Wood can’t learn a lesson from this then he’s a fool.”

MAYOR DAVIS — “PERSONAL VENDETTAS”

As for John Davis, he’s told Orange News Now in an interview from Canberra: “I believe Brian Woods has been using the Ratepayers Association, its letterhead and its name, to launch personal vendettas focused on me personally and other councillors.

“He’s overstepped the mark. He’s aggressive and out of control, and councillors involved with the association have had to face the threat of personal attacks by him for trying to stop him.”

Mayor Davis describes Mr Wood’s public conduct and statements in the Bissys liquor licence issue as a “disgrace.”

“Not only was it publicly discussed before it had had an official hearing, but for Cr Rossiters’ young daughter to sit in the shop crying all day over his attacks is shameful.

“I know of no other place in Orange, in these circumstances, that has come under that kind of scrutiny.”

Cr Davis says the Ratepayers Association has, since its beginnings, “taken up their time on verbal attacks against me and the council despite members saying they need to discuss things meaningful to Orange.”

In reference to Bissys cafe, he says “it’s important that we have corner cafes like theirs to renovate old buildings, with sidewalk tables and umbrellas, adding to the relaxed colourful lifestyle of Orange.”

We spoke with two other senior councillors who are likewise alarmed by Brian Wood’s apparent “personal crusade” as head of the Ratepayers Association. Both commented in anonymity because, as Mayor Davis says, they face the threat of personal attacks by the association.

One councillor says Brian Wood’s personal campaign against the mayor has been going on for a long time. “I don’t know how anyone in public office could stand up to the attacks like John Davis has,” he says.

“Brian Wood is just using the Ratepayers Association to bring down John Davis under the guise of representing the community.

“He has relentlessly pursued him. He’s obsessed.”

“Our council officers spend too much time dealing with his complaints. They are not there for the purpose of batting away his accusations. If Brian Wood and the association want to continue their vendettas, then put up or shut up.”

Categories : Front Slider, Latest news

Comments (4)

THE BATTLE FOR ORANGE SHOWGROUND – AN ONN SPECIAL FEATURE

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Derek Maitland

Orange Showground -- in dire need of a makeover

Orange has had its share of big divisive issues lately but very few have brought community leaders out fighting more than the future of the Orange Showground.

And with good reason: like Cook Park and Robertson Park and other iconic city sites and traditions, local people have grown up with it, with perhaps three or more family generations before them remembering the annual gatherings, tests of man and beast, livestock shows, funfairs and latest cars and machinery of the region’s farmers and graziers.

The president of the Orange Shown Society, Peter Naylor, typifies the strength of the Orange Show’s tradition and popularity as a key community event which has flourished since the first Orange Showground Act was passed in 1897.

Peter has been a society member for the past two decades, and his family forebears before that, and he says he still remembers being a baby in a buggy when he first set his infant eyes on its sideshows, fairground and sweeping paddocks.

“My 23-year-old son is involved in the showground, the fourth generation of my family to love the place,” he says. “Last year my 30-year-old other son drove from Canberra with his wife to help us get the event under way.

“It’s part of our family culture, and not just the showground itself but the entire site – a great green place for recreation and peace in an area of Orange which doesn’t have much in the way of parks.

“You can see office workers, contractors and tradespeople taking their lunch break there of a daytime, relaxing in the openness and clean air.”

DEED OF COVENANT VERSUS COUNCIL RESPONSIBILITY

Peter says the current face-off between the Showground Society and supporters and Orange City Council goes back to 1987 when the then governing trust found it couldn’t manage the site adequately.

The city council took over as caretaker, running the place in partnership with the society, but the society was given a Deed of Covenant asserting its control of the property and the council’s responsibility in maintaining it.

Since then the council has moved several times to get the Deed of Covenant quashed and a new partnership agreement set up.

Towac Park -- can it cater for annual Orange Shows?

It certainly didn’t help put a shine on the council’s role in the issue when, in July 2009, it discussed a motion to move the annual show to Towac Park and turn the showground site over to residential development.

The move was defeated, and the council unanimously voted to upgrade the already deteriorating show venue – something that clearly hasn’t been done.

But the nemesis of possible commercial development has hung over the showground ever since, and it has not been entirely dispelled in the current stiffening of confrontation over the site’s future.

$6 MILLION NEEDED TO RESCUE THE SHOWGROUND

Peter Naylor wants the city council to pour at least $6 million into upgrading the showground, including redeveloping the square ring and building a new multipurpose pavilion.

The showground’s thoroughly inadequate drainage system, and the annual flooding it causes, is also a funding priority – as was shown last week when flash floods from a violent thunderstorm tore through the grounds at knee height.

“That $6 million came into being three years ago, when we completed a survey for the council on what was needed to bring the showground site up to scratch,” Peter Naylor says.

Since then, the council has voted to allocate $250,000 a year for redevelopment and renovation, but that money has not been spent.

The council is holding back the funding until it gets a new agreement, a Memorandum of Understanding, which would allow it to obtain funding contributions from the showground’s users, and the Show Society itself to help support the $250,000 annual expenditure.

But as Peter Naylor insists: “We at the Show Society cannot apply for grants to support the upkeep and upgrading of the showground. Only the council can do that.”

State MP for Orange Andrew Gee has lately weighed in on the debate, saying the council cannot legally force the Show Society to dump their Deed of Covenant.

Meantime, he says, the council is reneging on its agreement to maintain the showground with the $250,000 annual grant.

COUNCIL WANTS “FAIRER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM”

Another aspect of the council’s stance in the debate came from its public relations manager Nick Redmond shortly before Christmas.

He stated that the council has spent almost $600,000 on the showground over the past three years — money, it’s believed, which came partly from revenues of the caravan park.

In order to get the new $250,000 funding, the council needed a new agreement with the Show Society that “gives a management system to the site that’s fairer to the broader community,” Nick Redmond said.

“Under the Deed of Covenant, the Orange Show Society are the only ones mentioned,” he was quoted as saying. “It doesn’t reflect that there are more people using that site. “

In other words, the council doesn’t want the showground administered by the Showground Society alone.

The whole issue is expected to come to a head at the city council’s first 2012 meeting, next Thursday February 2, when Cr Sam Romano puts a motion forward calling for the Deed of Covenant to be rescinded in lieu of the showground’s closure and transfer to the redeveloping racing and recreation complex at Towac.

Meanwhile, in this ONN news video, we present the competing views of four of the key protagonists in the debate – Cr Sam Romano, Mayor John Davis, Cr Neil Jones and Veronica Ford of the Orange Showground Action Group.

Categories : Front Slider, Latest news

Comments (1)

ONN VIDEO NEWS: MEET ORANGE’S NEW MAYOR

Posted on December 31, 2011 by Derek Maitland

When you look at the extreme challenge life has been for Tom Roberts, and at such a young age, you can appreciate why he was voted Orange’s first Junior Mayor.
At the age of 19, Tom has battled successfully to cope with deep depression and an even more debilitating illness, Friedreich’s Ataxia, which is attacking and damaging his nervous system and bones.
He did it with music — taking an increasingly important role from the age of 16 in music festivals in Sydney and Orange and finally reaching a figurehead position as MC of “Battle of the Bands.”
After joining the Orange Youth Council, a group set up by the City Council under the auspices of Councillor Fiona Rossiter to provide a two-way link and input with the city’s young people, Tom was overwhelmingly voted into the inaugural Junior Mayor’s office with Lauren Dawson as Assistant Mayor.
One of Mayor Tom’s priorities is to give the the youth of Orange a “place they can call home,” working with the council to develop a multifunctional youth centre at Moulder Park.
In this special video interview with ONN, he tells how vital a central haven, workshop, entertainment centre and sporting facility would be for Orange’s teenagers, and Senior Mayor John Davis gives him some sound political advice on how to attain what he wants.

Categories : Feature Stories, Front Slider

Comments (0)

Archive for John Davis

DOES ORANGE NEED A SHOWGROUND AND, FOR THAT MATTER, AN ANNUAL SHOW?

“NO MANPOWER” FOR TWO DIFFERENT SHOWS

MARKED SENTIMENT FOR CONTINUING, BIGGER SHOW

SHOW “DEFINES WHO WE ARE, WHERE COME FROM”

PRIVATE/PUBLIC PARTNERSHIP COULD UPGRADE SHOWGROUND

SHOWGROUND SITE A “DINOSAUR” SAYS SAM ROMANO

SHOWGROUND QUESTIONS UPDATE

MACQUARIE PIPELINE – REPORT SAYS IT COULD HAVE SAVED US FROM DROUGHT MISERY

“MINIMAL IMPACT” ON RIVER

SEPTEMBER COUNCIL ELECTION CAMPAIGNS ABOUT TO ROLL

COUNCIL INCUMBANTS-ONLY AT THE MOMENT

FIONA ROSSITER CONCERNED FOR OWN HEALTH, FAMILY

RATEPAYERS ASSOCIATION TEAM TICKET LIKELY

TOP-LEVEL TALKS AGREED IN BID TO END ORANGE SHOWGROUND STAND-OFF

COUNCIL’S NEW TRUST PROPOSAL UNDER COMMITTEE SCRUTINY

$250,000 AT STAKE IN TALKS

SALE OF SHOWGROUND SITE APPEARS OFF THE BOOKS

A “PEOPLE’S MAYOR” — BUT WHAT ABOUT THE REST OF THE COUNCIL?

COMMUNITY NEEDS LOCAL GOVERNMENT AWARENESS

“AGGRESSION, ANTAGONISM” WON’T WORK

BRIAN WOOD ACCUSES MAYOR, COUNCILLORS OF “WILD ACCUSATIONS”

GLARING IRONIES ON ”SENSITIVITY,” ”TRANSPARENCY”

“A RATEPAYER LOBBY GROUP” — CWD

JOIN THE ORANGE RATEPAYERS ASSOCIATION — IF YOU CAN FIND IT

WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHY, WHERE?

COMMUNITY GROUP OR VIGILANTES?

“BISSYS” UPDATE — MAYOR CHARGES GROUP WITH VENDETTAS

MAYOR DAVIS — “PERSONAL VENDETTAS”

THE BATTLE FOR ORANGE SHOWGROUND – AN ONN SPECIAL FEATURE

DEED OF COVENANT VERSUS COUNCIL RESPONSIBILITY

$6 MILLION NEEDED TO RESCUE THE SHOWGROUND

COUNCIL WANTS “FAIRER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM”

ONN VIDEO NEWS: MEET ORANGE’S NEW MAYOR

Advertisement

Latest Stories

Archive for John Davis

“NO MANPOWER” FOR TWO DIFFERENT SHOWS

MARKED SENTIMENT FOR CONTINUING, BIGGER SHOW

SHOW “DEFINES WHO WE ARE, WHERE COME FROM”

PRIVATE/PUBLIC PARTNERSHIP COULD UPGRADE SHOWGROUND

SHOWGROUND SITE A “DINOSAUR” SAYS SAM ROMANO

SHOWGROUND QUESTIONS UPDATE

“MINIMAL IMPACT” ON RIVER

COUNCIL INCUMBANTS-ONLY AT THE MOMENT

FIONA ROSSITER CONCERNED FOR OWN HEALTH, FAMILY

RATEPAYERS ASSOCIATION TEAM TICKET LIKELY

COUNCIL’S NEW TRUST PROPOSAL UNDER COMMITTEE SCRUTINY

$250,000 AT STAKE IN TALKS

SALE OF SHOWGROUND SITE APPEARS OFF THE BOOKS

COMMUNITY NEEDS LOCAL GOVERNMENT AWARENESS

“AGGRESSION, ANTAGONISM” WON’T WORK

GLARING IRONIES ON ”SENSITIVITY,” ”TRANSPARENCY”

“A RATEPAYER LOBBY GROUP” — CWD

WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHY, WHERE?

COMMUNITY GROUP OR VIGILANTES?

MAYOR DAVIS — “PERSONAL VENDETTAS”

DEED OF COVENANT VERSUS COUNCIL RESPONSIBILITY

$6 MILLION NEEDED TO RESCUE THE SHOWGROUND

COUNCIL WANTS “FAIRER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM”

Topics

Advertisement

Latest Stories