The first Agenda item at today's Planning and Development meeting was Item 3.1 Deputation by Mr Jim Soorley. I just happened to be waiting for the meeting, sitting in the Customer Service area in Council's foyer, when Mr Soorley came in to register as a visitor too.
Having a couple of things on my mind I engaged Mr Soorley in a brief conversation.
From that I discovered that there was to be a hidden agenda behind the listed agenda item. Mr Soorley was acting on behalf of a body called Stockland Corporation Limited. You can look at their annual report for June 2005 here. Their web site says: Today Stockland is one of the top 50 ASX listed companies and one of Australia's largest, most diversified property groups.
Rather than come out clearly and say that council was to have a deputation from the Stockland Corporation Limited, one of Australia's largest property groups we get told in an official document that Jim Soorley is bringing a deputation. Deputation indeed! Jim in his usual blue shirt-tails and jeans, and another four blokes in Armani suits with one pulling the obligatory suitcase of documents behind.
So why do you think that Stockland was making a presentation to council?
Would it have something to do with development in the Shire? In the new Regional Council? Or was it just wasting time?
Would it surprise you to know that they were to be discussing the redevelopment of the Jimboomba-Flagstone area as a town centre for more than 70,000 residents? That they would be telling councillors that there is going to be more than half a billion dollars of spending money in the community.
And all of this before—say four or five years before, 2020?
Whatever they were talking about to our good councillors must have been interesting in the extreme. Normally council allows delegations 10 minutes to make their presentation and they often ask no questions.
This morning the one item consumed 43 minutes of council's time.
I don't think that councillors were admiring the suits for all of that time.
Oh, by the way, I also asked Jim why the Regional Organisation of Council's (the Mayors and CEOs of Southeast Queensland's councils) meetings were held in secret—not open to the public. He said, “So that we could decide things before we took them to the public for consultation.”
05 September 2007
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7 comments:
As a community member it is very dificult to get anything of substance from council and our councillors seem to operate on a need to know basis where they need to know and community, well it doesn't.
Over two years ago when the Office of Urban Management (OUM) came to town, our council kept it all secret until the consultation stage reached the second round and some community members found out more about what it was really about and began notifying the general community, that in the first round selecting better road transport for the future was actually signing the Death Warrent of our rural lifestyle.
And here's why;
When these questions are devised, they have an intent or focus, and what ever answer you give, the aim of the question can be achieved.
For example, the aim is increased Urban Growth, the question could be as Lame as "would you prefer bus stops in your area painted green or blue?"
The real objective is to be able to say, The community wants more people, and a Bus service, which means the introduction of urban development, and they want bus stops painted blue.
Our Councillors, in secret, particularly the chair of Planning and development committee, ( not the present chair }gave those responses for us without telling us of the real agenda, and handed vast areas of our predominantly rural and rural residential shire to the OUM for rezoning to Urban Footprint, which allows High density Urban dwellings, 15 per hectare, and enterprise precincts, light industry.
So it seems they are at it again. this time with the Jimboomba locale in mind, doesn't really surprise the community that our elected representatives would want to screw us for some limited personal glory.
Council , it seems, is just a stepping stone to greater things these days and very few of our local councillors are there to serve the community, in fact several have already revealed their agenda.
When the unthinkable happens and we go to Logan, we will be punished, with many rural residential owners trapped in slumped market conditions whilst the MDA's around us are filled with "affordable " homes owned by overseas investors and tennanted by people who have no investment in our area , it's qualities, our lifestyle, and the rural amenity that most of us found so attractive that we made a home here.
When that occurs, development corporations like StockLand, will be commonplace, along with budget housing estates called "treeview and Gumleaf" and not one tree left in them.
When you vote, at the federal election, use your vote to send Beattie and the Labor people in our Council a message.
Maybe Guy Fawkes had the right idea.
Unowho
The perspective of Unowho is supported by the very fact that the Nth has been handed to Logan on a platter. The reason for this to some extent I believe is that BSC was not moving fast enough with development. Those pesky residents wanted to retain a mythical concept called "residential amenity". I guess with Uncle Jim pressing the flesh on behalf of the REALLY big end of town residents are stuffed - not to put too fine a point on it...
The needs of not just residents, but people generally are being ignored at all levels of Government, and at service delivery level too (Council).
Guy fawkes obviously reached a level of frustration and took action. Our only avenue as people is to stand up, run candidates, get ordinary individuals elected and demand of them that they pursue OUR wishes, not the party line. As Australian citizens, and considering the ethos of our great country, we should be setting ourselves to wreak havoc on the established political party system, and re-introduce democracy.
Frankly, the only other option is anarchy......
I do believe Beattie's landgrab was in part due to the incompetentcy of the BSC, in my mind they are owed nothing, for they let it happen and have stood back and watched on very sheepishly for fear the truth will come out. I live south of Beaudesert and we're rather nervous as grandeuos talk by councillors is full of the "we know what's best for you" attitude .. that's debatable I must add. I would like to know where all the money collected by the BSC has gone to? makes you wonder, I'll always believe the CMC should have investigated this council.
I guess the only difference between us and Logan is that here you can see the chicanery openly…….
Think Beaudesert, think chicanery.
Reading the comments only one question comes to mind - who is the most damaging to the community, the Nazi leader or the troups of gestapo?
I believe that Councils in their present form have virtually been the demise of community well being.
I am by nature a passivist but in recent years have slowly changed my attitude. A bon fire or two would not go amiss!
I'm also a ratepayer who like to know where the money reaped in BSC has gone and who in the end controls the purse strings? also I'd like to see the fuel bills and log books.
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