Thank you from Tilba
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The Tilba Anzac Exhibition Committee wish to thank and congratulate all the people who visited the exhibition between April 23 and 26.
We have been told it was both interesting and informative, and with its use of static displays, including timelines, plus more detail for those who sought it, as well as videos, slide shows and mock ups of ingeniously modified rifles, it was anything but boring.
The stories of locals who enlisted for WWI were unique, and really put a local flavour to it.
We were told by Naval Chief Petty Officer, Phillip Cullinan, who viewed the display that he considered it second in quality only to the Australian War Memorial.
This was not achieved without significant community assistance. We particularly want to thank various persons and organisations who supported us in our endeavours.
Tilba Festival Committee and Narooma RSL Sub Branch generously donated significant funds to enable us to proceed with the project.
Among others, Peter McPherson of Dalmeny Designer Kitchens generously arranged for donation of material to make our extensive display panels. Ezyprint, Narooma, (formerly Narprint) provided wonderful responsiveness and courtesy in printing display material.
Bermagui SES assisted with providing filled sandbags to be incorporated in the display.
Narooma Betta Home Living also generously offered support. Narooma News itself was most generous with early and ongoing support and editorials and ABC Southeast and 2EC were supportive with publicity.
The ABC in Sydney, the Australian War Memorial, and Department of Veterans’ Affairs, Canberra all provided excellent material to enhance the exhibition.
To each of the above, we say “thank you”.
Last, but not least, we thank those who visited. Words of thanks and encouragement received by us were gratefully received.
Harry Bate on behalf of:
Tilba Anzac Exhibition Committee
Monty’s Place mercy
I was saddened today with the deaths of our two Australian boys in Indonesia, as I’m sure many Australians were.
But the wonderful staff at Monty’s Place carried on with their jobs and looked after everybody in the same caring way they always do.
The music team carried on as advertised too.
Very professional all round and a good job done by all. Thank-you again Monty’s team. You made a hard day easier.
Wendy Brown
Dalmeny
Council bashing makes me sick
Along with other members of the ERA, I was elected on a platform of reforming Eurobodalla Council -- not destroying it.
Recently, Clr Peter Schwarz and I left the group after it became apparent that the mindset hadn't moved on from the election in 2012 and sideline criticism was about the best level of communication we could expect.
A lot of our efforts in the Council have borne fruit and in the area of reform of the executive structure, the transparency of decision making, a 'can do' attitude of staff, reforms in contracts management and financial management and a myriad of other achievements, we have had considerable success.
We haven't won them all, but this is a democracy and it'd be surprising if we had. Have a look at the success of the federal government's issues with the Senate, for an example.
It seems to have been missed totally by my former colleagues in the ERA that we have achieved so much.
Their continuing cliche ridden criticisms of the operation of the Council -- most of them with absolutely no foundation or supporting facts-- are really just too much.
The ' Eurobodalla Business Group', formed at a meeting in Batemans Bay a couple of months ago, has yet to inform the community of its goals, its membership, its purpose or motivation.
We know Ian Hitchcock, a retired public servant from Dalmeny, is the secretary, but we don't know the president or any committee members or even if the 'group' is incorporated. It seems to have close connections with the Batemans Bay climate change deniers and some other clear thinking northern residents.
Recent data supports the claims by Council that our DA's are at similar or higher levels than our neighbouring Councils and our General rate is lower than theirs.
By every measure available; staff ratios (we have less staff after allowances for different services offered; grant funded positions etc) , DA delay times, rates, -- the list goes on --we compare favourably, with our neighbours and with other Councils in our group 4 of Councils.
I've got no problem with an amalgamation, but why would you? A desire to pay higher rates? Take on the Shoalhaven's 'white elephant' debt with their Entertainment Centre? Hmmmm.... good idea!
There is a lot more to do -- it's why we were elected - and it would be a lot easier if Clrs Innes and Leslight made a contribution, actually turned up occasionally, and stopped criticising from the sideline which is what they've done since they were elected.
They've had 2 1/2 years to put up, so the question from the community to them should be 'what would you do?' I've asked it on the community's behalf and been deafened by the silence. If it's not their job -- then whose is it?
It seems that our local member, Andrew Constance, believes amalgamation should be considered.
If that's what is going to be discussed at their meeting on Saturday it'd be interesting if they actually presented some facts to support their claims.
Most of the issues Mr Constance has with us -- Sea Level Rise, Biodiversity, the LEP and the need for the Special rate process -- are all areas his government has the ability to deal with --- to change -- at a stroke of a pen and even after a full term in office they have not dealt with them.
A Special Rate increase wouldn't be necessary if the State Govt. untied Councils and left it to the Community to decide if they were getting value for their buck.
Mr Constance has not raised any matters with me and seems unable to meet with Councillors to discuss his concerns. Perhaps the occasional bout of Council Bashing makes him feel better but for me, I'm heartily sick to death of it.
Neil Burnside
Narooma
Ambulance lifesavers
Once again I am in humble awe of our NSW Emergency Services and the officers within its ranks; men and women who unselfishly are about saving lives, surely a calling, not merely a career option.
Once again I owe my life to the speedy arrival of the ambulance and the expert delivery of assistance by the officers on duty, Garth and Gerard.
Gentlemen, you are legends! Thank-you for saving my life!
Thank-you also to Dr Michael, Dr Nicholas and the staff at Moruya Hospital whose duty of care was not only exemplary but administered with a most reassuring bedside manner.
Folks, my day of blissful gardening almost ended in disaster due to a "pesky tick".
Please take precautions so this does not happen to you.
Maggie Havu
North Narooma
Time to unite
I note our Clr Neil Burnside speaking “at” us regarding our Narooma Visitors’ Information Centre and his mind seems to be made up on this matter.
His remarks are heavily laden with corporate speak. Many buzzwords like, visionary, models, savvy, spend, elephant in the room.
All we need is “brand”. My recollection is that this gentleman was elected on an ERA ticket to look after the best interests of the local community.
It seems to me that people interested in adequate consultation as to what is good for our town, should not be seen as a pesky “small but vocal minority”, I’m looking at pages of valid signatures on a petition.
Our Narooma has united before in times of community stress, let’s make sure this one doesn’t pass us by.
Al Heffernan
Narooma
Mayor's say – What’s needed is an open debate
Thank you to those who have let me know about a meeting in Batemans Bay about boundary adjustments and amalgamations.
I have read with interest some of the publicity the organisers are sending around. I am aware that Andrew Constance is planning to attend and I hope to catch up with him in Sydney later this week to talk about the meeting.
I welcome the NSW Government’s Fit for the Future plan which is an effective response to more than three years of difficult consultation and robust investigation about how to address the financial challenges that face local government.
It deals with the increasing costs of providing services and infrastructure in an environment where rates, fees and charges aren’t always keeping up with CPI or the more realistic benchmark for councils which is price of construction materials.
It deals with increasing community expectations about the services councils should provide, and it acknowledges the cost of maintaining and renewing transport infrastructure across NSW such as roads and bridges.
Since 2011, I have been involved with Local Government Acts Taskforce, and the Independent Local Government Review Panel which assessed 152 councils to see if they could be financially sustainable and continue to meet the needs of their communities in the future.
Eurobodalla, Bega and Shoalhaven are in the group of 38 councils across NSW that were NOT recommended for change.
The NSW Government has NOT asked our three councils to consider boundary adjustments, or realignments, or amalgamation.
The NSW Government endorsed the findings of the review that found that for Eurobodalla and our neighbouring shires, boundary adjustments would not deliver any long term financial, economic or social benefits to our communities.
Our three councils who already work closely together, have discussed our positions and we are in agreement that we will follow the state’s recommendations and not consider boundary changes in our Fit for the Future proposals.
For example, if Batemans Bay sat at the most southern end of Shoalhaven shire, how would the future of services such as local libraries, shared pathways, CBD upgrades and the condition of roads, be valued under a larger council with competing priorities and higher population centres in the far north?
Would our local community still have the same voice and the same representation if we were to be merged into ‘supa’ councils to the north and south?
Shoalhaven’s 2014 Report on Financial Sustainability, expresses how their 1979 amalgamation led to current issues about the geographic expanse of infrastructure assets, duplication of Council assets, and multiple views on priorities resulting in competing priorities for where monies should be spent.
I hope that an open debate takes place at the meeting in Batemans Bay and that the findings of the NSW Governments thorough three year review that has been endorsed by the government are considered.
If there is still debate about an amalgamation with Shoalhaven or Bega despite the fact that neither of these councils are considering this, I hope that some of the real cost to our community is talked about.
I hope that the group of business people organising Saturday’s meeting will come back to Council with some valuable and workable solutions that meet all of our community’s needs and expectations, and that are achievable under the legislative framework we work in.
After almost seven years as a councillor, I understand what our community values and I will continue to work with the community to deliver what is needed to make Eurobodalla a better place to live, work and invest.
There are challenges to be met, but I am hearted by the many people in our community who continue to take the time to be well informed and involved. I believe that Eurobodalla is a great place to live with a grand future ahead!
Eurobodalla mayor Lindsay Brown
Narooma
Visions or mirages
It is very disappointing to find that some councillors have failed to grasp some of the current ideas being discussed widely in the Narooma community about visitors centres, Narooma's in particular.
I urge all councillors to look at the bigger picture and the discussion and research done across Australia about integrating the digital economy and visitors centres. Eurobodalla is not alone in this.
No one locally is advocating a continuation of the current model indefinitely.
All that is being asked is that the appropriate economic impact studies are done and the long overdue open discussion is held with local businesses and the community before any change is made.
Council's own Tourism Advisory Committee has also stated it wants to ensure any new model is more robust than the last. Cr Rob Pollock has suggested the current discussion does not exclude making the current model more robust...
What many, including me, are saying is that the information currently before council is not sufficient for councillors to make an informed decision on this.
The so-called 'vision' of some is more a leap into the unknown.
For example, combining the adjusted door count for 2012-2013 and Destination NSW and the Australian-wide respected Aurora research suggests that doing away with the current model where people visit independent professional Visitors Centres and value add to their visit, risks taking out between $4.8 and $7m from the shire's economy (that is measurable).
That's to save $200,000 to $300,000, which doesn't seem to make great business or economic sense.
That is just one of several studies that should be explored further.
By the way, a closer examination of the report to Councillors shows the $1.2m council budget for tourism includes marketing, not only operating visitors centres (more in the vicinity of $600,000 to $700,000).
It is not apparent in Council's reports whether any analysis has been done of the effectiveness of Council's current marketing efforts. If not, these should also be done as part of the overall analysis.
Council's Tourism Manager has said that the door counters appear to have been reading only about 60 per cent of people through the door - her corrected figures for 2012-2013, not mine.
And then the reports to Council only include figures up to 2012-2013 (not adjusted for door counter problems) before we saw the upturn in domestic tourism since then largely it seems from the lower Australian dollar.
These more recent door figures are available and show a considerable increase.
It is clear to many that some closer examination and clarification of some of the figures plus a cost-benefit analysis of some of the models under discussion should be done, in collaboration with the Narooma business and wider community, before council makes any decision about the future of Narooma Visitors Centre.
Narooma has only one industry - tourism.
All I and many others are asking is that we need to be sure that the 'vision' does not turn out to be a mirage.
There is too much at stake.
Laurelle Pacey
Narooma