Editorial Statement
The Scenic Rim Regional Council obligates Councillors to "parrot" an inane statement of democratic principles prior to any public statement. The Tamborine Mountain Daily Star shall no longer publish these "parrot statements". Nor will we inform the Scenic Rim Regional Council if any Councillor has made these statements to us prior to expressing their opinion. The requirement for Councillors to make "parrot statements" is authoritarian, undemocratic and not the Australian way.
The views expressed in the following column are those of Cr Derek Swanborough and not those of this publication.
Main Roads Work – Medical Centre
I have received a letter from the Mr. Paul Noonan Regional Director of Main Roads advising that they will consider temporary modifications to the road works at the Medical Ccentre, to allow a right turn into Taylor Lane while travelling north. Adequate site distances need to be achieved.
It also makes reference to the new Gavin Development roundabout offering a longer term solution but I fail to see the relevance. No one has yet seen this plan.
I don’t think people will be happy with what is being offered right now, as it doesn’t address all the issues. I will seek another meeting with all stakeholders and offer some solutions for consideration after we can get some agreement and local engineering input.
It seems that Main Roads are saying the Scenic Rim Regional Council had input and ultimately agreed with the present design.
How so many can get it so wrong is beyond me. The developer tried to tell them, he as least lives here, but they didn’t want to listen. Now the public purse has to fix it up. Main Roads believe that they have achieved some type of safety for pedestrians from cars but this is not borne out by the reality of what is occurring there, which is many times less safe than before.
They also have not responded to the raft of issues that were given to them in an onsite meeting with shop owners. More work is required yet to get this resolved.
The letter from Main Roads can be viewed on my website at http://www.derekformayor.com/node/92 Look under the menu “Press Releases”
Organic farm opposite St Bernards School
You may have been admiring the farm coming together opposite St Bernards State School and been wondering what’s going on. I introduced myself to owner Adam Willson and he showed me what he was up to. Adam and wife Mayjune are creating a boutique organic farm and growing vegetables for sale at the farm gate.
Adam really knows what he’s doing. He’s a consultant in agricultural science and has worked in soil conservation for over 23 years, with an interest in key line farming, bio-dynamics and organic farming. Interestingly his website shows that he set up and ran Australia’s first commercial prescription compost operation in Harlen SE Queensland.
I believe that small lot farming is going to become more important for sustainability in years to come, and Tamborine Mountain is ideal for this.
Eating healthy fresh food that hasn’t been sprayed with chemicals, or lost its nutrition because of long periods of refrigeration, or taken days to get to transport to a supermarket, seems like the best food to buy.
From an economic development viewpoint, I am interested in pursuing how Council can facilitate and grow this industry. It nearly got off the ground a decade ago with a proposal for a multimillion dollar organic agri/ tourism business in Beaudesert. I believe the time is now right for Scenic Rim to look at the opportunities and strengths in this area and if I become Mayor, will set up a taskforce of suitably qualified experts and stakeholders to report on just what can be achieved for the region.
It is clear from Council’s Community plan that the people right across the Scenic Rim value the rural living, and do not want to see their lifestyles ruined to what is proposed for Beaudesert and Canungra over the next 20 years. Squashing in more houses, units and duplexes into our rural towns is not the only means to prosperity.
Sadly I think that much of the damage is now irreversible as approvals have been eagerly handed out to developers over the last 4 years with scant regard for the consequences on livability, scenic amenity and community. With the State Government encouraging it and developers getting higher yields, it is not a fight that will be won easily.
Scarecrow Festival
The weather was a little patchy but overall what another great success. The 91 scarecrows entered were just spectacular showing true mountain creativity. What about the effort of the St Bernards primary school teachers and students?
There wasn’t a car that drove by over the 4 days that didn’t turn heads, get out of the cars for a wander or to take photos of the 20 odd scarecrows lining the fence. Congratulations to all involved and especially to Janet from the Chamber of Commerce the person instrumental in pulling this year’s event together.
LNP “Dirt man” Robert Hough’s work at Scenic Rim asked to be explained
Following media reports on Channel Seven and the Courier Mail on 13th October, I have received a lot of calls regarding this matter and I don’t have the answers yet.
I have emailed Craig Barke CEO of Scenic Rim Regional Council requesting he make a media statement explaining the work that Robert Hough did for the Scenic Rim Regional Council, around the same time as the muckraking dossier was prepared for the LNP.
It concerns me that the reputation of Council is being tarnished and a full disclosure is warranted. I don’t know how much money was paid, the duration of his employment, what he actually did or how effective he was. Money was budgeted in operational expenditure for lobbying and general purposes of around $50,000.
There were no reports or council resolutions and little discussion and certainly none in Council committee. Robert Hough was recommended by Mayor John Brent and I assume hired/contracted by the CEO under delegated authority.
Misconduct Charge
Last week I issued the following statement after being found guilty of misconduct, my penalty being to make an admission of error at the next Council meeting.
“The Regional Conduct Review Panel has found me guilty of not telling ratepayers in two newspaper columns going back to late November 2010, what every child over grade three in this country already knows, and that is that Council decisions are taken on a majority vote.
The Local Government Act says if a Council Mayor finds you guilty of a breach of a Council procedure twice it has to be referred to a Review Panel as “Misconduct”. Council made this ridiculous procedure and Cr Cockburn made two such complaints against me for which Mayor Brent ruled I was guilty.
Under the Local Government Act 2009, these decisions cannot be challenged. If this is “misconduct” then so be it. When will this gang of councillors end their fixation at trying anything to stop me representing ratepayers and start focusing on ratepayers needs, not with promises for in 20 years’ time, but right now!
If I am guilty of anything it is that for the last three years I have written my own newspaper columns without fear or favour or laced with Council spin, I have listened to the people; I have spoken out in their interests and tried to get a better deal for ratepayers.
I have worked hard, always been professional, have never used foul language, gossiped or slandered any Councillor, have been prepared to criticise inappropriate decisions when necessary and for that I have been subject to enormous personal attacks. These continue almost on a regular basis.
I reassure ratepayers that my resolve is not dampened by this decision or by my colleague’s futile attempts to damage my reputation, and I will continue to give them the voice they should have, my 20 years of Council executive management experience in this region and the professional expertise they should expect of their elected representatives.”
Coal Seam Gas Protest
I was at a Mayoral campaign morning tea in Aratula with 30 keen supporters on Sunday morning and passed on my best wishes for an effective mountain top protest across the Scenic Rim against coal seam gas mining.
Three helicopters recorded the mountain top protests. Facebook has a lot of information on its success. Just search the Scenic Rim Interest group on and stay informed.
Consultation in Library
Just a reminder that I meet with residents at the Tamborine Mountain Library on the second Wednesday of the month from 4:00 to 6:00pm. I will be there next on Wednesday 12th October 2011.
Please call me or leave a text message if you require an appointment or simply drop in. My mobile number is 0447206006. I am always available for on-site meetings to address resident’s issues as required. The best email address to make a personal appointment is at derek@derekformayor.com. You can also join me on Facebook at Derek.Swanborough, or visit my website at www.derekformayor.com.