Latest News.
Thursday,
5 June 2008
Here
I will place my comments on issues of interest and answers to your queries.
Please don’t hesitate to ask questions.
Email
me at home on ssuuee@bigpond.net.au
All
opinions are mine and reflect my personal views. The content on this web site
does not represent Fraser Coast Regional Council policy and is totally independent
of Council
Please
forgive errors, poor grammar and other clumsy writings. If I had more time I
would edit and get someone else to check for typos etc but time is in very
short supply. I figure that rough entries are preferable to no entries. Thanks
for your patience, Sue
Some comment on the
Council had to make a decision about
the
I personally did not want to simply
give back $5mil to the State Govt but I strongly felt that for a project of
this size community consultation should have happened before a final decision
was made. As can be seen below I narrowly lost a motion to have community
consultation but then I also decided to vote against the proposal as pl
The
While I think a
From the Council minutes…….
ORD 10.8
MOVED ( Brooks / Harris )
That:
1. Council undertake a community consultation process
in relation to the Water Education Park based on the preliminary proposal
provided by Wide Bay Water Corporation; and
2. Council advise Wide Bay Water Corporation of the
financial parameters and request that Wide Bay Water Corporation provide final
design details and financial feasibility report to Council for approval.
LOST (5/6)
Upon a Division being called the following voting resulted:
FOR:
Councillor Brooks
Councillor Dalgleish
Councillor MucKan
Councillor Harris
Councillor Hawes
AGAINST:
Councillor McNeven
Councillor O’Connell
Councillor Nioa
Councillor Kruger
Councillor Arthur
Councillor Hovard
RESOLUTION ( McNeven / Nioa )
That:
1. The Fraser Coast Regional Council approves
the location for the new
2. Council endorses in principle the
relinquishment of its tenure interests in the land identified in Attachment 3
of report DOC #837087, including an area of 20m off the end of the
3. Council advise Wide Bay Water Corporation to
submit appropriate building approvals.
4. Apart from the land component, Council will
also provide 70 car parking spaces and an ablutions block on its own land as
its capital contribution to the project. Council advise Wide Bay Water
Corporation that the limit of Council’s financial contributions will be the
cost of the car parks and toilet block.
5. Council request Wide Bay Water Corporation to
include a commitment for the
6. The Commercial activities proposed for the
site be subject to agreement between Council and Wide Bay Water Corporation
with the joint intention of making a successful and appropriate venture for the
region.
7. Council request Wide Bay Water Corporation to
place information on the project in prominent public places, such as the
libraries and Council foyers, and the information be disseminated widely
through the media, especially the print media in the region, giving full
details of the proposal including the draft designs.
Carried (10/1)
Upon a Division being called the following voting resulted:
FOR: Councillor
McNeven
Councillor Dalgleish
Councillor MucKan
Councillor Harris
Councillor Hawes
Councillor O’Connell
Councillor Nioa
Councillor Kruger
Councillor Arthur
Councillor Hovard
AGAINST:
Councillor Brooks
Firstly to correct some inaccuracies on a current Blog
site.
The opening of Lenthalls Dam Crest gates, scheduled
for Wed 21st May, was arranged by State Govt departments not by WBW,
to my knowledge, and most definitely not by Council.
Council does have many community buildings and I
defend its right to do so. May I remind the community that if Council owns
something that means you own it. Council is a public entity so when we ‘own’
things it is on behalf of everyone in the community and the community buildings
are for the community benefit. Most Hervey Bay ‘public buildings’ are leased
and managed by community groups who manage to run the buildings at a profit to
themselves rather than a cost and with little outlay from the Council budget.
While this system has some flaws I think the model is generally a ‘win win’ one
and of benefit to everyone. There is no doubt in my mind that we need more
community buildings not less here in the Bay. If you are a member of a
community group and wish to hold a meeting or function it is practically
impossible to find cheap space when and where you need it. Try booking a place
into the Urangan Community centre for instance. So yes we need halls and
buildings and we need them to be cheaply accessible to our community for the
many fun and important functions that these groups provide for all of us.
Now just a personal comment on our Planning and
Development Meeting from last Wednesday. Yes I was the only lonely ‘NO’ vote
against a recommendation to build 250 units on a block of land at Urangan. The
complex comprises 3 building up to 6 storeys high and will require a double
basement carpark to accommodate nearly 400 spaces. The whole block including
adjacent blocks, has a Natural Area overlay covering it. I personally felt that
the application was over development for that site and we now have set a
precedent which will threaten adjoining blocks that also have a Natural Area
overlay on them. Specifically the large block on the corner of
I fail to understand how a Natural Area overlay can be
ignored to the extent that I feel it has been. Maybe I’m missing something and
can’t interpret our Planning Scheme properly but I had a bad night on Wednesday
night worrying about what the future holds for
So finally a plea from me. I am thinking of starting up a branch of the ‘Save
our Suburbs’ group locally. http://www.sos.org.au/new_home.html
We could possibly call it ‘SAVE OUR
BAY’ but anything will do really. Maybe Maryborough residents and residents
that live rurally would also be keen to join so we would need a generic name.
The aim would be to lobby Government
in terms of development issues and to ask that community consultation is
increased and that ‘urban consolidation’ policies be reviewed to ensure that
they meet the outcomes they are designed to meet, without destroying or
negatively impacting on the lifestyle of existing residents within our
community. The primary purpose of the group would be to promote sustainable
development.
I anticipate lobbying etc would be
done primarily electronically but if we could get many members we could have a
very strong voice. Meetings and the associated needed time commitments would be
rare as we could communicate via email. I am happy to start to organise this if
there is enough interest so please email me and let me know if you are
interested as soon as you can please. Email to ssuuee@bigpond.net.au
I would also ask that if you don’t want
to join a group an email to all the Councillors outlining your thoughts about
development and Letters to the Editor may be a good idea also.
Cheers and thanks for reading this, Sue
May 5th 2008 news.
Hello again everyone. Time I put fingers to the
keyboard and sent out a bit of news I think. Before I start can I welcome new
comers and explain that yes I do collect email addresses when people take the
time to write to me and I then try to send out an email at least monthly with
some news about council related matters. So if this is your first email from me
welcome to the group but please remember if you don’t want to be included
simply reply and insert the word ‘remove’ in the subject line. No I won’t take
offence as I realise that not every one wants to hear from me regularly.
So what has been happening in Council? It seems we are
as busy as ever but that meetings agenda’s don’t seem very full or are not yet
full of new and interesting policy related items or controversial developments
etc. I think that we are all working to finalise our Council structure and get
everyone comfortable in their seats. By this I mean both staff and Councillors.
It has been a huge exercise bringing 4 Councils together and I must give thanks
to Andrew Brien who quietly and with little fuss seems to have managed to keep
things ticking along very well.
I personally want to see the CEO position finalised
and some more tweaking and adjusting done to our Councillor portfolios asap.
Yes Council decided to advertise for a CEO so that process will have to be
completed before I feel ‘properly’ settled. Council did decide on the final
structure of Council which means some certainty in terms of reporting
structures and who does what but until the CEO position is finalised I still
personally feel slightly unsettled.
Now everyone has been busy as ever ringing and writing
about issues for Councillors to deal with. I haven’t received much
correspondence from residents from afar but plenty from Bay residents. If
anyone knows of a woman down Doolong South way who rang me about litter from a
building site in Doolong Sth road please ask her to call me again. I
accidentally deleted her message and feel terrible as I cannot track her number
and she must think I’m very, very rude! So please realise I do make mistakes
and if you don’t hear from me please try again….
This is the link to familiarise yourselves with what
Councillor does what at this point in time. http://www.frasercoast.qld.gov.au/council/councillors.shtml
I have been busy trying to highlight, what in my mind,
is an uninformed decision to erect fences around
Of course Traveston is still also an issue and the
Greater Mary Assoc have worked tirelessly to keep the media focus on this
travesty also.
The issue about Councillor cars is a complex one. I
was quite determined to retain my own car as I don’t owe money on it etc but
was advised that over 4 years the cost to Council is less not more if I do use
a Council car. It is very complicated trying to decipher the information
relating to how it is all costed out but as my car is now 7 years old and will
be 11 years old in 4 years time I decided to opt for a Prius. It will be
interesting to see if this car does live up to the hype of being a ‘green’ car
but I look forward to driving around for a thousand k’s or so between fill ups!
I will let you know what I think of the car once I get it. I have to keep a log
book for 3 months which I am rapidly getting used to and pay back Council for
the private travel I do. This was why I didn’t want a Council car but at the
end of the day I am travelling many more kilometres than I used to so hopefully
my decision is a sensible one for both myself personally and the community.
R.E.S.T. is another complicated issue that was a
Maryborough City Council decision prior to amalgamation. As a new Councillor to
the FCRC I could find no reason to try and reverse a decision made by the
previous Council. While I personally applaud the very hard work and dedication
that members of charity organisations provide to our community I also am aware
that financial rigour must be applied fairly to such organisations. As a
Councillor I must be sure that public monies are expended in a very responsible
m
A Tourism Levy has not been raised in Council but the
media reported information incorrectly by quoting some comments from some
individuals. I hope that our local press can remember to differentiate between
a Councillor’s personal comments and opinions and those made by a Councillor
speaking as representing Council. There is a big difference and I will ask
Council to release prompt press releases to ‘set the record straight’ when
needed.
On Saturday Graham and I took a day off and flew over
to
Enough from me. Hope I haven’t bored you and take
care.
Friday morning – Happy Easter everyone.
Phew! It is a relief to finally know that I have been successful in gaining a place as a Councillor on the new Fraser Coast Regional Council. Apparently the outstanding votes are not likely to greatly alter the current positions of the candidates with the only doubt being the 10th place. I am currently in 8th place.
You can easily copy this across into Excel if you like to sort the results. The week has been a very stressful one for everyone and I am so glad that it is over.
Firstly I would like to send my congratulations to those that have been elected and I am looking forward to working with a majority of women on the new Council, rather than a majority of men! All seven women candidates have been elected.
Secondly. I would like to thank all the unsuccessful candidates for their hard work and the excellent way in which they and all their helpers conducted themselves. It is a shame that we couldn’t have a larger Council as many candidates were worthy of the ‘job’ I feel. I wish Trevor M. and Bob C. all the very, very best for the future as it has always been interesting working along side them. Although we had differences in outlook these gentleman always showed respect and consideration for me and I appreciate that greatly. Good luck guys!
Lastly to all of you. Without your support and interest in your Local Government I am sure that I would not be your representative. I cannot thank you enough. I apologise for the odd hiccup on election day and do wish to reassure you all that I am honest and hard working and will do my very best in the years ahead to represent you fairly and ‘without favour’. Do let me know if you think I am ever misguided or heading down the wrong track. Constructive criticism is always welcomed and a necessary part of growing and learning as we adapt to new circumstances etc.
Back to work already.
Where I live here in
Monday morning.
Well it looks like being a very slow
process before we know for sure who our new Councillors are. With one
Maryborough booth counted I am running 12th! I am not unhappy with
that result but wish we could just get a result sooner rather than later. It is
very stressful for all the candidates and the many voters also. Watching some
of the counting yesterday was an interesting experience. Yes there were a few
donkey votes. I cannot understand how people can vote that way. If you are
unsure or not interested in participating why not do as another group of people
do, and simply leave the ballot paper blank. At least you are then making a
statement but not electing people simply based on the ‘luck of the draw’. I
suppose that being down the bottom of the ballot paper makes me more sensitive
to the impact of the donkey vote but it is still difficult for me to imagine
the reasons why people vote this way. If you did vote in this m
I will post news as I learn of it but
another good site to watch the counting unfold is http://election.lgaq.asn.au/electionResults_Fraser%20Coast_M.html
Cheers, Sue
Sunday morning
Well congratulations Mick for your
victory. Well done. Now the fun begins with counting to see who will make the
final list of 10 Councillors to work with Mick under the new Fraser Coast
Regional Council.
If you want to keep an eye on
counting for the Councillors please visit http://www.ecq.qld.gov.au/elections/local/lg2008/groupIndex.html
Counting starts at 9am so I will go
and have a look. I watched the unfolding of ballot papers last night at PCYC
and was gaining around half the vote there so it is a tense wait to see whether
all the hard work has been worthwhile.
I definitely did loose votes due to the
bad publicity I received thanks to Nancy Bates within the Chronicle. I will be
receiving more detailed legal advice this week in order to commence proceedings
against the Chronicle and/or
Lastly, no matter what the result is,
I wish to thank each and everyone of you that helped me. Either by standing at
the booths yesterday or hosting signs or helping with the photo for my brochure
or cleaning the rubbish on the road side etc. It is a job that cannot be done
alone. A special thanks to Graham who has worked tirelessly and is on the road
again this morning taking down my signs form Maryborough and here.
14/03/2008 10:00 PM
Late news
No idea what we will read in the paper in the morning
but I’m not loosing my little bit of sleep over it!
I am supporting Darryl Stewart and Roger Currie and
James Hansen and Shane Kuhn as a new comer. I prefer to keep the rest of my
list private.
A very hard decision as I have been the lone
Councillor regularly voting against developments in the Bay and want some other
Councillors who will help in ensuring we don’t become ‘high rise city’.
Good luck to all the candidates and a big THANK YOU to
all the helpers. I hope the weather is kind tomorrow. Good night, Sue
PS The Community and Environment Flyer that will be
handed out tomorrow is nothing scary and has an interesting mix of people listed
on it of which I am one. I understand a sensible group of residents who are
active environmental supporters has chosen this list. No candidates knew that
they would be chosen to my knowledge so it is up to you whether you choose to
follow it or not. I won’t be following it exactly…
13/03/2008 7:16 AM
For anyone that cares to compare.. This is my letter
in full that I sent to the FCC yesterday morning. Easy to see the last sentence
was edited out but at least the letter was printed. Nonetheless Nancy had to
have the last say…..as usual and I still remain convinced that if I stand
accused of ‘slowing down the application process’ that slowing it down was the
right, just and proper thing to do!
Letter as sent to the Chronicle yesterday morning.
All is fair in love and war but not in editorial land it seems! Could Nancy Bates please demonstrate where my behaviour has been, and I quote, ‘out of kilter with the brand of ethics’ I apparently espouse please? I do not knock developers unless they want to develop poor quality and inappropriate developments. I don’t want and will never want such development in our region. My colleagues were not happy that I did not support a recommendation recently in Council. This recommendation WAS NOT to decide an application to extend the Bay Central precinct. The recommendation was as a result of the Mayor asking that Council give the staff the power to make the decision. Maybe the Editor is confused about the difference? I voted against giving staff the power to decide on the planning application as I felt the decision should be made by the Councillors themselves.
I do use the Internet and enjoy the way in which we can learn and communicate via the web. I do not condone defamation in any form, especially when there is no right of reply, which is often the case these days within the print media.
If anyone wants to find out my ‘opinion’ please visit my own web site www.suebrooks.bigpondhosting.com I am very saddened that when the Chronicle waxes lyrical about maintaining the moral high ground but then stoops to the tactics of character assassination 3 days out from an election. Maybe this is all a case of ‘the pot calling the kettle black?’
Wednesday, 12 March 2008
Today I am the target of an inaccurate opinion piece
by Nancy in her editorial. Am I surprised? Not in the slightest. Am I annoyed?
Yes I am.
Now for the facts.
1
My behaviour is NEVER out of kilter
with my ethics. Firstly I don’t peddle nasty unfounded opinions about other
people. I do not publicly speak of anything that I am not prepared to say directly
to someone face to face. This is my brand of ethics.
2
I don’t knock developers when they
develop in sympathy with our Planning Scheme and produce good quality
developments. I will never support development which is designed simply to
return the biggest profit possible to the developer. I do not want our city to
grow in that way.
3
I have only once ever been asked by
my fellow Councillors to leave a discussion about a retail development and that
discussion was to do with Centro well over a year ago. I did leave the
discussion and did not participate in the debate, or vote, for that particular
application when it came to Council. Feel free to check the minutes. At other
times my fellow Councillors have welcomed my input and my very strong arguments
to provide more not less retail development in our city. I supported the
extensions to
4
My colleagues have not directly
intimated to me that they are concerned with my conflict of interest so why did
they not do this? Who are my colleagues who are complaining? I would like to
know. Maybe this comment is as a result of a decision at our last Council
Meeting to give delegated authority to the staff, to make a decision on a
commercial application at Bay Central, which is across the road from Centro? Maybe the Chronicle is confused and can’t understand
the difference between making a decision about how an application is dealt with
by Council, and actually making the decision itself? My
involvement was simply about a procedural matter NOT about deciding on the
extension to the centre, which I would most likely support anyway! Maybe this
perceived ‘conflict of interest’ (according to Nancy) arose because the Mayor
5
The blog that
6
The reporter when interviewing me
last week did not ask me if I had posted to the blog site anonymously. On this
web site I declared that my very FIRST postings were under a pseudonym called
‘babbling’ as I was defending information written about myself on the blog.
What I do like about the Internet is that we can say what we like unedited, as
I am doing here. I contributed to the strewth blog site when I knew that
information being posted was incorrect and I will maintain that attitude and
continue to do so. Do we shoot the messenger when we don’t like the message?
7
May I enquire as to whether the
editor feels that she is defaming me via her editorial today?
8
If anyone should learn to ‘walk the
talk’ it is not myself!
Please find here extracts direct from the Council
Minutes and Agenda. All available via Council web site!
Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting No. 3 held on Wednesday 27
February 2008
ORD 10 OFFICERS’ REPORTS
ORD 10.5 Application for Development Permit for a Material
Change of Use for Shops and Offices - CRI Australia Pty Ltd C/- Ken Hicks and
Associates - Located at 135-143 Boat Harbour Drive; 7 and 15 Central Avenue; 6,
8, 12 and 14 Bay Drive; and 122 Beach Road, Urraween
MOVED ( Campbell / Dalgleish )
That:
1. Council delegate its power to determine development
application 513/3-
071176 to the Acting Chief Executive Officer under section
472 of the
Local Government Act.
2. The register of delegation be updated to record this
specific delegation.
AMENDMENT ( McNeven /
Brooks )
That:
1. Council delegate its power to determine development
application 513/3- 071176 to the Acting Chief Executive Officer under section
472 of the Local Government Act.
2. The register of delegation be updated to record this
specific delegation.
3. Any planning issues or conflicts with Planning Scheme
Policies that arise in the assessment process will cause the application to be
brought to Council for determination.
The AMENDMENT was PUT and LOST (1/7). Upon a Division being
called the following voting resulted:
FOR: Councillor McNeven
AGAINST: Councillor McDonald
Councillor MucKan
Counicllor Brooks
Councillor Kruger
Councillor Sorensen
Councillor Campbell
Councillor Dalgleish
The MOTION was PUT and CARRIED (6/2). Upon a Division being
called the following voting resulted:
FOR: Councillor McDonald
Councillor MucKan
Councillor Kruger
Councillor Sorensen
Councillor Campbell
Councillor Dalgleish
AGAINST: Councillor McNeven
Councillor Brooks
Letter I sent to the editor last
week.
The editorial (FCC 5-3-08) poses some
interesting questions about the use and circulation of information in our
modern age. As a Librarian, finding and using information was my livelihood for
many years. I recall however a moment when I was much younger, sitting in my
classroom at school. I realised that the history text book I was studying, had
been written by someone who had never lived in the times being discussed.
It was on that day that my life
changed because from that day on I realised that nearly every single thing I
ever read is someone’s opinion. Yes we have science and maths text that teach
us ‘factual’ information (we are quite sure that the earth does revolve around
the sun for instance) but the bulk of the millions and millions of words I will
consume in my life time are simply ‘opinion’. Two people writing about the same
event will describe it differently. Let’s not forget what was once written eg
‘the world is flat’!
Newspapers, magazines and web sites
have that in common. Newspapers select and edit the letters that they receive
and journalists interpret the words I say or the events that they witness in
their own individual way. Not always accurately I might add.
The Internet has empowered more and
more people to be heard. As long as we remember we are reading opinions and
that we continue to treat each other with respect, it is a brave new world we
are entering. Let’s not condemn the medium as easy communication across the
seas and quick access to information is also very useful and empowering.
The newspaper versus blog wars! Posted 8/03/2008 9:47 AM
Well today the newspaper greeted us
with the headline about the demise of Strewth!
My thoughts. I agree that the blog
did target individuals and that sometimes the personal attacks were ‘gutless’.
I refrain from that activity but would love the chance to speak my mind about
the behaviour I have observed of people I mix with both privately and
professionally. Wouldn’t we all! But if you want to criticise someone put your
money where you mouth is and speak up without a cloak of anonymity. If you are
being critical of an organisation and not personally attacking someone I think
anonymity is sometimes the only way to express yourself if you want to remain
employed. Much bad behaviour is ‘legal’ so it is a difficult line to balance
upon.
So to today. I believe we have an
example of the pot calling the kettle black. Yes Strewth! stooped to some very
low points at times but it also increased debate and I am sure some people
learned from it. If nothing else we all learned that humans do seem to have an
appetite for ‘gossip’. I personally received some positive comments but also
took a beating when I tried to explain how I operate in terms of preparing for
Council meetings. The fact that I come to a meeting having read the report and
researched the topic and with a point of view already made and arguments and
questions ready to be asked and debated upset several bloggers! Apparently I
should turn up and listen to everyone else and THEN make up my mind. How can I
argue and debate if I don’t have a point of view first as a base for
discussion… But I won’t start that debate again here.
Now the newspaper today tells us that
the site was cowardly, vicious and malicious among lots of other negative
adjectives. I can agree with that but also would add that it obviously was a
forum for debate which many people were keen to use. Unlike the newspaper
everyone had fair and equal opportunity to defend or correct anything that was
posted there. In my opinion, our FCC publishes anonymous content also. Some
examples are ‘The Squid,’ ‘Fast news,’ ‘SMS to Ed’, Brickbats and Bouquets’
‘Letters to the Editor’ and leading news stories that don’t include the writers
name! I have personally been quoted incorrectly within the FCC. After seeing my
words in quotation marks, after a Council Meeting, I returned to Council and
enquired as to the actual recording and minutes of the meeting. I simply didn’t
use the words attributed to me.
Letters to the Editor are edited and
selected. So all the letters sent in aren’t printed and those that are can have
big chunks taken out, which shouldn’t alter the context but sometimes does.
Names and addresses aren’t checked and I have heard of people regularly writing
under pseudonyms. Our prolific local writer
Now to the story today about me. My hats off to Jessica as she has done quite
a good job. I also understand that her story that she writes is subject to an
editorial process so may be altered even though it has her name attributed to
it. Yes Jessica and I met last Monday, and she asked me many questions
including questions about Strewth!. I did say that ‘All’s fair in love and war
and the cyberspace’. I would however qualify that remark by saying the use of
the Internet for illegal activity is abhorrent to me. I didn’t make the comment
at the time but this is my true belief. I was not a ‘regular’ contributor to
Strewth! as is reported. I contributed when needed to try and correct
inaccurate or incorrect information that I was aware of personally. I was never
asked if I contributed to Strewth! anonymously, (and yes I was expecting the
question) and would have replied that yes, in the early days I used the alias
“Babbling’ as someone had described me thus. I then decided to be up front and
used my name for further posts.
My email list is between 200-300
people and anyone can be included or opt out of it. I try to send out info
about Council and ask for feedback. This is time consuming for me but I feel
that it is a good cheap and quick way to communicate with residents and better
do my job of representing them. My comments about defamation were in response
to being asked if I thought that the site author(s) could be caught or charged
with defamation. The picture of me that
is used for the story is when I was trying to highlight the dangers of more and
more high rise along our foreshore. It was taken before I was elected over 2
years ago (in winter) and is in front of the Bay apartments while they were
under construction. An interesting choice of picture I think.
So at the end of the day I believe
that blogs have a place. I prefer them to be hosted by someone prepared to use
their name but I would only criticise a blog if every newspaper in the land
decided to tell ‘the truth’ unedited and accurately and this simply does not
happen. Even our ‘free’ newspapers have to make money so they have to
advertise. These advertisers wield power and can be favoured by the paper. It
is all a murky world and information now is reduced to short stories in short
paragraphs with very few words. As you can see I am never short of a word or
two or three. I am personally not perfect. I have many, many flaws. I sometimes
drive too fast and have received a speeding fine or two in past years (although
advancing age has seen me a much more sedate driver these days), my house is a
total mess and I have no idea how my cleaner survives, I talk too much and
interrupt people (although I know I do this I find it very hard to stop), I am
not married but live happily with my partner Graham. Both my kids have had good
times and bad and I love them to pieces no matter what, I forget to return
calls to my friends but always try to return calls to residents, (my poor
neglected friends…), and I have made bad judgements in my past. I still make mistakes
but have learned to front up and own up. Life is much happier I find when one
can own up when we get it wrong. But I am truthful and try to do more good
things in the world than bad! I don’t care less if anyone ever remembers me
when I am gone. I do what I can now while I am here and want to help my
community and my planet, not hurt it.
Lastly. This is all my opinion and is
my version of events. I write it and believe what I say to be true. Take care
and remember that this is my own opinion and not to be construed in any way to
be the opinion or in any other way related to Hervey Bay City Council.
Stop Press. Son (or daughter) of
strewth is born it seems. http://strewthreloaded.wordpress.com/
and now another one http://bringbackstrewth.wordpress.com/
Cheers, Sue
And now for some much needed light relief!
CHECK FOR
ALZHEIMERS
The following was developed as a mental age assessment by the
Take your time and see if you can read each line aloud without a mistake. The
average person over 40 years of age cannot do it!
1. This is this cat.
2. This is is cat.
3. This is how cat.
4. This is to cat.
5. This is keep cat.
6. This is an cat.
7. This is old cat.
8. This is fart cat.
9. This is busy cat.
10. This is for cat.
11. This is forty cat.
12. This is seconds cat.
Now go back and read the third word in each line from the top down...
I betcha' you cannot resist passing it
on.
Meet the Candidates nights
Next week we have more ‘meet
the candidates’ nights if you want to come and meet and listen to everyone.
Starting on Monday at Tiaro Hall at 7pm, Wednesday at Burrum Heads Hall at 7pm and
at the USQ here in the Bay on Thursday evening at 5.30pm.
My speech for candidate’s evenings, (for those who
can’t come to listen). Subject to change…..
I was once a Primary School
teacher and then went back to Uni, after having my two children, and qualified
as a Librarian. I grew up in
I want to preserve and protect
our natural environment but just as importantly I would like us to move towards
building a sustainable economy. An economy that embraces the skills and
knowledge of residents throughout our entire community.
If we look to the future we
can provide only so much water and develop so much land, before we run out of
these natural resources. Population cannot continue to grow and grow and grow
forever. Our new Council must ensure we have strict controls placed on
development approvals and that we don’t let development compromise our natural
environment and water ways. Sensible road networks must be pl
Over the last 2 years I have learned a lot and
believe I have the skills needed to try and influence change, especially within
our Planning Schemes, and within our policies, to ensure that our Council
delivers what the community wants. I do remember however, that working within
Council is a team effort. We must all remember that it is not Council’s job to
tell you what is good for you it is your
job to tell your Council what is good for you!
I want much less red tape and I want our Council to 'get back to the basics'. I
want sensible decisions to be based on common sense and good old fashioned
excellent customer service. I don’t believe that our community demands more
than it used to. I think we all simply expect decent service and decent
facilities and that our Government doesn’t waste our money! I believe that we
deserve to receive excellent services no matter where we live.
I want Council to treat everyone with care. It isn’t enough to turn up to
Council meetings and simply vote on the reports that the staff provide for us.
Councillors must be proactive and progress change. If our Laws and our
legislation don’t provide the outcomes we want then we must change them. I
believe I have developed the skills needed to progress changes within the
Council structure. In Council meetings I often put motions and amendments
forward for consideration. A motion, such as the recent Council Traveston Dam
submission, which thankfully was supported by the majority of our Councillors,
was a recent example.
I promise to do my very best if elected to our new Council. I’m not perfect, I
make mistakes but I always try my best to do a good job!
I am confident that if we all work together we will
ensure our
This week in Council
I have
popped this up on my blog to see if anyone would like to comment. Please go
to http://suebrooks.bigblog.com.au/index.do and join up to enter the interesting world of
blogging. It is easy to do and you don’t have to use your real name. I started
the blog in about May last year but lost interest as no one was using it. Feel
free to let me know by direct email also, what you think about a
To gossip or not to gossip!
Well these last few weeks have been
interesting as more and more people log onto Strewth http://strewth.wordpress.com/ for their
daily update on mainly Council focussed issues. What do I think of Strewth I am
frequently asked. Firstly I absolutely love the net. Being a Librarian and a
person with what other people have kindly described as ‘an enquiring mind’
(although the term ‘nosey’ has also been used,) I enjoy the ability to find out
stuff from anywhere and everywhere at the click of a mouse. I love being able
to chat in real time to my kids when they are overseas. I love the ability to
communicate with friends and strangers. Yes I even like email.
I have always understood that
information found on the net may not be true. This is also very true of books
and newspapers. A book contains information written by someone and the
information contained within the pages of a book is only a record of what a
particular author believes or wants to tell us! I can remember being quite
young at school and suddenly realising that what was written between the covers
of my school text may not necessarily be true. Newspapers are a business venture
and depend on advertising to make a profit. The information found in a
newspaper is influenced by the forces of the mighty dollar and is also always a
journalists or reporters interpretation of an interview or an event. There is
much excellent reporting and wonderful articles reproduced in newspapers but
there is also inaccuracy and misquoting and manipulation of the truth. I have
personally experienced that. Even words in ‘quotation marks’ having been
reportedly spoken by myself at a Council meeting have been wrong. I know this
because I checked the Council minutes which come directly from the audio tape
of our meetings. Television simply uses the tricks of the editing process to
alter comments and this can produce an inaccurate version of events.
So where do we find the truth these
days? Here on my site I write my own stuff! Warts and all and typos included. I
tell anyone who wants to listen to my version of events and my opinions etc. If
anyone wants to contact me directly they can and I will be more direct when
corresponding one on one. The rules of defamation and Council confidentiality
stay at the front of my mind and I attempt to always stay within the bounds of
decency. I tell the truth but it is you, the reader, who has to decide if what
I say is true!
Strewth is different because the people
that write and comment are anonymous. Many people say this is a gutless way to
communicate. I agree to a point. When I worked for the State Govt a condition
of my employment was that I could not speak to the media. When one is employed
it is very difficult to be critical of that employer and retain ones job! At
the end of the day a mortgage and a family to feed lays heavily on ones mind!
So what do you do when you see injustice around you? Society is quick to
condemn and whistleblower protection is not for all!
So maybe the fact that on Strewth anyone
can say whatever they like and hide behind anonymity is an outlet for
expression that has value. I personally worry that if I comment on strewth I am
either encouraging ‘gossip’ or will be criticised for participating in a
‘disgusting hurtful gossip’ column. But it disturbs me when I can see people
writing stuff that I know to be incorrect and I want to ‘give my opinion’ on
certain matters. So I leave it to you. Feel free to let me know what you think.
For now I will take a line of least
resistance and post my own thoughts here. Yes a blog is a free for all but I
don’t like publicly made accusations remaining unanswered so from time to time
you will see me comment directly on strewth.
I nominated for Council because I feared
that the future of my city was in the hands of people who were very pro
development. I also decided I had skills that were useful and that I could
possibly ‘make a difference’. I detest lies and untruths but I love a chat and
always try to find out the ‘truth of the matter’. If someone talks to me my
first instinct is always to believe them. If however I find they have misled me
I will never ever trust them again! I will maintain a professional working
respectful relationship with such people but trust will be lacking ever after.
Time and life experience means that I trust my judgements and feel confident
that I get it right more often than I get it wrong!
If you care to read a bit more there is
information further below this letter that will give you an insight to my
thoughts about WBW, the Planning Scheme and our CEO! If you want my opinion on
other issues and concerns or you wish me to raise issues within Council please
don’t hesitate to contact me directly. I will respond to anonymous contact
also!
Cheers, Sue
And lastly I think this may make you
smile….
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Engineers Patrick and Seamus ( |
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