The Beagle Editor,
There's very few people in the shire who believe anything that the present council or council staff offer the shires residents when the going gets tough.
Of course the councillors will make a decision one way or another about the future of the Batemans Bay Community Centre, but what will the staff be recommending ?
The Community Centre was purpose built and has served the area's people very well. If it is eventually leased, what will the lease money be used for? Council and our councillors need to say?
It seems that certain councillors are now raising questions as to why they are not being kept informed. Only today they discovered that Council has had unsolicited approaches from a number of groups interested in leasing the centre. Some are also having doubts about why it needs to be leased or sold at all and that they have been railroaded into going along with staff recommendations and told it is all Operational and they have divested their delegated authority to let staff do whatever they see fit.
The Centre used to cover it's own costs when it was run by the community. What's the present situation councillors, our elected representatives and corporate managers? That information should be made public now instead of letting the sore fester !
There's looming problems, if not immediately, in the not so distant future. The Shire's residents and ratepayers are very likely going to done over once again.
In a lengthy discussion only yesterday with one of our well informed Councillors the Community Centre was discussed along with the Batemans Bay Pool Aquatic Centre fiasco. The community centre discussion with the informed Councillor eventually saw him admitting that Council staff are running the show. The claim being Councillors are not fully and properly informed. It was implied by the councillor that council staff are pursuing a staff agenda, not a community agenda. If that is the case our mayor has some public explaining to do.
Allan Brown
Catalina
