PAGE 12 FEBRUARY 23, 2017
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Increased load and lack of facilities at Gosford Court House seen as totally inappropriate ocal Court sittings have been increased at Gosford Court House to allow for two magistrates to sit full time at this location, but the local legal community has expressed concerns about the venue’s capacity to cope.
Accurate finalisation of former Gosford Council accounts crucial arliamentary Secretary for the Central Coast, Mr Scot MacDonald, has said he will take the accounts of the former Gosford Council to the Office of Local Government if he has any questions about their veracity.
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In a written media statement, the NSW Chief Magistrate’s Office said: “After carefully reviewing feedback from local stakeholders, the Chief Magistrate will move Local Court sittings to Gosford, freeing up Woy Woy Court House to become a full time Children’s Court for the Central Coast. “Local Court sittings have also increased at Gosford to allow for two magistrates to sit full time at this location,” the statement said. The NSW Government has also recently closed its NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) purpose-built conferencing and hearing rooms in Gosford and moved some NCAT cases to Gosford Court House. Ms Rosemary Long, President of the Central Coast Law Society, wrote to the Parliamentary Secretary for the Central Coast, Mr Scot MacDonald, to express her concerns about the changes, which are expected to take place from March. “The overcapacity already occurring at Gosford Court House…has been worsened by the closure of NCAT rooms in Gosford and the relocation to the Gosford Court House. “The Gosford branch of the NSW Trustee and Guardian also closed in November 2016 and I do not know what role Gosford Court House may have to play in terms of its existing local clients,” Ms Long said.
The accounts for the 2015 to 2016 financial year (up to May 12) are now expected to be presented to Mr Reynolds at Council’s March 22 meeting for referral to the auditor. The audit was due for completion before Christmas, but Mr Reynolds said Council had requested extra time due to the auditors not being familiar with Gosford’s systems. “From what I have been told from Central Coast Council, they have had a lot of difficulty proving their accounts,” said Parliamentary Secretary for the Central Coast, Mr Scot MacDonald. “The current Administrator and his Interim CEO have been saying there were question marks around the accounts,” Mr MacDonald said. “That begs the question, will we have the new Council, when it is elected, saying it is going to need another $5 million or $15 million?” he said. Mr MacDonald said due to his accountancy background, he understood how the way that assets were valued, for instance, could alter the outcome of a balance sheet. “An unexpected shortfall would result in less money for roads, kerb and guttering,” he said. Mr MacDonald said the
Mr Darrell Pannowitz, from Tonkin Drysdale Partners, also wrote to Mr MacDonald expressing concerns about the changes. Mr Pannowitz said the proposal to completely cut Local Court sittings at Woy Woy so that the Magistrate can be freed up to sit full-time at Gosford “necessarily means there are no facilities at the Gosford complex for NCAT. “This is just another example of bureaucrats within the same department not talking to each other and thinking things through,” Mr Pannowitz said. “The alternate view is that they have discussed the additional workload for the Court complex and determined that matters need to be transferred to Newcastle or elsewhere, which causes them no concern,” he said. “In a perfect world, there should be additional Court infrastructure at all of the Wyong, Woy Woy and Gosford Court complexes.
“This will become necessary at a future time,” he said. Mr Pannowitz suggested an alternate roster that may free up a court room at Gosford for NCAT one day per week, but it is understood that his suggestions were rejected by the Chief Magistrate. “Surely it is more efficient for the community, police, juvenile justice, other court resources and the overall administration of justice, for a Magistrate to travel between courts rather than have the whole community travel between courts?” he said. Mr Paul Mereniuk, Partner with Peninsula Law, said the cessation of a Local Court list day at Woy Woy Court House would result in a 25 per cent increase in the work load of the Gosford Local Court. He said the Chief Magistrate’s Office had argued that the changes would result in an extra 12 sitting days added to the Gosford Local Court monthly calendar.
“Unfortunately the statistic fails to take into consideration that the Gosford Local Court has the following sittings: Monday one sitting for Gosford Court matters only; Tuesday two sittings for Gosford Court matters only; Wednesday two sittings, one for Gosford matters and one for defended Woy Woy matters; Thursday two sittings for Gosford matters and Woy Woy matters; and Friday one sitting. “Accordingly, the only availability to increase Local Court sitting times occurs on Monday and Friday of each week in the month, therefore, instead of there being an increase of 12 local court sitting days as projected, in fact there can only be an increase of eight. “To add to this, the Gosford Court House facility struggles to accommodate the stakeholders it currently services for both the District and Local Courts. “This struggle will now be compounded by the addition of 25 per cent more cases which will necessitate a minimum of one support person for each defendant in Criminal matters, and one support person for each party in Civil or Family Law matters. “The proposed increase in workload has not been met by any increase in rooms available for conferencing clients or for accommodating victims of domestic violence. “This will also result in security issues and the need for conferencing of clients in public as opposed to private spaces. “This is totally inappropriate,” he said. Media statement, Feb 3, 2017 Georgie Louden, NSW Justice Letter, Jan 4, 2017 Darrell Pannowitz, Tonkin Drysdale Partners Letter, Jan 13, 2017 Paul Mereniuk, Peninsula Law Jackie Pearson, Journalist
finalisation of the Gosford accounts would be a “light bulb moment” for the new Council. “They can then say we are now happy with the books, have identified a backlog and then ask the State Government if it can help out.” Although Mr MacDonald reiterated that the newly-merged Central Coast Council cannot stray from its current rates path for three years, a rate increase may well be on the cards beyond that date. “The rate caps are very low at the moment, they are like inflation, around 1.82 per cent, so they will have to go to their community and ask for a Special Rate Variation and say they need an extra per cent for so many years to cover the backlog. “If I have any concerns about the accounts, I am going to be going to the Office of Local Government saying: “I want a truth test on this. “I want to be very confident of their accounts, their balance sheet position and their infrastructure backlog position, and if that means another auditor taking a look, so be it. “I will be expecting a very important, very thorough assessment of this. “Until you can measure it, you can’t manage it, and I think that is glaring. “I am looking for clarity and I am looking for them to be verified, so once the auditors sign off, then the Office of Local Government can be comfortable the auditors have done their job.” Interview, Feb 2, 2017 Scot MacDonald, Parliamentary Secretary for the Central Coast Jackie Pearson, Journalist