Coast Community News 288

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16 APRIL 2021

ISSUE 288

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News

Through rain, hail or shine, the charity organisation, Soul Soup, has pushed through to continue serving food to those less fortunate on the Central Coast. See page 4

Out&About

Musical Director and composer Yantra de Vilder of Avoca Beach will perform in the closing concert of her Pianos for the People installation in Darling Square on Sunday, April 18. See page 17

Dozens of people were at the official opening of the Terrigal Boardwalk and upgraded rockpool on April 14, including NSW Premier, Gladys Berejiklian, Parliamentary Secretary for the Central Coast, Adam Crouch, Central Coast Council Administrator, Dick Persson, and the Council’s new CEO, David Farmer.

Business

See page 5

Councillors should not return, says Administrator The Minister for Local Government should take whatever action is necessary to prevent the return of the suspended Central Coast councillors, says Administrator Dick Persson. Persson wants to see the September election delayed to allow a formal inquiry to determine what is needed to achieve a successful merger of the former Wyong and Gosford councils, as opposed to a public inquiry into the financial situation. “I’m calling for an inquiry but not for the reasons others might think,” Persson said as he handed down his final report. “We know what happened here and my two previous reports provide this detail, there is nothing more to uncover. “I encourage the community not to fall for the politicking of

Central Coast Council Administrator, Dick Persson (right) and CEO David Farmer

this issue. “I believe such an inquiry (as I have suggested) would have far greater community support than an inquiry that would be used by competing political actors trying to blame each other for what occurred. “We know what occurred, it is now time to look ahead and help ensure the success of the sixth largest council in Australia.” Persson also recommended

new CEO David Farmer consider going to market to buy a new simplified IT system. He said it was clear the massive spend of $60M since the merger on an IT system was poor in comparison to what other councils had secured at much lower cost. Persson handed down his final report at an extraordinary meeting on Thursday, April 15, having already delivered it to

Local Government Minister Shelley Hancock. He said his investigation concluded that by far the biggest reason the Council became insolvent was due to mismanagement of the budget over the years following the merger and leading up to the councillors’ suspension. “There is pressure by many to hold a public inquiry into what went wrong here,” he said.

“With due respect to those people, (acting CEO Rik) Hart and I have investigated what went wrong and published those findings. “Many of those calling for a (public) inquiry don’t like my conclusion because I have made it very clear the financial collapse is not due to the local government amalgamation. “I have formed the view that the merger of the Gosford and Wyong LGAs was always going to be one of the harder ones, and that it was well short of completion when councillors were elected. “It is very clear that the new Council had little interest in continuing the hard work of achieving efficiencies and using those savings to expand the delivery and quality of services.

An $110M residential project planned for 89 John Whiteway Dr, Gosford, has been scaled back in response to submissions received, with the number of units cut from 260 to 204 and a reduction in building height... See page 25

Sport

For the Terrigal Trojans, two wins in both the Women’s Tens and the Swietelsky Premier One leagues have launched their 2021 season campaigns off to a great start. See page 38

Continued page 12

Puzzles page 22

Office: Level 2, 86-88 Mann St, Gosford - Phone: 4325 7369 - Mail: PO Box 1056, Gosford 2250 - E-mail: editorial@centralcoastnews.net - Website: www.coastcommunitynews.com.au


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