COAST COMMUNITY tVheoicneorofth 21 OCTOBER 2020
ISSUE 211
REAL INDEPENDENT LOCAL WEEKLY NEWS
300 tonnes of pollutants will leach into Lake Macquarie
News
Members of Australian Seabird Rescue Central Coast (ASRCC) were jumping for joy recently, when they released two green turtles... See page 11
Out&About
The Out of the Ashes II report by Hunter Community Environment Centre estimates that 302 tonnes of harmful heavy metal pollutants will leach into Lake Macquarie from the region’s two active coal-ash waste dumps between now and the planned retirement of the power stations.
Retro replicas, captivating copies and scintillating shams were all on show when the 2020 Fab Fakes exhibition was unveiled...
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Community group members protesting coal ash pollution
Health
State Government and Council at loggerheads The State Government has decided not to send in two experts at this stage to help Central Coast Council get to the bottom of its financial problems. Instead, the Chair of Council’s Audit, Risk and Improvement Committee (ARIC) will lead the financial investigation. On October 6, Minister for Local Government, Shelley Hancock, agreed to send the two experts, one an expert in finances and the other an expert in human resources. Parliamentary Secretary for Central Coast, Adam Crouch, issued his own media release on October 14, suggesting that the head of ARIC, Dr Col Gellatly, was the person who should take a look at Council’s finances. He also said that the State would not bail out the Council. Meanwhile, Council was still awaiting the two experts that the Minister had promised. By October 16, Mayor Lisa Matthews issued a media
"I'm committed to finding a solution and moving forward" - Mayor Lisa Matthews
statement saying that it appeared that the Minister and the NSW Government were abandoning the Central Coast community and not standing by commitments to appoint an independent financial expert and a human resources advisor to ascertain Council’s true financial position. “The Minister publicly stated in a media release on October
6 that these independent resources would be provided to support our local government organisation to help address these financial issues as quickly as possible,” the Mayor said. “Council accepted the Minister’s plan and looked forward to working with them on our action plan, however, to date, no support nor guidance
has been forthcoming. “I have again written to the Minister seeking clarity on the timing, scope and terms of reference for these previously committed financial and human resources advisors.” The Mayor finally received her reply, but it appeared first on the Facebook page of Parliamentary Secretary for Central Coast, Adam Crouch,
on October 19. The Facebook post was the letter addressed to the Mayor from Minister Hancock, which the Mayor didn’t receive until 2.38pm that day. In the letter, Minister Hancock said that as a consequence of additional advice she had received from the Office of Local Government, she was authorising the Deputy Secretary to write to the Chairperson of Council’s Audit, Risk and Improvement Committee to provide the independent oversight she had determined was fundamental in guiding Council. “With the benefit of the Committee’s assessment and forensic audit outcomes, we will review the situation again and if the need for further independent financial and human resources expertise is recommended, then I will act to assist Council again at that time,” Minister Hancock said.
A 46km run around Tuggerah Lakes isn’t the way that most people would choose to spend a Saturday. See page 31
Sport
The Killarney Vale Bombers suffered a double nixing in this year’s Black Diamond finals series, going down in both the Women’s Cup and Black Diamond Shield grand finals. See page 40
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Puzzles page 23
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