LETTERS Costly rubbish Mornington Peninsula Shire Council recently produced a municipal waste and resource services strategy. Effectively, the strategy has been taken over by the state government’s Statewide Waste and Resource Recovery Infrastructure plan, which provides the umbrella under which all municipal waste plans are developed and implemented. The shire’s plan does not appear to cover where putrescible waste goes after the Rye facility closes. It seems the shire’s plan is to take the easiest, and most expensive to ratepayers way of exporting putrescible waste off the peninsula. According to the shire plan, this could cost up to $130 a household. There are 32,000 households and 8000 commercial operations in the shire. This equates to about $5.2 million in annual ratepayer dollars leaving the shire, for the next 18 years, the expected life of a new proposed landfill. The waste would go to a proposed privately operated quarry landfill site near Leongatha in SouthGippsland, within the Tarwin River catchment, threatening pure groundwater in that area. South Gippsland is a pristine farming community dotted with small, historic villages and is a major tourist attraction in it own right. The residents there would experience than 40 trucks a day travelling along the South Gippsland Highway and through their communities, transporting waste to the site. It seems that the NIMBY (not in my mackyard) mentality is alive and well in our shire council. As I have previously pointed out, the construction of a waste destruction facility within the shire, where putrescible waste is burnt rather than buried, would save millions and generate income in the form of renewable energy. Exporting shire waste to landfill in a neighbouring shire is not the solution. The only solution is to dispose of our waste in our own backyard, not in somebody else’s. Ken Dyer, Rosebud West
Shameful move At the Mornington Peninsula Shire Council meeting on Monday 23 May, we were informed that the shire is to introduce a weekly recycling bin pick up over summer and a new toilet block at the Vern Wright Reserve. Great things can happen when we all work together. We have many diligent and approachable council officers. However, later that evening, a badly worded notice of motion was introduced by Cr Anne Shaw stating that council officers had not informed Cr Antonella Celi that she had exceeded her budget and therefore she was not at fault. A second notice of motion, also introduced by Cr Shaw, was that even if Cr Celi was at fault, she did not have to pay back the overspent money. Crs Hugh Fraser and Tim Wood argued that ignorance does not absolve her of guilt as Cr Celi knew that she had overspent ratepayers’ money. I think it is to her shame that she has refused to repay the money spent. To their shame, Crs Shaw, David Gibb, Andrew Dixon, David Garnock and Bev Colomb voted these motions through. Council elections are due in November and our members will not forget. Doris Campbell, president Mornington Peninsula Ratepayers and Residents Association
Expenses allowed It is quite perplexing for many to read Cr Hugh Fraser’s dissonant account that shows his contradiction of facts about the legal advice sought and received by the [Mornington Peninsula Shire] CEO [Carl Cowie] and information put forward by governance to all councillors on the matter of expenses that were legitimately approved by council (“Council drops costs recovery bid”, The News 31/5/16). The approved expenses require no repayment and no recovery action because there has been no illegal overpayment of expenses incurred while I performed my council role and duties in accordance with the Local Government Act. Cr Fraser asserts that the matter had been a “whitewash with no information provided on the management decisions surrounding Cr Celi’s expense claims”. The statement is not factual and actually casts aspersion on the whole matter. All information has been provided to councillors and a thorough explanation has been given as to the legal approval and details of all expenses incurred.
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Furthermore, the fabricated story put forward that expenses have been overpaid and require repayment is legally unfounded, invalid and a gross allegation and misrepresentation of the facts. The detailed legal advice sought by the CEO and provided to all councillors and which has been released to the public through the council minutes of 23 May, 2016, categorically details the facts of the matter – that the relevant expenses have been lawfulIy approved and it is thought that it is not open to council after the fact, to effectively revoke its prior approval of those expenses and attempt to compel repayment. Despite this public campaign to undermine the integrity of my character and work as a councillor for the Seawinds Ward, I will continue to learn and serve my community to the best of my capability and advocate in their best interests on issues that are important to them. Antonella Celi, Dromana
‘Concerning ’ News Your article “Council drops costs recovery bid” (The News 31/5/16) is most concerning. There were three notices of motion: The first addressed the payment of conferences, seminars and training for Cr Antonella Celi, all of these expenses had been approved by council, there were no reimbursements. The second was to make the legal advice on this matter publicly available. I could not understand why some councillors chose to vote against it in the interest of transparency. The third was to review the policy as a matter of urgency, again some four councillors chose to vote against this. The legal advice was clear and they make reference to the policy, so claims they were not given information on “expense limits” is not valid. It is absolutely essential that the policy is reviewed, there are no limits on areas such as “entertainment” or “sundries”. This is of concern and I look forward to this review in the interest of all ratepayers. Ultimately, all this information should be readily available for all to see on the website. There are much more constructive things that councillors could be doing for the peninsula than spending time with these types of “distractions”. This matter should now be finished other than the review. You have to ask “what are these antics all about?” Councillor Antonella Celi is a hard working, dedicated councillor. Cr Anne Shaw, Mt Martha
Gondola game on I have been concerned at the annexure of the [Arthurs Seat] gondola development from Mornington Peninsula Shire’s responsibility in favour of it being facilitated by the Department of Planning. I therefore wrote to the minister seeking the establishment of a local committee to advise the department on this matter. The minister responded that such local consultation was not needed as in 2014 signs had been put at the top and bottom of the hill, letters had been sent to local residents, plans had been on the council’s website and a notice had been put in the local paper. I don’t know why we bother having a council in the first place. At some point everyone has been gamed in this sorry saga. The original operator, the Brumby government, the Baillieu and Napthine governments, the taxpayer, residents, bidders for the original expressions of interest, the council, even the current developer. At some point they’ve all been done over as the magic pudding of a “major tourism development” has lured them all towards the awfulness that is the current development. The thimblerig continues. Geoffrey O’Loghlen, Arthurs Seat
Election payback Perhaps it is time for the concentration of vitriol, ignorance and misinformation being thrown at or about [Flinders MP and Environment Minister] Greg Hunt to stop and, instead, let people of the Mornington Peninsula know of Daniel Andrews and Labor’s plans for the CFA. The move to unionise this fantastic largely voluntary organisation is well advanced. The predictable disastrous outcomes following on would expose the peninsula and many other fire prone country areas to possible catastrophe. Without local knowledge and ability to respond immediately to fires and other potential disasters while waiting for seven paid firefighters to arrive would leave communities extremely
Solstice plays at Flinders GUITARIST Matthew Fagan and pianist Daniel Tucceri will perform Solstice, 3pm, Sunday 19 June at St John’s Church, Flinders. It’s being billed as a concert of classical music at its emotive and technical best – a musical journey into our mythology and a rediscovery of ancient music, using acoustic instruments from Celtic and Classical to Romantic traditions. Solstice will feature the works of classical masters Vivaldi, Beethoven, Rodrigo, Bach and Paganini, with new arrangements for 10 and sixstring Spanish guitar and piano.
Master works from Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 and Rodrigo’s Spanish guitar masterpiece Concierto de Aranjuez will be played. Doors open at 2.30pm to the church, 23 King St. Book at trybooking.com/LQXM, call 0438 881 985 or email: mjb2fagan@gmail.com Tickets: $30 ($25 concession); $15 for under-16s and $50 family (two adults and two children). For special seating arrangements, including wheelchair access and companion tickets, call 0438 881 985.
vulnerable. Andrews is in payback mode to the firefighter unionists who posed as CFA members at polling booths during the last state election. What a disgrace and a slap in the face for our thousands of wonderful CFA volunteers. Kay Grey, Rye
Don’t blame Hunt
Reef disbelief It is unbelievable that in a TV interview with Waleed Ali Flinders MP and Environment Minister Greg Hunt said, in effect, that he was unaware that a report by the United Nations on the effects of climate change on the World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef was suppressed by Australia because it could affect tourism. The fact that coral bleaching has made headlines in some overseas publications in the past months seems to have been overlooked. The minister said he was only obliged to make a report on the reef’s health in five years’ time. Does this mean forget it for five years? Professor Terry Hughes from James Cook University indicated that 93 per cent of the reef was to a lesser or greater extent subject to bleaching. The reef may be lost within five years. Australia signed an agreement at the Paris conference to promote and continue the CSIRO research into, among other things, ocean carbon uptake. Failure to do so surely breaks this agreement. It would appear that this program could be savagely reduced by sacking up to 360 CSIRO scientists. At a time when the greatest threat to Australia’s and the world’s future is climate change it is incredible that these staff cuts should be even contemplated. Peter Strickland, Balnarring
Peter Davis of Tyabb (“Renewable Losses”, Letters 24/5/16) tries to blame [Flinders MP and Environment Minister] Greg Hunt for what he perceives as a decline in the statistics on renewable energy employment, feed-in prices and installation of roof top solar systems. He ignores the fact that the fundamental problem with renewable energy is that it is currently uneconomic and is costing voters a lot of money. While we would all be happy if renewable energy could cope with 12 hours of darkness, when solar power does not work, and when the wind stops blowing, unfortunately we all want our trams and trains, and TV and phone systems to work 24 hours a day, seven days a week. That requires base-line power stations providing electricity 24 hours a day and the only current solution is coal-based power, unless we go nuclear. Until we have a reliable 24-hour source of power that does not require fossil fuels, the parttime substitutes need to be subsidised by every electricity user and the taxpayer to keep “green” aspirants such as Mr Davis happy. High feed-in tariffs paid to solar panel installers are being subsidised by every other electricity user who is paying for the coal fired power station that keeps their lights on when their solar panel stops operating at night. Does Peter Davis really want the La Trobe power stations shut down tomorrow, as he effectively suggests, so that we all totally in the dark, or for the Portland aluminium smelter to be shut down which would eliminate the need for the Hazlewood power station to continue operating? We need a much higher level of intellectual thought on this matter and a reality check than