At last we've seen a debate at a Bridgetown-Greenbushes Shire Council meeting…
But what did it reveal?
That our councillors are so desperate to be liked they will bow to the whims of any noisy minority and reject perfectly reasonable proposals which might take the community forward.
When I was on Council I would often remind my colleagues we were duty-bound to make decisions in the best interests of the whole community, rather than to simply appease whoever happened to be agitating or glaring at us from the public gallery. These reminders were routinely brushed aside, and have obviously been forgotten.
At the March Council meeting a majority of councillors (7 to 2) rejected a plan for someone to set up a small (four berth) caravan park in a developed and populated area close to town. The neighbours had come to the meeting to complain that it would increase traffic on their roads and spoil their views.
The reason given for rejecting the advice of the Shire’s Planner by President Brian Moore, who moved the amendment, was; “The caravan park was not in keeping with the amenity and ambiance of the area.”
I would ask, was the Bridgetown caravan park (the owners of which lodged objections to the proposal), when it was first proposed, in keeping with the existing amenity and ambiance of that lovely riverbank area?
Was the town of Bridgetown, when it was established in keeping with the amenity and ambience of the then pristine area?
And finally, is the huge and expanding Greenbushes mine in keeping with the amentity and ambience of that bushland area?
I hope you see my point.
