councillorjohn

Election Night

2009-10-23T05:29:00.001+08:00

The count for last Saturdays election was held in the Council chambers.Ian Osborne - the returning officer with the assistance of a few council staff members and under the watchful eyes of scrutineers did a great job. For the first time the count was done on the council table with the candidates and public partitioned off in the public gallery. This format added drama to the evening and gave the whole thing that classic election tally room feel - albeit on a small scale . Well done Ian. As the scores came to hand Ian posted running totals on a whiteboard - this again added to the evenings drama.

In Shadforth/Scotsdale there was a 46% turnout which equates to about 777 voters.The results are;

Dawn Pedro 420

John Sampson 533

Peter Mortimer 384

Barbara Marshall 324

Alex Syme 463

In Town there was a 56% turnout which is about 815 voters. The results are;

Colin Payne 234

David Rasterick 197

Kim Barrow 429

Philip Barnes 383

Emanuael Ganser 193

Of note none of the anti Wilson Head wind farm campaigners were elected.

Also former Shire President Kim Barrows who campaigned on a joint ticket with Colin Payne was unable to direct many votes Colins way. Indeed Kims vote itself was low. If Rasterick and Ganser had not run Phil Barnes would have probably polled 200 more votes than Kim!! There is a message in this ... however Im not sure that all councillors recognise it.

Speaking Out

2009-10-11T10:09:00.001+08:00

I had planned to blog about the elections however the controversy surrounding Paul Llewellyn's comments ( see Denmark Bulletin no 741 ) and the threats of legal action made by Peter Mortimer,Colin Payne and Barbara Marshall made me think again as I did not want to be seen as throwing fuel on the flames( the electoral commission has found that there is no case to answer). It should also be said that as a Councillor I am sometimes in a tricky position in that there is a code of conduct and I am not allowed to publicly dissent with council decisions. However as I am now a candidate I am allowed to criticise and question council policies. There is now only a week to go before election day and the majority of people who are going to vote have done so already, so I think it is now safe to speak out.

Watch This Space !

2009-09-18T20:30:00.001+08:00

I have been insanely busy of late helping at the Environment Centre setting up their new computer system as well as the usual council duties and so have had almost no spare time to devote to this website. In the immortal words of Max Smart .. sorry about that.
There is an election coming . Its a postal ballot and the papers will be delivered next week to electors.
I have decided to stand again.

I will have a lot to say about this in the coming days and weeks so
watch this space !

Back from Holidays

2009-07-14T07:19:00.001+08:00

Hey , Im back from holidays up north. Sadly have returned to find the Environment Centre destroyed by fire. No official report has been released yet , however the forensic investigator that I spoke to has ruled out arson. A engineer inspected the building on Sunday and it has been decided to demolish it.
On to council news ... today is our 3rd budget workshop .... basically we have a big wish list of what each department wants plus councillor's special projects and we we have to trim and adjust to fit our income from grants and rates. Sounds easy ? We started out with a $6M estimated shortfall ! Should be a interesting meeting. .. more soon.

Going North

2009-06-29T05:06:00.001+08:00

Sorry I have been slack about posting. Am going north for some sun , will be back around the 10th July . Stay tuned. Oh and in case you didnt hear we decided to stay with 12 councillors
. Elections are in October ... get ready !

June Agenda

2009-06-13T15:10:00.001+08:00

The agenda for next Tuesdays meeting is out and jeepers its a big one! It looks like a telephone book - 500 pages including attachments plus a 300 page download attachment - oh joy ! You can access your very own copy via the Shires website . Quickly flicking thru it there are a few items that are controversial and will stir the natives. For instance a 68 lot high density strata subdivision in Smith St. , draft dam and water feature policy , the proposal to reduce councillor numbers and to top it all off the east/west Wilson Inlet debate. I will have more to say about these items later - right now Ive got some reading to do !

The picture shows the 1932 Road Board. 2nd from the left back row is J.B. Thornton grandfather of Cr.Ross Thornton . J.D. Smith is 2nd from left front row.

Climate Change Meeting

2009-06-11T21:22:00.001+08:00

As some of you may know I am the chair of the Shire's Climate Change Advisory Committee and have been following the science and issues around climate change for some time.

Next Thursday the 18th there will be an information session run by South Coast Natural Resource Management on the implications of climate change on the south coast region. It will be held at the Shire Chambers 6.30 to 8.30 . All are welcome and if you have any interest in the defining issue of our times I urge you to attend. Miriam Lang from the Ag. Dept. will give a presentation on the science and predictions .... she has very interesting data on the south coast plus Melanie Price from Coffey Environments will talk on sea level and biodiversity. I attended this presentation a week ago in Albany and do recommend it !

The Southwest of Australia has been identified by the IPCC and CSIRO as a area particularly vulnerable to climate change its in your own interest to find out more ... head in the sand is not a option !

You can RSVP for the talk to Melanie Price 98926400.

Dollars & Sense

2009-06-10T10:18:00.001+08:00

Council met yesterday for a nearly 5 hour long workshop to develop next years budget. This is the first of two workshops we have before adopting the budget at a special meeting on the 28th of July. Yesterdays meeting was to review wish list items from councillors and staff. Its fair to say that councillors are very aware of the poor economic environment and will be trying to keep any increased charges to a minimum.

Odd or Even ?

2009-06-10T09:34:00.001+08:00

Another factor that I should have mentioned re councillor numbers is whether it should be odd or even. Yes before you say it I know that councillors are intrinsically odd ! When it is a even number the President has the casting vote ... effectively two votes , and of course when its odd we dont have this problem.

How Many Councillors?

2009-06-07T18:05:00.001+08:00

The Minister has challenged all local governments to reform by voluntary amalgamations and reduce councillor numbers to between 6 and 9. Most observers agree that the local government sector is overdue for reform its just when you get to the nitty gritty detail the argument starts. The local government peak body WALGA has been driven into a frenzy responding to the Minister. The industry is rife with special interests and long standing traditions , there is enormous inertia and resistance to change.
As far as Denmark goes there does not seem to be much scope for amalgamation apart from including the Walpole area into the Shire. There is some merit in this idea however Walpole is in the Shire of Manjimup and they are not very interested in handing it over !.... and of course the good people of Walpole need to have a say in all of this.

So its down to councillor numbers. We have 12 at present split between 3 wards.The proposal is to maintain the ward system but reduce the number of councillors by one in each leaving a total of 9 councillors. The main points in favour of this centre around making the decision process more effective and efficient plus some direct cost savings in having to pay less councillors. The arguments against centre around a perceived loss of democratic representation and increased workload on councillors. On balance I support reducing numbers to 9 because I believe that we would be a much more effective group. After attending nearly 2 years of meetings as a councillor and 2 as an outside observer it is clear to me that 12 is too unwieldy. 9 would still give diversity of opinion and save approximately $30k in direct costs. ( total budget 08/09 for councillor fees,meals,allowances ect was approx. $120k ) .

Anyway thats just my opinion at the moment , I welcome debate , being a councillor I probably will change my mind ! What do you want? send me some comments and vote on the new poll at the right.

One last thing the photo above shows your hard working and humble servants , third from the left back row is Cr. Richard Phair its his birthday today , so HAPPY BIRTHDAY Ric !!!!

Moderating Comments Pt.2

2009-06-04T22:27:00.001+08:00

I should have also said that you are welcome to post anonymous comments , however naturally if the comment is contentious it will have more weight with a real name attached. If you have a issue with me or really have something you want to tell me or discuss with me that falls into the personal or defamatory category then of course you are welcome to contact me directly via email , phone or in person. ( my details are in the local phone book and at the Shire )

Back to normal programming now...

Moderating Comments

2009-06-04T21:35:00.001+08:00

I have had some spam and defamatory comments posted that are now deleted. Consequently I have enabled comment moderation so any comments you post will not appear immediately. I am sorry about this , I suppose it was inevitable as most blog sites suffer from spam. I want and value your opinions and comments but please no personal or defamatory stuff that just leads to a online slanging match.

A Little Bit of History

2009-06-04T16:45:00.001+08:00

As alluded to in the previous post, this month the council will deal with a potentially quite contentious item - reform of local government. We will be considering reducing councillor numbers from 12 down to 9. The ministers preferred range is 6 to 9 . Straight up I have got to tell you that Im in favour of this. Anyway Ive been doing a little research into the Council history that you may find interesting. On September 22, 1911 the Governor Sir Gerald Strickland created the Denmark Road District. Elections were held on December 2 and the first meeting of the board was in early 1912.

George Arthur Flay was the first Chairman. Other members were Arnold Adams , Henry Kingdon , John Ricketts , Edward McLean , Joseph Smith and Gilbert Staker. Harold Buckley was secretary.

The area of the district in 1912 was 775 square miles (today 1842 sq. kms = 720 sq. miles ). Number of electors was 192 !!!! and total revenue was 884 pounds sterling ! ( Garry are you reading this ? )

Ive been unable to find a picture of the original Board. The one above is from 1919.Front row third from the left is George Arthur Flay , still chairman and on his left is Joseph Smith. Joseph was remarkable in that he served continuously from 1912 till 1946 - a truly amazing achievement.

So in the beginning there were 7 board members and no wards. In 1913 5 wards were created -East,West and North wards each having one member plus a South and Town ward with 2 each. Note there was a member for every 28 electors !!

Moving forward to today we have 12 councillors with 3 wards and the councillor/elector ratio is 1:343

The proposal is to maintain the 3 wards but reduce the number of councillors in each by one leaving 9 councillors in total with a councillor/elector ratio of 1:458

Once again I recommend that you visit the Historical Society Museum .... an Aladdin's cave.

Stay tuned.

Meeting Report

2009-05-29T10:08:00.001+08:00

The agenda for Tuesdays meeting was a modest size and there were only a few items that generated much debate.-A word of explanation here , as a councillor I am not allowed to dissent with council decisions. Its the same principle that applies to cabinet decisions and the rule is there for good reason. Once council has debated and decided on a matter then that is the council position and we all( councillors ) publicly support this , even if we may privately think otherwise. To do otherwise just leads to chaos.- However I may say how I voted for a item and explain my reason. Also a councillor may ask that the names of councillors and how they voted be recorded in the minutes. So back to Tuesdays meeting first off the rank Item 9.1.1 Scheme Amendment Request - Lot 73 Mitchell St. This is a request to rezone 36 Mitchell St. from residential to commercial to extend Thorntons Hardware store. Cr Richardson-Newton moved a motion to refuse the request and this was carried 9/2 . Yours truly voted against this , not because I support the request rather I thought it better to defer as we are in the middle of formulating a new Local Planning Strategy and are scheduled to discuss with planning consultants next month the commercial/industrial component of the LPS. It is my strongly held belief that many of the contentious issues that have bedeviled Denmark in the past stem from inadequate planning and ad hoc decisions. Look at my post below for "How Big?". Past council decisions have given the nod to approximately 3500 new housing lots that will probably lead to the TRIPLING of Denmark's population. It is inevitable that the commercial area will need to expand to cater for this. LPS guide plans will show where this expansion will take place and provide certainty for residents and developers.

Next tricky item was 9.1.3 Kearsley Rd Structure Plan. There was quite a bit of debate and discussion over this. Councillor concerns centered around the adequacy of the fire plan and the preservation of the bush. The officer recommendation to publicly advertise the plan was narrowly passed 6/5 . Again yours truly did not vote in favour.

The last item that precipitated debate was item 11.1 Ward and Representation Review. We decided to leave this till next months meeting . As you may be aware the Minister for Local Government John Castrilli has announced his intention to reform local government . This will include amalgamations and reduction of councillor numbers. The minister is suggesting between 6 to 9 councillors as the optimum number. I will have more to say about this on a separate post , suffice to say it is contentious !

Thats all for now enjoy the sunshine.

Pool Feasibility Study Gets Green Light

2009-05-27T07:17:00.001+08:00

I am very pleased to say that at last nights council meeting the officer recommendation to proceed with a feasibility study was unanimously supported by council. In fact it passed without so much as a word of debate!!
I will post a more detailed report on last nights meeting later today. Enjoy your breakfast Cyril.

Meeting 26th May

2009-05-26T09:58:00.001+08:00

Its that time of month again. Im a bit pressed for time at the moment , so this will be brief. The agenda today contains a report on the Community Park Concept plan. As everyone knows this has been a somewhat contentious issue .. to say the least ! The recommendation is to put the plan out for public comment . I urge everyone to look at it as this has potentially major impact on the town. Note the cost estimate of $2 million. Also you will see a naming recommendation of "Kwoorabup Community Park "
Got to fly .. see you at the meeting ... or at least leave a comment!

The Pool

2009-05-25T08:05:00.001+08:00

One of the items on the agenda for Tuesdays ( tomorrow ) council meeting is the swimming pool survey. Last August the council entered into a partnership with the Denmark Aquatic Centre Committee ( DACCI ) to examine the NEED for a sustainable indoor heated aquatic facility ( a pool ) in Denmark. A project team was established , which yours truly sat on , we engaged a consultant - the Shire and DACCI split the cost - Jill Powell & Associates to conduct a survey. To cut a long story short - you can read about it in the agenda - the report identified a need and recommends that the council moves to the next stage and undertake a feasibility study.
This will be debated and voted on tomorrow night.

Any comments??( see Baz and Brian's comments in How to Post a Comment )

How to Post a Comment

2009-05-24T18:46:00.001+08:00

A number of people have emailed me saying they are having trouble posting a comment. I must confess the google system is not quite straight forward.
Here is how to do it.... first click on the comment tag below the post/article that you wish to write about. Then where it says "comment as" click on select profile and choose from the drop down list. The choices at the top you have to register with google/wordpress/typepad ect if you dont have and dont want one of these options then at the bottom you can click on name/url or anonymous ..... your post will have more weight if you use your name !

After you have selected your profile type your message in the box then press the preview button.. this is a important step... you will be asked to verify your post ( this stops spam ) then you press "post comment"

Easy huh !!! Get to work !!

How Big ??

2009-05-24T12:20:00.001+08:00

Last week councillors had a two day workshop to formulate a 20 year strategic plan for Denmark. One of the first things we struggled with is a vision for Denmark and how large we want to be. It is clear from the Ratepayer Survey recently conducted by the shire that many people are concerned about this. The survey is full of comments such as " we dont want to be like Mandurah/Margaret River/Busselton ".

Bear with me now as this might get a bit tricky.The graph above - I am sorry for the poor quality - ( it is hard to post large docs. on google ) shows Denmarks population from 1976 to 2006 in the red columns - these are the official Australian Bureau of Statistics figures. The figures on the Y axis are population in thousands from 1 to 20, the X axis is years from 1976 to 2046 in 10 yr intervals. The curved lines show 1%,2% and 3% growth lines from 2006. The pink column shows what the population would be in 2046 with a 3.5% growth rate - about 18,000. The shaded area shows potential population increase that is catered for from lots already identified by the Shire in the present planning strategy.It is not a exact number but the best and latest estimate from our planning department. It should also be noted that this does not include urban infill and development on existing vacant sites. It is clear to me that we have more than ample stock to handle future growth to 2029. It should also be noted that the past 10 year growth rate has been 2% , if this continues the population will be about 7100 in 2029.

The bottom line here is how big do you want Denmark to be ? Its fair to say that there is some disagreement amongst councillors about this . It should also be noted that ultimately we dont really have any control over this as we are dictated to by State and Federal Government. Never the less I believe that we can have goals/targets in our vision and its something we should think about very carefully. There are many examples of communities that have had uncontrolled high rates of growth only to come unstuck and have to apply restrictions when its too late.

So on the right is a poll where you can say how big you would like Denmark to be , of course you can also leave a more detailed comment below. ( yes I know below only has one L ! ) I have also changed my settings so you can post a comment more easily .... please give it a go !

Elections

2009-05-23T15:46:00.001+08:00

The photo is of the Denmark Road Board 1937/38. The board was the precursor of the shire council. You may notice some similarities with the current group of councillors - namely their age and gender imbalance ! To be fair we do have one female councillor - Jeanette Plowman , however I suspect our average age may be higher.

What has this got to do with the price of fish ? We have an election coming up in October and now is the time to start thinking about it. Elections occur every two years - its your chance to participate in local government either by standing as a candidate or having your say by voting. Please consider!

BTW the photo comes from the Historical Society - if you haven't done so already , a trip to their museum is a must do.

A New Beginning

2009-05-21T21:33:00.001+08:00

Hello Everybody

Im back!! Sorry it has been awhile.The old site had technical problems that were completely beyond my control and sadly I have been unable to recover any of my old data and posts ... so a new beginning with Google Blogger.

For those of you who are new here the idea behind this blog is to document my experiences as a Shire of Denmark councillor plus stimulate interest in local government and provide another mechanism for people to have their say about anything concerning the Shire of Denmark.

There has been a lot happening in Denmark whilst Ive been away.The winds of change are starting to blow hard - proposed new shopping centre , caravan park developments , Karri Mia closing , royalties for regions , new Strickland streetscape plans , old hospital site developments , high density Smith St. developments , debate about number of councillors , state government pushing for reform of local government and Victorian fire disaster fallout are just some of the topics I will address over the coming weeks.

The Shire is presently engaged in developing a 20 year strategic plan for the future - Denmark 2029. This will include a vision statement of where we want to be and strategies of how to achieve this. Big picture stuff!! I would love to get some feedback from you dear readers of your vision of Denmark's future - so over to you !