BOWLING GREEN BIAS?

Multi-millennia seem to have come and gone while the content of a proposed Shire of York contractual document (consisting of very few pages) has been laboriously compiled to cover a possible hand-over to others of, mainly, the fiscally infamous ‘Forrest Bar and Café’.

The end result of these machinations and manoeuvrings could be presumed to be to help take the financial heat out of the ratepayer-funded kitchen before the next Local Government Election, 8 months away.

Oddly enough it is ubiquitously (meaning inescapably) titled the ‘York Recreation and Convention Centre Management Contract' that, currently, has had just limited release to the York population. (Most ratepayers have yet to receive their copy.)

The ‘Draft Terms’ could be considered as not so cheap and cheerful to the overall community and as a potential legally binding, offer and acceptance document, in its present form, appears to lack the normal legalese ‘boiler-plating’ required to genuinely protect the interest of ratepayers.

In fact it does not include the Shire’s York Recreation and Convention Centre (YRCC) Master Plan, inclusive of its budget and maintenance program- because it has not been drafted yet.

Under normal circumstances it could be assumed that this should be important information as part of any understanding in a contractual agreement with a potential lessee.

The basic premise for the future use of these premises goes like this:-

The existing licensed area, which technically may have been in breach of some clauses of its Tavern Licence since its inception, will be offered at a $1 per annum peppercorn and saltshaker rent covering a multi-year period.

It will be a multi-year licence to thrill local taste-buds and tipplers- in this case 3-years.

The ravenous foodies that presently indulge themselves could number at least 60 per week. Unfortunately, probably not enough to keep the welfare wolf from the plated-meal restaurant door as the cost of food, its preparation and presentation is not conducive to a large profit margin.

Tipplers may be an unspecified number but the profit margin is greater.

For at least the same period of time –‘we’ the ratepayers will pay for power and water which will probably also include the cost of maintaining the York Recreation and Convention Centre Website and other unspecified sundry items.

‘We’ will also have the honour of guaranteeing an interest- free loan of up to $30,000 as a start-up cash  flow for the lucky local association that takes the bait.

‘We’ will finance the staff to create the required ‘body corporate corpus-delicti’, help develop a constitution and transfer the liquor licence, investigate liability insurance, blow-noses and change nappies.

Fixtures and fittings including spoons and spittoons will all be gratis to the lessee and the remains of the extensive beverage list can be purchased at cost.

Not withstanding-the principle of a community/sports orientated ‘Incorporated Association’ running such a venue in the interest of everyone is sound. That is if it cuts its’ coat according to its’ cloth.

As an entity it should only provide services required by ensuring that it is fully aware of its market including what food and beverage demand it should cater for.

An integral part of this is to define what Liquor Licence is most appropriate to meet actual demand, in part to avoid any further future damage to private local businesses operating in the same market place. (The famous ‘Yorky’s railway carriage eatery is still closed and the lease of the York Flourmill Café is up for sale.)

As a cost cutting exercise there is the probable need of the extensive use of volunteers in appropriate circumstances, something that, apparently, a local, local government aficionado does not particularly agree with for some reason.

Of deep interest and possible concern is an -Exclusion Clause-Bowling Greens. Although the lawn bowls area is included in the offer titled ‘Property under contract’ it is excluded in the Usage of YRCC Hospitality Facilities. 

Here it states-‘ whilst the area of the Bowling Green is included in this contract to comply with Licencing regulations, the Association is only liable under the terms of the liquor licence for this area. All other responsibilities will be in the Memorandum of Understanding between the Shire and the YBC (York Bowling Club) Hire of the area is subject to the approval of the YBC.

What this actually means is up to each individual to assess. However it appears the York Bowling Club will have a separate exclusive arrangement with the Shire of York beyond the scope of any other partner in any future community/sports association.

The York Bowling Club, on its website, says it provides a variety of facilities for members and visitors including bar service.

This service is now provided within what will be the associations hospitality facility. So what is the actual area that the York Bowling Club and the Shire agree to separate responsibilities within a Memorandum of Understanding- and for what reason?

Does this may mean the bowling club is prepared to hire its own bar manager and wait staff to meet its stated obligations to its members and visitors?

The only way an Incorporated body, representing the community interest, can successfully operate and maintain a licenced restaurant facility is as an equal partnership. Let us hope that one size fits all and any exclusion clause has no potential negative impact.

David Taylor.

A BURNING QUESTION?

Recently an out of control bushfire raged through York’s St. Ronan’s area bringing a dire threat to life, property and livestock

The inferno was so intense that nearly 70 fire control vehicles were called  from within a 100 kilometre radius to help contain the blaze as it scorched 400 plus hectares of prime farming land, came dangerously close to homes and blocked the Great Southern Highway.

In addition 11 aircraft were called in to assist to help extinguish a wildfire that made news across Australia as one of its oldest inland towns came under threat. Everyone involved should be highly commended for containing and controlling such a potentially lethal situation.

Unfortunately St. Ronan’s is where the proposed massive Perth household, waste landfill site at Allawuna Farm is located.

This raises the question what may have occurred if a monstrous rubbish tip caught alight in a firestorm, including how hard it would be to bring it under control, how long this would take and how catastrophic the consequences  could be to the local population?

Burning household waste produces vast quantities of some of the most deadly gasses known to man. The toxic cocktail would include formaldehyde, hydrogen chloride and Sulphur dioxide.

Also derivatives of dioxins and furans that include hydrochloric acid. A deadly duo that are believed to cause cancer and birth defects from the lowest concentration of all man-made chemicals. Just small doses can have catastrophic consequences suggesting that victims can be kilometers away and still be contaminated by what is contained in the smoke.

This disturbing information is not sourced from any West Australian government agency but from the United States Environmental Protection Agency with input from the New York Departments’ of Conservation and Health.

It is not a new revelation, the evaluation of emissions from open air burning of household waste was completed 21 years ago and would clearly be available to both to the WA State Administration Tribunal and the Department of Planning when evaluating the suitability of Allawuna Farm as a huge household waste site.

Even though a landfill, at times Allawuna Farm could have massive amounts of household rubbish exposed to the atmosphere and therefore a potential fire hazard.

A conflagration caused by a lightning strike or some other natural or human induced cause may not be hot enough to ensure that particulate matter (soot) created from the household waste is not too large for humans to breathe resulting in the risk of emphysema, chronic bronchitis and cancer for those in the vicinity.

This soot and ash residue can also contaminate exposed groundwater such as wells and streams, crops, wildlife, even soil over an area that can only be guesstimated. It would be dependent on the fire’s intensity and prevailing wind strength and direction.

Those who would suffer the most from toxic waste exposure are children, the elderly and pregnant women. The dangerous gas, soot and ash can be created from such innocuous household items as newspapers, magazines, milk cartons, food waste and cans.

If you add old paint tins, used oil, light bulbs, batteries and asbestos you get a whole new ball game with deadly concoctions of mercury and lead.

You could expect that those with a self interest in the Allawuna Farm project proceeding would call this hypothetical nonsense.

BUT IS IT?

David Taylor.

NO MERRY XMAS AT WHITE GUM AIR PARK- but maybe a better New Year.

A multi-million dollar tourism development in the Avon Valley suffered a tragic setback just a month before Christmas

In November, Gordon Marshall, one of the proponents of a bold plan to bring two retired Boeing 737-200 airliners to White Gum Air Park, near York, died in an aircraft hanger on the property.

Mr. Marshall was White Gum Air Park’s senior flight instructor,  a Director of Sky Sports Flying School and part of the park’s tourism development team.

One of the air park proposals is to attract tourists from all over Australia and the world to view and interact with these giants of the skies, relocated in a rural setting.

A similar project in Queensland, with a Boeing 747 displayed in the town of Longreach, is now attracting over 40,000 visitors each year.

Despite this- currently local government regulators appear intent on refusing to allow visitors to see the 737’s, on private property within the local government area and are also said to be attempting to police the future flight plan development for the air park.

However close friends and business colleagues are determined to ensure Mr. Marshall’s death and any local government bureaucracy will not prevent the project from going ahead as planned.

“The last 18 months has been pure hell for all of us with our dreams seemingly turning to dust. This is even though airport planning at a regional level is entirely at the discretion of the local airport owners, aircraft noise and traffic movements are not under the control of any local government and an already proven successful  business venture should not be prevented for no good reason” a friend said.  

‘‘Knowing Gordon for 15 years I’m sure  he would want us to continue, so we are all determined to make White Gum Air Park’s restored Boeing 737’s his legacy no matter what it takes’’.

The reaction of local businesses is also a stimulus for the plan to go ahead. Gordon was so passionate about this project he was the one who canvassed the majority of businesses in the town.

“We had 100% support”, a director of this tourism development said.

Fifty four local businesses support us and we had 316 individual signatures on a petition that has been sent to the Minister for Tourism. So one wing of one of the aircraft has already arrived at the property and plans are underway for the delivery of the other wing and then the fuselage in the coming months’’.

“Gordon would really like that’ he said.

David Taylor

Lifeline 13 11 14- beyondblue 1300 22 4636.

TIME WAITS FOR NO-ONE- especially SAT!

With their workdays filled with massive decisions on a better future for York, the Shire of York Administration sadly forgot to check the calendar and who they were really dealing with regarding the Allawuna Farm environmental debacle. 

Firstly the alleged ‘thumbs-up’ for the Shire’s position by the Minister for Planning, Rita Saffioti, could just as well have been the middle digit as she has every right to say it is actually none of her business and probably did- and certainly will when push comes to shove.

Never trust a wounded elephant or a politician. Her correspondence may have contained a few of the right platitudes but the underlying message could well have  been ‘Shire of York emptor’- York beware, meaning some due care is possible, but forget any responsibility.

And of course the government department that Ms. Saffioti takes care of, called the Department of Planning, contains the West Australian Planning Commission that appears to have been considered another potential friend by Chief Executive Officer, Paul Martin, and his executive crew.

Certainly this department claims to consider all interests including environmental and community wants. Unfortunately it also considers both economic and political needs so if Allawuna Farm is the cheapest alternative, the proponents have lobbied cleverly and the dump is not going to be in a Labour held seat- then guess what!

So read this shire sob story and weep:- and remember ‘implied’ means maybe yes-or maybe no and ‘not complied with’ means the shire did not do what it was supposed to do!

"Therefore, whilst the 42-day timeframe to provide the executed documents was not complied with, it was understood at the time that there was an awareness and implied level of consent to the Shire’s position within the correspondence between the Shire on the one hand, and the office of the Minister and the Western Australian Planning Commission on the other hand."

 A little assumption is a very dangerous thing.

And now the shire has to deal with a gaggle of quasi-intellectuals including lawyers, accountants, psychologists, architects and a midwife called the State Administrative Tribunal (SAT).

Would they care that WA has the worst earthquake tremors in the nation with  5.7 and 4.7 magnitude quakes in the South West this year. ( Both Meckering and York are in this area of instability. )

And given that these earthquakes were at a shallow depth they would probably tear the walls of a landfill site apart. Would this register on SAT’s Richter Scale?- probably not!

The fact that the most recent road death statistics show that 8 people have died and 32 seriously injured on Great Southern Highway between the Lakes and St. Ronan’s well between 2001 and 2016 probably does not register either.

Nor would the fact that heavy haulage movements will increase a massive 3.5 times, per day-existentially increasing the possibility of road trauma by a similar amount.

So good luck with SAT because there is probably not one environmentalist among them, not one of them lives in the Wheatbelt and maybe none of them has ever spent time in the town of York.

Cr Ferro sporting

No landfill attire 

Therefore congratulations go to President David Wallace and his team, some elected because of their  populist  stance against the rubbish tip at Allawuna and CEO Paul Martin whose trust in others is quite astounding.


David Taylor. 

ANOTHER DOG’S BREAKFAST

You should never let an arsonist play with matches or a local government make its own local laws which are already offences in common or criminal law.

Time and time again critics of local government tell administrators and councillors not to make up local laws, by-laws, statutes. principles and guidelines as a knee-jerk reaction to situations they have  no ability to handle, or should keep their noses out of.

Too often these laws such as the new Local Government Property Amendment Local Law 2018 are a cut-and-paste miasma with many questioning what T.F does it mean and who T.F will actually enforce it.

One absolute classic is in Division 4-Aerodrome (Airport) 5.6 regarding the restrictions the shire places on you when you and your beloved pooch arrive at Terminal 2, at York International Airport.

Your dog is not allowed unless-
(a) the animal is being air freighted from the aerodrome
(b) the animal has been air freighted to the aerodrome
(c) the person is authorised to do so by the local government (read Shire of York here.)
     (probably as a sniffer-dog to locate the stash of meth-amphetamines)

You can probably add goats, chooks, cattle and sheep to those not permitted. However there may be sniffer-pigs.

You could probably ask David Wallace or your local councillor- or your cheery administrator, such as Paul Martin, what airport are they referring to- and why do they have such a fetish about when, where, how, why and with what aeroplanes fly within shire airspace when it would be in everyone’s best interest if they left it to the Department of Civil Aviation and its determination of the Civil Aviation Act 1988. (Aeronautical airspace is Commonwealth property and the Shire of York owns bugger-all of it.)

In Part 1 Clause 1.2, the definition of ‘Boat” has been deleted. Possibly because most sane people would not put a boat in the murky depths of the Avon River in and around York.

The rest seems to be mainly targeting aquatic facilities such as the dilapidated York Swimming Pool and the Health Act so they can charge culprits $125 who are caught peeing in the pool- beyond a reasonable doubt.

‘Reasonable’ seems to be a Shire of York buzz-word.

So what is the Shire’s definition of a reasonable person and what could be considered by the shire of York as deleterious to the reasonable physical, mental or social well being of a person (whether reasonable or not)?

Is a reasonable person considered to be someone who is taking their medication to combat chronic schizophrenia or has their Post Traumatic Stress Disorder under control?

Who then is the arbiter of reasonable, Mr. Wallace? Mr. Martin? Or both- as each one is a signatory to the documents?

The Shire of York uses the word ‘nuisance’  to define a person who it thinks is not a reasonable person and who  needs to be fined at least $125 for their indiscressions and/or inappropriateness for the 13 prescribed offenses.

So the decision is if a person stands up at the next monthly Council Meeting and asks Paul Martin ‘has he found another job yet?’ is he being a nuisance? and be fined $125 under the clause ‘all other offences not specified’?

In 12 Part 3 Clause 3.9 in subclause (2) the Latin term ‘Mutatis Mutandis’ has been substituted for ‘as though it were a substitute for a permit’ because no-one at the Shire of York speaks Latin. 

It sounds very much like a deadly disease but Mutatis Mutandis sort of means something that is very much the same but with some differences. So ‘as though it were a substitute for a permit’ could mean it might be a substitute for a permit, but actually is not and is to be determined by the Shire of York at your expense.

The Shire of York is more than happy to call expenses ‘Costs’ which includes its administrative costs but does not explain what they actually are.

Just so you know the Xmas Grinch has arrived- you are not allowed to ‘ conduct or take part in any gambling game, contest or bet’ presumably on local government property so forget Bingo at the Town Hall and the staff Melbourne Cup Sweep in the Shire of York Offices.

Despite Same Sex Marraige becoming law. The Shire of York does not appear to have moved with the times.

Transgender people beware-the highly competent designated authority from the Shire of York may fine you $125 if this reasonable person believes you have acted unreasonably by ‘ entering a toilet block or change room facility of the opposite gender’ because you identify with a gender and he or she does not agree with your choice.

To cap it all off the Shire of York intends to fine you $125 for being under the influence of alcohol or a prohibited drug.

When , where, how and who is going to arrest you, breathalyse or drug test you to establish you are drunk or drugged to the eyeballs is unknown.

In the case of a drug offence- this could well be a criminal offense with penalties far greater than $125.

The most offensive offense listed is , Behaviour detrimental to property’. You can assume this means local government property and can be anything from graffiti to urinating on the grass in Peace Park. The fine is $350.

The reason for the re-jigging of an old act is obtuse. If it is anything to do with inappropriate behaviour on government rather than public property then there is an easy fix.

It is called an Indecent Act with intent to offend. The word public does not crack a mention.

Someone ‘screwed-up bigtime’!

COMMUTER COMPUTER GAMES

As the new Development Services Coordinator climbs behind the wheel of their fully serviced, mid-range shire vehicle they will have the absolute latest advance in in-car infotainment- the use of their own personal commuter. 

It is a must have- to go with the Bose speakers, leather trim and hands- free mobile phone.

Hang on! Let us rewind here. Commuter means someone who travels to and from a destination, usually from home to their place of work and back, by plane, train and automobile which can include bus, taxi and Uber.

The Development Services Coordinator will already be a commuter as soon as he or she starts to drive so they already have commuter use- so the vehicle comes with commuter use anyway.

Now you would think that senior Shire of York management, who are paid a fortune to get things right when they write anything would actually know the difference between a commuter and a computer.

You would also think if a mistake has been made in an official advertisement, featuring the shire insignia, for and on behalf of the Shire of York ratepayers, they would have enough pride in themselves to rectify that mistake?

No- not yet.

Maybe it would cost too much to change a word, maybe they just do not care when they make even small mistakes on your behalf or maybe they are going to use the vehicle as a Taxi after office hours

& HACKING.

However- the Shire of York may have a far larger problem on their hands than typographical errors.

It appears that a Confidential- Review Remittance document, flagged as being For Your Eyes only, has been transmitted to an unknown number of recipients, delivered from the Shire of York’s computer system, complete with a memorandum apparently sourced from Carly Rundle -Senior Planning Officer from planning@york.wa.gov.au

The text says ‘Carly Rundle has sent you a Remittance to review and sign’.

Remittance means sending money in payment or as a gift.

If you are game enough to try and open the Docsigned PDF to collect or send your remittance- it is 114.44 Kilobytes, which is reasonably large when you consider that the average email is just 10 Kilobytes.

Given that this remittance could be regarding an unknown number of private business planning proposals there is the potential for a shitstorm of private and confidential, commercially sensitive information to be bobbing around in the ether.

The Review Document tells the viewer “not to share this email, link or access code with others” yet the Shire of York may well have no-idea to whom and how many times it has been sent.

It gets worse- with a promotional blurb saying that the Digital Transaction Management platform apparently used by the shire is safe, secure and legally binding- and used across the globe’.

It would be hard to argue that it is safe and secure and legally binding is a real worry.

So you have a commuter that is actually a computer and a private & confidential local government computer system holding the important records of numerous ratepayers which appears to have been hacked. And, unfortunately, the number of recipients certainly does not appear to be confined to the Shire of York Planning Department’s email list.

In a recent article in the Sunday Times the Shire of York was described as an ‘often troubled organization’.  Maybe they got that right.

David Taylor.

ALDI versus YORK

As the York & District Co-Operative Ltd, whose Board is chaired by the brother of Shire President, David Wallace, registers a disturbing loss of earnings and asks for local support, the Shire of York appears to be flush with cash under the Wallace & Martin regime and is hiring like it has just won Lotto.

The latest acquisition will be a Development Services Coordinator with a salary of between $85,000 and $95,000 which actually equates, in salary packaging terms, to between $120,000 and $130,000.

It is assumed he or she will be answerable to the Executive Manager Infrastructure and Development Services, Darren Wallace (just a coincidence) whose package would be around $160,000 -give or take some loose change.

So around $300,000 is earmarked for development services in employee costs only- prior to any new development services being developed.

The shire vehicle supplied to the lucky candidate comes with Commuter Use- whatever that means- but it sounds good. But then maybe the shire employee, or contractor, tasked with creating the advertisement actually meant Computer Use and forget to check the text.

This does not sound like the Shire of York Administration even if it could not spell its own address, Joaquina Street, about six years ago during the Hooper years .

Also there may be some local concern with the potential ambiguity of the meaning of ‘Public’ in the legal sense?

So the Shire of York, as an alleged mechanism for its own protection, is creating the Local Government Property Amendment Local Law 2018; to restrain activities that could be reasonably argued to be inappropriate on or in local government property- in this case the Shire of York Offices.

This is highly commendable.

David Taylor.