Friday 7 June 2019

Monumental Suff Up At Town Hall


Just how do you stuff things up as much as it appears they have been with Launceston's 'planning'? Despite not knowing how its done, or even why for the most part, there are inexplicable events going down at Town Hall – seemingly well away from the sunlight.

The Gorge Hotel project is at the very least a monumental stuff up, a bureaucratic stuff up, of proportions unlikely to be equalled elsewhere.

The news yesterday that the 'planners' at Town Hall had stuffed up in just about every way imaginable, actually it was not news. This stuff has been going on for so long it defies belief that it has taken this long to reveal itself in the apparently spectacular way it did yesterday at Albert's Hall.

Just what have these 'planners' been telling developers like 'The Gorge Hotel Developers' on the quiet? What are they telling them about the real risks? Where do they imagine they'll be living when something goes all so wrong? Do they imagine that nobody will come after them?

Indeed, what messages are going out to the world about what's what in Launceston?

Are Councillors being truly warned about the actual risks of 'climate change'? Do these 'planners' actually get down to informing themselves about demography, economics, geology, heritage issues, climatology, environmental issues, etc.? More to the point, are they actually across Tasmania's 'planning laws' or indeed anything remotely like 'best practice' in public administration?

The representors at Albert Hall finally kicked back and told 'the planners' that enough was enough. Oh, and yes they told them that their performance has been found wanting. However, its the people who pay their salaries – ratepayers and residents – who are most likely to hurt and in this case, and hurt a lot. 

And then there are the developers, and not putting too fine a point on it, they are more than likely to be 'pissed-off-big-time' given the circumstances. 

Yet it seems that the community's representatives at Town Hall are happy enough to stand haplessly by watching all this unfold. Why might they be doing that? Whose 'expert advice' are they relying upon at times like this? 

We now know that that they do not have the time to oversight the tender processes. What are they doing instead? What will they do in this case and will they say anything out loud around the table?

What follies are Launceston's 'planners' and Councillors entertaining?  Is there more to this stuff up than meets the eye? Indeed, is there more of this stuff yet to be revealed? Who is looking? Who is caring? Way, way too many questions looking for answers.

T Alen

SEE MEDIA RELEASE ... Click Here
HERITAGE SOC. REPRESENTATION ... Click Here
EXAMINER STORY ... Click Here
PROJECT ANNOUNCED ... Click Here

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