Manly Council's last meeting of the year was business as usual for the Liberal block. They voted 5/4 to proceed to tender on both the oval car park and Whistler Street site redevelopment - after a 3 hour debate. I've never seen such a huge gallery - there were so many people they were on the landing, sitting on the floor and down the staircase. Roger Freney of North Habour precinct spoke against the motion to go to tender and did a sterling job handling a number of difficult questions with great poise. He was able to get across the community's key points and concerns. Mike Bradley from Ivanhoe Park precinct also had them sitting up in their seats (those who had seats anyway) when, as an economist, he talked about the true value of the Whistler Street site and questioned why Council was offering such a long lease (99 years). The president of the Chamber of Commerce, Drew Johnson, spoke in support of the motion. Five companies will be invited to tender to 'design & construct' the oval car park and two for the Whistler Street site. The tender period will be 12 weeks. An amendment to delay the process was lost 5/4 as was a rescission motion lodged at the end of the meeting. It was very pleasing to see the four non liberal Councillors working so hard to endeavor to delay the process, and ensure that due process was being followed. Clr Cathy Griffin referred to a new term being used by Planning Minister Rob Stokes - "wicked projects". Here's a great reference on google. Yes, it's a wicked project alright! Thank you for your support this year. We will continue to fight for what we believe is "good for Manly" in 2016, and the fight against the oval car park is not over!
11 Comments
Michelle
22/1/2016 08:04:14 am
Given the news yesterday of corruption enquiry at both north Sydney and Auburn councils, dare I suggest that we should all be putting forth complaints re Manly Council and requesting a review? When simple amenities such as upgrade to beach front toilets can't be achieved how on earth can we give a green light to such massive overspend on ego driven projects that impact negatively on our community?
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Lawrence
22/1/2016 08:15:04 am
Michelle, if you are suggesting corruption then I would think very carefully about saying much more than you already have. That is a serious suggestion. Very. Serious.
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Sam
22/1/2016 08:16:12 am
Large gallery and full of rude people.
Ian Thomson
22/1/2016 08:29:54 am
I don't think Michelle is suggesting corruption, it is more about 5 councillors not listening to the residents. But one could be forgiven if Woolworths becomes involved in the development of the old carpark?.
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Bruce Webb
22/1/2016 09:41:30 am
Regarding comment about corruption and the subsequent replies. ICAC has very definite rules as what what constitutes corruption. They do investigate these seriously and if a person feels that there is corruption present then they need to write a submission but that also needs to have accompanying evidence.
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Hilary
22/1/2016 05:25:03 pm
The five members of the Council who always vote together, must surely represent an admirable demonstration of Harmony, that the rest of us can only view with awe. Given their total conviction, it seems strange that they have not attempted to let the rate payers of Manly know just how good it is going to be for us to support this engineering adventure. How come we are not seeing unemotional, clear, scientific, factual rebuttal of the objections that have been made?
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Michael ACE
22/1/2016 07:53:48 pm
After the reasonable downpour of this afternoon (Fri 22/1) it was so good to see that the Mayor has decided to extend the size of the new, over the top, swimming centre, by including the flooded road from the Senior Citizens Centre all the way down to the corner of Balgowlah Rd. It's a bloody disgrace that virtually every time we have a reasonably heavy downpour, this section of the road becomes impassable to all except trucks & 4WD's. When is that section of the council, that has the majority vote, going to utilise their power to actually fix this problem. This has been on going for over a decade or more. Instead of wasting rate payers money on their flim flam projects that nobody wants, fix the basic.
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Hilary
22/1/2016 08:09:46 pm
Aaah, maybe they never drive that way, Michael. Maybe they drive amphibious vehicles....maybe they never come down to earth....
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Lisle
23/1/2016 11:45:15 am
If you want to see Manly Council at work, take a trip to the CBD, and nearby to Peninsula Coles in Wentworth St, there is a lane by the name of Rialto Lane which connects us with The Corso. Back in September, a notice appeared on the wall announcing Rialto Lane Upgrade. Emails were sent to Manly Council requesting information. These remain to be answered. On January 8 work began cutting all vehicular access off and in fact making it dangerous for pedestrians.. No one at the Peninsula was notified including Coles Supermarket. We have seen no documentation relating to the project. It has never been mentioned in Manly Council's E Weekly News - nothing
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Lisle
25/1/2016 02:16:48 pm
Finally, the Rialto Lane Upgrade works have been recorded in Manly Council's E Weekly News. Wonder why it wasn't there before?
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Alan
14/2/2016 08:14:15 am
I notice that part of Manly Oval is being dug up for a stormwater project. I suppose it will all be dug up again for the carpark.The genius of Manly Council overwhelms me.
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AuthorCandy Bingham, Deputy Mayor & Manly Ward Councillor on Northern Beaches Council. Background in marketing, public relations and community engagement. Author of five business books. Former Lady Mayoress of Sydney. Aka Candy Tymson. ........................................
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