DEAR News Of The Area,

TO add to Jeff Clancy’s list of the shortcomings of our recent Council (‘A Term In Review’, p26, Coffs Coast News Of The Area, December 3 Edition).

1. Removing most of the bench seating near St George Bank and all the way along the street, plus some on the opposite side was hardly a good idea, as there is hardly anywhere to sit now.

The seating that was installed in the Eatery area is for patrons only – big mistake, as the occasional buskers are too far for people to be able to hear them, or donate money, which is the purpose of them being there, and there’s nowhere for the lunchtime crowd or just people who just want to take a seat.

2. Then there was the removal of most of the town’s rubbish tins, replacing at least three for one which is far too little to house all the rubbish which then gets thrown in the street.

They hold the same amount as the old ones, so it’s an illusion of the outside box covering, that makes it appear bigger.

They are the bane of the garbage collectors who have to pick up all the overflowing rubbish constantly.

They are also on strict time limits to get this job done, so are running from bin to bin to get the job done in the allocated time.

I bet none of the Councillors work as hard as these men do.

3. Not a good idea at all removing the Tourist Information Centre in Coffs, which generated a lot of business and gave no end of help to the tourists passing through or staying here.

They had the best and most helpful volunteers in the area (so was cost effective at the same time, promoting so many businesses and tourist venues along with even making transport bookings).

Now there’s nothing, whereas every other town in the world has them and wouldn’t get half the revenue if they didn’t!

4. Rate rises – we’ve had so many rate rises it’s enough to make us eat lettuce leaves for the rest of our lives, which is all we can afford – it’s just not sustainable to keep hitting us with these ludicrous demands for money.

Then the Council has the nerve to award themselves wage rises, when they are doing nothing to earn or deserve them.

5. As Jeff also said, taking away the kerbside pickup was another bad idea (I suppose the Council thought it was a good way of saving their/our money.

Most of this refuse was picked up by members of the community which meant less landfill, but we were still charged for a non-existent service.

6. Civic Centre – Everybody gets extremely irate regarding the outrageous cost or necessity and location of the Civic Centre.

We already have a Library and Art Gallery which work perfectly well, which are never full at any one time, and which will cost future generations many years to pay for.

7. Landfill – Yes, an issue that was never dealt with and now we’re in trouble.

This information is what our community needs to be aware of, if they aren’t already.

We are well and truly ready for a change and need a Council who will listen to what we want, with integrity, and openness, and not bypass all the important issues and blunder on doing exactly as they please, and pleasing nobody else!

Regards
D. WILSON,