DEAR News Of The Area,

I HAVE uncovered a dastardly move by Kempsey Council to be clandestine greenies.

I researched Kempsey Council’s case for a 42.7 percent rate rise.

I was shocked to see, buried deep inside one of their strategy documents, that they based their calculations on only one percent per annum population growth rate, but no justification was provided.

NSW has been growing at about two percent p.a. for years, so one percent is too restrictive.

If Kempsey Shire would have a higher growth rate, then more ratepayers would lift Council’s income and they would not need a rate rise.

Council should have modelled two scenarios, one at two percent p.a and one at one percent p.a, and then consulted openly about which option the community wants.

Instead Council behaved clandestinely as NIMBY/‘BANANA’ greenies in being too restrictive, without telling us of their overly-restrictive basis (BANANA means ‘Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anybody’).

Regards,
Lex STEWART,
Stuarts Point.