Auld lang syne
Minding my own business reading the letters to the editor in the Herald today, I read yet another sadly ignorant letter about the threatened flying foxes in Maitland.
The letter was entitled ‘Go home to the bush‘ and is from a no-doubt-well-meaning man from the Lower Hunter who wants to remove the Lorn flying fox colony using a couple of chainsaws.
He also thinks that the Chinese tallow tree would be a good replacement for the grove of trees there now. It’s a beautiful tree but a problem on the north coast near Casino and a problem in the southern states of the US; a single tree produces 100 000 seeds a year; let’s take guesses on how long it will be before it’s a problem down here.
Newcastle City Council had their first expo this week. They had 20 booths where lucky customers could talk to *cringe* council officers or *cringe again* elected councillors. 70 – yes SEVENTY – people attended which was – wait for it – more than the General Manager says was expected.
Imagine the cost in staff time. This is NCC’s attempt at increased community engagement. Wonder why they bothered with a vocal minority.
The Herald said: ‘It comes after the council has received significant criticism, mainly from grassroots community groups, about its engagement practices.
‘Mr Pearce has said since arriving last year that he wants to change the way the organisation interacts with residents and ratepayers.
”We’ve said we want to improve our engagement with the community and this event is a genuine attempt not just to inform residents about what we have planned for the city but also get their feedback on a wide range of council business,” he said.’
Keep saying it, Phil. Someone might believe you.
Your rates at work.
