No apparent benefits

Letters to the editor

Where’s our plebiscite Gladys?
We at Mannering Park Progress would like to express our dismay at the latest ad hoc council amalgamation farce that now confronts this State.
Wyong Council was economically sustainable.
We had done the hard yards and now, for the next four years, we will have the privilege of paying 19 per cent per annum, on average, more than Gosford ratepayers, with no guarantee the rate monies collected will be used for works within the old Wyong boundary.
The internal polling conducted by Council prior to the amalgamation showed overwhelming support to stay as a stand-alone Council.
The lack of consultation, and sham community meetings held after the decision to amalgamate had been taken, has left a sour taste in our collective mouths.
One vote the other way by any of the five Councillors, Eaton, Best, Troy, Taylor or Webster and we would not be in this position.
This amalgamation has been imposed on us.
To date we see no discernible improvement in services; higher costs being imposed on not for profit community groups for hiring halls and community spaces; no recognition for the work community groups such as Tidy Towns and Men’s Sheds make to the overall beauty, health and well-being of the communities in which they operate; less meetings and transparency, and policy disparity between the old Councils that will be difficult to resolve.
So, we respectfully ask the new Premier to allow us, the community, to have a say in our future by way of a plebiscite before the next Council elections.
This would settle once and for all the question about what the public at large think.
It is certainly not too late and it might actually make us think the Government cares about us, values our opinion and will uphold its outcome.

Email,
Feb 15, 2017
Kel Wynn,  Mannering Park