[Forum] There has been an abandoned vehicle in Beane St, where I reside and am a property owner, between Hills and Gertrude Sts, Gosford, which has been there since July.
I say July because the council has been aware of this since July, given the fact that the notice placed on the vehicle at that time, states unequivocally that the vehicle must be removed within 8 days of the notice dated July 18. Well eight days has well and truly passed. I took a photo in midSeptember and was going to send a letter to the council at the time, asking when they were going to act, after I noticed the car windows were smashed, and its presence in the street was attracting acts of gross vandalism. I am quite frankly annoyed at the council’s inaction here, and have written a letter to council yesterday about the issue at hand, and have requested an ETA re when it will be addressed.
We have a council that keeps touting all the development it is gearing for, in the hope of attracting business back into downtown Gosford. Yet, what hope is there for that to occur, when they cannot even take care of the little things? In my opinion, when a council fails to act on the little things, such as failing to act in accordance with a notification that they themselves placed on the vehicle in question, it allows a situation to emerge whereby vandals and the like feel they can act with impunity, because council is not really watching and notifications are meaningless. When that is the situation, vandals feel they can escalate their crimes, knowing there is a good chance they will not get caught, because no one is paying attention. I say that is not good enough.
In addition, I wonder where my rates are going if council is not doing its due diligence? Perhaps my separate letter to the council, as of yesterday, will be responded to next week, following the long weekend. Perhaps not? Regardless, I would encourage the paper to watch this space. This sort of thing illustrates precisely how important it is for council to take care of the little things, to ensure a safe and prosperous community. Otherwise the derelicts, as well as the vandals, feel free to roam around, causing damage that has the potential to threaten life and property. The vandals that first smashed the car windows, and then decided they could do one better and set this abandoned vehicle alight, in a street, do so with impunity; right in the middle of a street with a surgery across the road, a physiotherapy business right next door, and homes all about, with families. What sort of signal does that send to the community? Surely this level of blatant vandalism would not have occurred if the council had acted on the eight day notice and removed this car, as it said it would. Not doing so is a dereliction of their duty to act.
Email, Sep 30 Martin Davies, Gosford