Council's proposed rate increase
At a recent Council meeting I was labelled an "agitator" by a fellow councillor because I dared to speak up about matters and issues of concern raised with me by fellow residents and ratepayers. I was elected to represent the concerns of fellow residents and ratepayers, not to toe the line and do as I am told by fellow councillors or senior staff, that simply isn't in my DNA. Furthermore, I believe it is important that you know how Council spends your money and who and what is influencing Council representatives and officers.
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I love our region and I only have ever wanted the best for it, I understand cost of living pressures that are pillaging the finances of fellow residents and ratepayers - fuel, food, and utility bills, they are not insignificant, hence my concern about a proposed 36.3 per cent rate hike. I am seriously concerned about the capacity of some of our residents and ratepayers to pay.
The Mayor of Tamworth Regional Council, Russell Webb is leading the charge for a 36.3 per cent rate increase over the next two years. This will supplement increased rates, fees and service charges in 2023 and there is no mention of annual increases to fees and charges which are also likely over the next two years. The justification for the increase is that every other council around us is "doing it", why shouldn't we.
Apparently $7.9 million in annual savings and $3.2 million in one-off savings have been "identified". Great! But like many fellow ratepayers I believe this talk is premature, we paid ratepayers money towards a consultant to say we needed a rate increase but should have been spent on finding the answers to how we could avoid such an exorbitant increase. We should look at ways of cutting waste, ensuring big projects come in at budget or under such as the Country Road roundabout, cutting dead wood, finding savings and efficiencies, do things better. If this rate increase is sent through to the keeper - IPART and approved, it will be business as usual without any internal investigation into the running of your organisation.
One ratepayer recently quipped to me "with so many highly paid senior staff, surely they had the brains to avoid this outcome". Another "to have sat back for so many years to then demand 36 per cent smacks of serious mismanagement " and there has been a myriad of other thoughts shared with me as well. Your concerns are important to me as your representative. If you would like more information, are concerned about the increase then I urge you to head to https://haveyoursay.tamworth.nsw.gov.au/srv where you can provide your important feedback.
Mark Rodda, Tamworth
Voice Referendum
I just received a mail out from Barnaby Joyce and Senator Jacinta Price, offering me ten reasons why I should vote 'No' at the coming referendum. According to a variety of learned professors of law and constitutional law and expert commentators these ten reasons are either lies or fabrications which go beyond conjecture or opinion to convince you they will happen with a 'Yes' vote.
According to journalists with a long record of impartial reporting, under examination, there are no facts to back the claims on the pamphlet. These are scare tactics, intended to stop you from thinking, to deter you from being the fair-minded, decent Aussies that you are.
By all means read it. By all means consider their claims, but test them out. Read widely. Watch news from a different source. Challenge your thinking. Interrogate the claims. The people making them are not experts. The referendum to them is one more political power game.
Instead of seeing their faces, look into the faces of the people who will continue to be disadvantaged by a 'No' vote. Imagine yourself sitting down with a child who will live a shorter life, not have the opportunities of education, good health outcomes, who will die before your kids will. Explain your vote to them. This is not about the past; it is about the future.
There is much more to do before Australia can be the perfect omelette, but we have to start by cracking the eggs.
Peter Langston, Tamworth
Subject (In)accuracy of Armidale temperature observations
If Armidale residents have been as bemused/amused as I have been regarding the Armidale maximum and minimum temperatures on the 7pm ABC News, I may have the answer.
Tamworth and Armidale's readings appear to be the Bureau of Meteorology measurements from the respective airports. Armidale Airport's minimum temperatures have been reported on the ABC (and the Northern Daily Leader) as being higher than Tamworth Airport's minimums on about 40 per cent of nights in the last three months. With the altitude at Armidale Airport being about 600 metres higher than at Tamworth Airport, these temperature observations seem bizarre.
Interestingly, the BOM website also publishes observations from Armidale Tree Group Nursery which seem much more realistic. On average, the Armidale Airport's minimums are about 3 degrees warmer than the Tree Group Nursery's despite being 100 metres higher in altitude. It appears that the Armidale weather measurements are inaccurate. A glaring example was on 17/9/23 when the minimum at Armidale Airport was 10.2 degrees but 1.0 degree at the nursery.
There are currently more important national weather problems than Armidale's temperatures, but if the Leader felt so inclined, they could make some enquiries from the BOM. I had no response from my feedback emails to the BOM and the ABC News. Searching the web for 'BOM daily weather observations Armidale' reveals the discrepancies between the BOM's Armidale Airport and Tree Group Nursery temperatures (with the discrepancy averaging 7 degrees daily over a 6 day period).
Tim Robilliard, Tamworth
