Residents call for documents to be made public | Letters to the editor

Subsequent to the Council meeting of 28 May we request copy documents pursuant to section 11 of the Local Government Act 1993 in relation to item 9.8 proposed sale of Ray Walsh House.

Specifically the councillors and the public should be provided with the following documents at a minimum:

1. A copy of the asbestos register as required by Safework NSW showing asbestos containing material including:

1. the date on which the asbestos or ACM was identified;

2. the location, type and condition of the asbestos or ACM; or

3. state that no asbestos or ACM is identified at the workplace if the person knows that no asbestos, is identified or is likely to be present from time to time, at the workplace.

2. A copy of any asbestos report for Ray Walsh House (RWH) that was undertaken at any time before works were undertaken by contractors in 2023. Specifically we request a copy of any additional report that states that the vermiculite applied in any area of RWH, which is a fire resistant mineral in its pure form and does not contain asbestos, does contain asbestos.

3. A copy of any expert advice by building and or asbestos experts and laboratory reports received by TRC prior to giving instructions for works by contractors.

4. A copy of any report including laboratory reports that state that there is asbestos in the vermiculite applied above the ceiling, on steel support beams or in the plant rooms or any other above the ceiling are of RWH.

5. A copy of any instructions and work orders and contracts given to contractors prior to commencement of works,

6. Details of what supervision was undertaken by TRC over the works being undertaken by Rice Constructions.

7. A copy of the report including laboratory reports confirming that any or all Class B Asbestos below the ceiling have been removed and that there is now no class B asbestos in RWH below the ceilings as stated in the 9.8 of business paper of the 28 May 2024.

8. A copy of any and all reports including laboratory reports used in the preparation of item 9.8, including material provided at workshops and any expert presentation or related advice provided in the preparation of or related to item 9.8 of business paper of the 28 May 2024.

Proposed Sale of Council Car Park Kable Avenue and Ray Walsh House

9. Please provide details as to why, Soft Strip Demolition and Deconstruction was authorised in the ground floor area, that is: ceramic and marble tiles and other structures, when this practise is usually only utilised in buildings that are structurally sound or must be preserved for heritage and or other commercial reasons. Further: If any contaminants were found in this area.

a) What were they?

b) What type were they?

c) Were they professionally examined and identified and if so by who?

d) If so, please provide copies of same.

10. A copy of the asset register for all assets that were located in RWH before remediation works commenced.

Robyn Lang, Secretary TRRRA

I would like to add to Baids McIntyre's letter [NDL 1st June] a few points.

There is only 9 per cent of natural grassland left in NSW now and only 15 per cent of any natural habitat.

Birds are smart enough not to put an effort into nesting if there is not enough food available to rear their chicks and this does not only apply to birds specifically but to other animals as well.

Our birds are in big trouble and guess what ..? Victoria still has a duck shooting season.

Simone Marshall, Timbumburi

We are farmers, families, communities, and we are angry! We have always gone about our lives, not intruding, or imposing on others, being respectful and kind to those we meet. We pay our taxes and obey the laws. We don't deserve this unwelcome, uninvited intrusion into our life. We are honest people minding our own business on our piece of paradise that we have worked hard enough to be able to call it home.

Our life is being threatened by our own government who are brutally thrusting themselves into our lives - they are unwanted, unwelcome, and uninvited. The NEREZ transmission lines won't benefit our communities. Instead, it will service the city folk, who ironically are the ones who love visiting and experiencing the beauty and serenity when they travel to "the country".

We don't begrudge our city cousins the need for power, we simply question why it needs to devastate our homes, families, farms, livelihoods, and communities when there are known suitable alternatives that are just up the road and on public land!

I'm sure our city family and friends wouldn't be comfortable knowing that every time they switch on a light, they are tearing our hearts out. We benefit nothing from this project. Land prices drop, incomes compromised, nothing to hand on to the next generation and for those of us who have never known any other way of life, what happens to us? We feel violated! We may be "just farmers" but we know this is not right.

Jenny Wright, Woolomin

"A stain on the Morrison government's legacy" is how a senior Economics journalist has described federal Labor's budget allocation of an extra $6.5 billion over five years for our defence veterans. The Sydney Morning Herald's Shane Wright says he was genuinely disturbed by the thought of a government needing to spend so much to deal with a "problem not of its own making".

According to Wright, the Coalition's use of labour hire companies and short-term employment contracts in the Veterans Affairs department resulted in serious delays processing veterans' claims for assistance and a massive build-up of cases that were "unallocated", or hadn't been looked at. There were around 60,000 unallocated cases in the final days of the Morrison government. These were people unable to even get someone to consider their claim for financial assistance, much less process it.

Since 2022 Labor has provided funding for 641 extra employees to ensure vets claims are processed. The logjam of unallocated claims is now only 2569, while the wait for processing a claim has fallen by 62 days. Peter Dutton complains about Labor creating more public servants, but how many more are needed to make up for years of Coalition hypocrisy, neglect and mismanagement?

Laura Hughes, Hillvue

It's amazing, but Barnaby Joyce continues to out-Barnaby Joyce himself. As Chris Bowen explained in Question Time on Tuesday - the former Deputy Prime Minister recently took issue with the CSIRO's findings that nuclear remains the most expensive source of energy. Here was Barnaby's issue (this is actually a quote): 'The CSIRO is of course an Australian organisation it's like getting Mongolia to write a report on tropical rainforests they don't have them we don't have nuclear power in Australia so we do have a nuclear reactor in fact we've got one smack bang in the middle of Sydney one in Sydney seems to worry about it much but the CSIRO if it is.' As Chris Bowen told Question Time: "That clears that up!"

And this is the nonsensical level of representation we have in New England. Come on New England we can do better than this.

Denise McHugh, Hillvue

When the First Fleet arrived in Australia centuries ago a few cats were on board. Now many millions of feral cats roam across Australia with every cat predicted to kill over 1000 native animals each year. This is an enormous threat to native Australian fauna and a prime reason why Australia has such an alarmingly high extinction rate.

Cats can be wonderful pets, but do take into consideration the massive problems they are causing our native animals when deciding upon your next pet purchase.

Brian Measday, Kingswood, SA

While it's well known that rural Australia suffers from poor mobile and internet service, it is less well known that unreliable power supply is a contributing factor. For example, in severe bushfire events in rural Australia, far more mobile service outages tend to be caused by loss of power than by direct fire damage.

The previous government introduced the Regional and Remote Communities Reliability Fund to investigate the feasibility of micro grids to reduce communities' reliance on costly diesel generation and save money on network costs. In 2023, the current government announced the Regional Microgrids Program of up to $125 million to "develop and deploy microgrids across regional Australia." State governments have additional programs and funding.

Late last year, the first community microgrid in NSW became operational for the South Coast communities of Bawley Point and Kioloa. After the bushfires in 2020, the community was out of power for a long time. While most of the time the microgrid is being used to reduce customers' bills, it can create an island of standalone power during outages.

Another example is the First Nations-owned Marlinja solar microgrid, 25 km north of Elliott and halfway between Darwin and Alice Springs, to be opened on June 6.

Communities wishing to apply for microgrid funding can find guidelines at arena.gov.au/funding/rmp/ and the closing date is 19 December 2025.

Ray Peck, Hawthorn