Editorial: Form Guide For Next Mayor

FOLLOWING the resignation of Mayor Wayne Bedggood yesterday, we thought we’d take a look at the form of current Councillors to see who may be the next Mayor.

However, instead of voting for a new Mayor in the next 14 days, Councillors could decide to vote for a by-election. 

The elections were due to happen in September this year, but in the wake of the pandemic the government delayed local elections until September next year.

A by-election would send us back to the polls to vote in a new Councillor, but at a considerable cost to ratepayers, only for us to all turn around and have to vote again next year.

Update: Mayor To Be Elected On Tuesday.
Based on a long list of decisions by the Council which cost ratepayers money, a by-election would not be a complete surprise.

We’ve compiled a list of where each Councillor has stood on some of the more controversial issues in the Shire, according to the topics which rated the highest with our readers.

If there are other matters our readers would like to know which way Councillors voted, we’d be pleased to add them to the list: Contact Us.

20 Percent Rate Rise

At the January 2018 Council meeting, during one of the worst droughts on record the Upper Hunter Shire Council voted to apply for a 20 percent rate rise to fund a range of Council projects. In response, 93 residents of the Shire made submissions to the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) opposing the rate rise and it was rejected. (Cr Abbott was absent from the meeting, but went on the record to say she opposed the rate rise).

• Voted for the rate rise: Cr Bedggood, Cr Brown, Cr Burns, Cr Campbell, Cr Collison and Cr Fisher.
• Voted against the rate rise: Cr Driscoll and Cr Watts.

Buying Big Blue

Also at the January 2018 meeting, Council voted to purchase a $15,000 horse made of blue string, called “Big Blue”. A fitting name considering the fallout in the community. Mayor Wayne Bedggood was so attached to Big Blue he contributed an undisclosed amount of his own personal money to buy the horse, declared a conflict of interest and left the room when the vote took place. On Mayor Bedggood’s return, Deputy Mayor Maurice Collison proudly informed him some Councillors had also made a personal contribution to the purchase, “we have a pledge of $3,ooo towards your project,” and had passed the purchased of the horse. (Cr Abbott was absent from the meeting, but went on the record to say she opposed the purchase). There are now plans for Big Blue to have a large area dedicated to it at the Scone Airport Development. Perhaps a fitting parting gift for the former Mayor could be putting Big Blue out to pasture with him at Cressfield?

• Voted for Big Blue: Cr Bedggood, Cr Brown, Cr Burns, Cr Campbell, Cr Collison and Cr Fisher.
• Voted against: Cr Lorna Driscoll and Cr Lee Watts.

Sale of the Library Building

While the Council building containing the library was sold during the term of the previous Councillors, it is still a cloud that hangs over many of their heads. Cr Lee Watts was not part of the decision as a tenant in her role as manager of the Scone Neighbourhood Resource Centre she declared an interest and could not vote or be privy to discussions. Councillors Abbott, Brown and Burns were not on Council at that time.

• Voted for: Cr Wayne Bedggood, Cr Ron Campbell, Cr Maurice Collison, Cr Lorna Discoll and Cr Kiwa Fisher.

Scone Swimming Pool Age Restrictions

Another controversial issue in the community was Council voting to change the entry age of children going for a swim without an adult at Scone public pool. Scone residents packed the October 2018 Council meeting to voice their opposition to the proposed changes, but with a slight amendment, new age restrictions were passed.

• Voted for: Cr Bedggood, Cr Brown, Cr Burns, Cr Campbell, Cr Collison, Cr Driscoll and Cr Fisher.
• Voted against: Cr Lee Watts and Cr Sue Abbott.

Phillip Street Rezoning

At the February 2019 Council meeting, a motion was passed to forward to proposal to rezone part of Phillip Street, Scone, from residential to industrial, to the New South Wales Minister for Planning.

• Voted for: Cr Bedggood, (Cr Brown??) Cr Burns, Cr Campbell, Cr Collison, Cr Driscoll, Cr Fisher and Cr Watts.
• Voted against: Cr Abbott.

In July, residents of Phillip Street Scone received notification of the rezoning and rallied to oppose it, alongside industrial land owners. In October, the matter was again considered by Council’s development and environment committee. In this meeting, Cr Watts and Cr Campbell sided with Cr Abbott to recommend rejecting the rezoning to the general Council meeting. At the general Council meeting in October, Councillors unanimously voted to reject the rezoning.

Scone Airport Development

Council have proposed to make major upgrades at the Scone airport and build a warbird museum at a total cost of $23 million. It is the biggest proposed spend in the Shire’s history, with $10.8 million to be footed by ratepayers and the remained funded with state and federal government grants. The community had called for an independent review of the business case for the airport, fearing the Council’s estimated 1,000 visitors per week may not be realised and questioning many of the underlying business assumptions. The Chair of the airport committee is Councillor Maurice Collison. 

In November last year Cr Abbott proposed Council undertake an independent financial review, but the motion was lost. Cr Burns excused himself from the meeting and did not vote on the motion.

• Voted for: Cr Abbott and Cr Watts.
• Voted against: Cr Bedggood, Cr Brown, Cr Campbell, Cr Collison, Cr Driscoll and Cr Fisher.

Community pressure continued to build for an independent assessment, including a community petition. Council went out to tender for the three components of the Airport Development Project and at the April meeting reported all tenders were “well above” the budget of the project and none could be accepted. They voted to continue with a selection process, without going back to tenders, which was described as an unnecessary delay, then back-flipped and called for tenders again after a redesign of the terminal and warbird museum. At that meeting, they also passed a motion to allow an independent business assessment of the project. Cr Burns was on leave and did not vote.

• Voted for: Cr Abbott, Cr Bedggood, Cr Brown, Cr Campbell, Cr Driscoll, Cr Fisher and Cr Watts.
• Voted against: Cr Collison.

Cr Collison chairs the airport committee and has remained steadfast in his opposition to an independent review or any further delays to the project.

Saleyard Upgrades – Report Card

Councillor Maurice Collison Chairs the saleyards committee for Council. Council’s business plan for the saleyards upgrade, projected revenue from the saleyards would repay the loans and generate a profit for Council. However, according to analysis from resident and former general manager, Daryl Dutton, the saleyards are now a financial drain on the Shire. In the last three years Daryl identified the saleyards have cost $1.347 million and costs for producers to sell livestock at the saleyards will increase by 25 percent in 2020/2021, “on top of the 40 percent increases over the last two years. The fees are already 64 percent higher than Singleton and 15 percent higher than Gunnedah.” Mr Dutton predicts a continued loss of revenue on the project representing a cumulative $1.5million cost to ratepayers.

Scone Main Street Revitalisation – Report Card

The Chair of the Scone Town Revitalisation committee is Cr James Burns. The town revitalisation committee was formed before the first sod was turned for the bypass, but the main street of Scone, which was to be opened prior to the bypass is unchanged: Trucking Ahead With Plans.

In February 2019, Cr Burns reported phase one of the project had gone over budget by more than $200,000 stating it was due to “engineering stuff” of which he claimed not to understand the detail, but required the additional money. At the same Council meeting Michael Johnsen MP had announced a $2,965,782 in stage one funding for the revitalisation. However, those funds would not be immediately available and Council voted to reappropriate $200,000 from the Bill Rose Sports Complex budget. Several Councillors sought clarification that the money from Bill Rose would be repaid and were given assurance that would be the case.

At the April 2020 revitalisation committee meeting it was noted grants were being investigated for a $1 million footbridge over Kingdon Street as part of their development. During the May general Council meeting Cr Abbott questioned why the decision to seek grant funding had not come before Council for approval and Mayor Bedggood stressed the footbridge had not been decided, however they would investigate funding for the bridge.

While the bypass has opened ahead of schedule, plans for the main street revitalisation are yet to be released for consultation with the public.

Campbell’s Corners Purchase

We’d love to report on who voted for the purchase of Campbell’s Corner, but those votes were held in Council’s confidential meetings. Read: Editorial: Confidential Campbell’s Corner Deal and Open Letter: Submission to Council’s Plans.

So it is clear where Councillors have stood and flipped on various key decisions, so the question now is who would you trust to be Mayor for the next 15 months to make decisions on your behalf? Of course the ratepayers don’t have a direct say in the matter, as the Councillors will vote who they want in as their Mayor and they may even chose not to vote someone is as Mayor and make us head to the polls for a by-election.

Sincerely,

 

 

Elizabeth Flaherty
Editor of scone.com.au