John Henshaw Launceston Municipal Ratepayers’ and Residents’ Association Inc. Senior Vice-President
This is a serious accusation to make and one which your Association strongly denies.
Fellow Ratepayers,
You will recall that on 7th September we sent a letter (see below) to Launceston City Council asking four very relevant questions as to expenditure.
We have, finally, received a reply. (see attachment, below) It attached information that, while clearly now in the public domain, has not previously been made available to us and took almost four weeks to reach us.
I would draw your attention to the end of the second paragraph of Mr. Dixon’s letter, where he states that the Association has misrepresented his information.
This is a serious accusation to make and one which your Association strongly denies.
Please read our reply, also below.
Can I ask this question of you: are you aware of any such instance, whether it be verbal or in written form?
If such misrepresentation has been verbal, then it has been reported back to Mr. Dixon as hearsay.
If such representation has been in written form – in the Examiner, various letters to him – then Mr. Dixon has had many opportunities to repudiate such misrepresentation. He has never chosen to do this.
I am sure that what is at the base of this allegation is our difference of opinion – and that is all it is, a difference of opinion – as to the true annual operating costs of the Regional Aquatic Centre. The Association’s executive, and its advisers, simply do not agree with the rather blinkered version of costing adopted by the Council. Time will tell, of course. One fundamental cost factor totally disregarded by Council is an sinking fund. That is, an annual amount, set aside and bearing interest that, after tax, will provide a ‘kitty’ to pay for the replacement of the by then worn out/obsolete facility. Imagine, for instance, how much less of a financial burden, the RAC would have been had such a fund been established when the now partly-demolished facility was new?
Now, a REMINDER ABOUT NEXT WEEK’S MEETING!
As you will know, we have sent out invitations to ALL candidates (except one who has no contact details) standing for positions as aldermen to have three minutes to address the meeting as to policies. Responses have indicated that we will have 11 of the 13 present. Alderman Dean may have contrary diary engagements and thinks it unfair that we have not asked the same 20 questions of those candidates standing for Mayor or Deputy Mayor.
This forum will provide an unparalleled opportunity to hear and compare, ask questions and then place your vote as fully informed as possible.
Please, be there: Heather Hall, Penquite Road, Newstead at 7.30pm, Monday, 15th October.
John Henshaw
Senior Vice-President
LAUNCESTON MUNICIPAL RATEPAYERS’ AND RESIDENTS’ ASSOCIATION INCORPORATED
PO BOX 2039, NEWNHAM 7248
email: [email protected]
Tel: 6328 1200
Mr. Frank Dixon,
General Manager,
Launceston City Council,
Council Chambers,
St. John Street,
LAUNCESTON TAS 7250
7th October, 2007
Dear Mr. Dixon,
QUESTIONS OF COUNCIL
Thank you for your letter of 1st October, which we received on Friday, 5th October. It is a disappointment to our members that such a reply took so long to be forthcoming and, in the end, does not provide more than a Council-sponsored document that could have been available much earlier to us had we known about it.
Your letter has been circulated within our membership and we are disturbed at your statement at the end of your second paragraph: I continue to see information I have provided to your Association being misrepresented.
This is a serious allegation and one which we strongly deny. By alleging misrepresentation you are saying that statements of facts you have given us, or facts that are on the public record, have been altered, deliberately and maliciously so. Such is not the case.
The Association would ask, therefore:
which information you have provided has been misrepresented?
when was such information you have provided been misrepresented?
in what medium and by what method was such information you have provided been misrepresented?
by whom was such information you have provided been misrepresented?
If any of these matters we raised with Council, in the press, on our website (www.launcestonratepayers.intas.net.au) or in media releases have contained assumptions which are incorrect or alleged misrepresentations, then you have had ample opportunity to actively repudiate them when and where such false assumptions or alleged misrepresentations occurred – not now, well after the alleged event, as a blanket statement without specific and supporting evidence.
If the allegation of misrepresentation concerns our view as to the operating costs of the regional Aquatic Centre, then I would remind you that this is our opinion, and the opinion of our advisers, as to the likely costs. We do not, and will not, accept your opinion and that of your advisers in this regard. That is our prerogative. To disagree and present alternative costings is not misrepresentation.
The Association looks forward to your prompt reply.
Yours sincerely,
John Henshaw
For and on behalf of the Launceston Municipal Ratepayers’ and Residents’ Association Inc.
Senior Vice-President
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LAUNCESTON MUNICIPAL RATEPAYERS’ AND RESIDENTS’ ASSOCIATION INCORPORATED
PO BOX 2039, NEWNHAM 7248
email: [email protected]
Tel: 6328 1200
Mr. Frank Dixon,
General Manager,
Launceston City Council,
Council Chambers,
St. John Street,
LAUNCESTON TAS 7250
7th September, 2007
Dear Mr. Dixon,
QUESTIONS OF COUNCIL
Thank you for your letter of 2nd August in response to our letter of 24th July. The answers were most informative but have, as you might expect, given rise to further questions, as follows:
1. York Park-Aurora Stadium
Could we have, or be directed to where we may obtain, a detailed copy of the Business Plan/Business Case/Budget for this total facility that includes all estimates of annual income and expenditure? Our members are particularly interested in determining just when the haemorrhaging of ratepayer funds might cease and this facility break even.
2. Ten-Year Plan
Could we have, or be directed to where we may obtain, a detailed copy of Council’s Ten-Year Plan? By detailed, we mean considerably more information than is currently available via the Council’s published material, in both hard copy and via the Council’s website.
3. Tennis Court Centre, Racecourse Crescent
Could we have, or be directed to where we may obtain, more information on precisely what Council intends with regard to this facility? Our members are opposed to the possibility of Council having an operating and financing involvement in this facility.
4. Operational Review
Our members note with some satisfaction the recent announcement to reduce staffing overheads. We would ask, however, what other progress has been made in the overall operational review of Council’s operations that you indicated, at our meeting of 5th May, was to take place?
Our members look forward to your responses but would respectfully ask that they be made available before our monthly meeting on Monday, 17th September.
Yours sincerely,
John Henshaw
For and on behalf of the Launceston Municipal Ratepayers’ and Residents’ Association Inc.
Senior Vice-President
The letter:
