I’m in no position to confirm any detail, but have been told that last night the Glamorgan Spring Bay Council at a ‘special meeting’ – called by the executive powers of the Mayor Bertrand Cadart – got the approval for the Tassal factory ( TT here ) near Triabunna.
Five councillors were for; two against, I’m told.
Hag’s first reaction, of course, is that he has done this with amazing haste to maximise publicity for the election for Saturday.
Hag doesn’t know enough about the process, but maybe somebody might be in a position to take a look.
Two days before a State election, a Lib candidate, uses executive powers to push through a major works, without any consultation at all.
Hag is wondering really if there is a Constitutional issue here … ?
• WTF, in Comments: Why the hurry Bertrand? More to the point, I mean when a government is in lock-down mode, pending an election, why isn’t a Local Government Mayor bound by the same rules as State and Fed governments. Major decisions involving emergencies only, but surely not stuff that should be put on hold until the outcome of the election. Perhaps when a mayor puts his/her hand up for candidacy in State, Fed elections, they should stand down from their local government position? Hag might even be suggesting that his candidacy should be challenged with the Electoral Commission…or at least by his opposing candidates. There was a time when candidate spending for elections came under scrutiny. Remember the Neil Batt affair? This appears to be manipulating a political advantage to the perceived detriment of due democratic process.Also if he rushes for publicity pre-election, then the fish-processing factory is beginning to smell more and more like a rat. Congrats Hag for having an ear to the ground as we count down. Love to hear what Lara might have to say about this, but I daresay she might be a little busy.
• Cheryl Arnol, in Comments: The Mayor called the special meeting. Councillors were simply told it would be on. One Councillor could not attend due to her work shifts and one declared an interest. Why was it called as a special meeting? No idea. There was no statutory reason to do it. The statutory date on the application is 17th April and Council has a general meeting on the 25th March; plenty of time to deal with it in the statutory time frame. For the record I was one of two Councillors to speak against the motion to approve. I have no problem with the proposal. I simply do not agree with the proposed site and the assessment of the application under the rural industry category.
