Letter to the Editor on the future of Huon Council

I refer to the letter from Sue Clarke, (Huon Valley News, 18 October and make the following points in reply :

As a community group made up of civic minded residents the HVRRA has every right to put forward their point of view, as does any other residents of the Huon Valley.

That is democracy at work, something that seems to have escaped the attention some of our former councilors, who showed no interest at all in community consultation.

The sacking of Councillors by Minister Gutwein had nothing to do with any talks about amalgamation, but was all about the council being dysfunctional and failing to comply with the specified “ministerial directions”.

Why is Huon Valley the only Council in Southern Tasmania not having talks with its neighbors about better ways of working constructively together in the future ?

The State Government offered funding for an expert review that would identify the community benefits of new and more efficient ways of delivering our services.

Saying that HVC has no debt may be true, but it lost $4 million of ratepayers through inappropriate investments during the Global Financial crisis, and has now managed to work through virtually all of its accrued cash reserves.

While Kingborough does have some borrowings, it could hardly be described as “ deep in debt, and unlike Huon Valley their rate base is well in excess of the wages bill !

When the next Huon election comes around in October 2018, we can only hope that some new talent puts their hands up to be Councillors, so that we can achieve a more constructive new Council that can progress things and avoid the conflicts and dysfunction of past years.
Les Crawford, Cygnet