The minutes for last Wednesday’s Council Meeting are now up. We wish to direct readers’ attention to the Right of Reply by Penhalluriack, and the verbal response provided a little later by Newton to Penhalluriack’s Request for a Report. Two things in particular stand out

  • Newton’s little speech is immaculately punctuated
  • Penhalluriack’s Right of Reply is almost unintelligible BECAUSE OF THE LACK OF ADEQUATE PUNCTUATION.

Now we find it impossible to believe that if Newton’s words can be sensibly recorded, that the same privilege should not be extended to Cr. Penhalluriack. If two people typed up and edited these minutes, then person Number 1 would definitely pass his primary school. Person Number 2 is in bad need of remediation. However, we suspect that the motive for such discrepancy has nothing to do with education and knowledge of punctuation. It would appear to again be deliberate. Please note the following:

Newton – 6 commas and 7 fullstops in 127 words

Penhalluriack – 3 commas in 535 words Plus the absence of inverted commas, apostrophes, etc.

We’ve copied the two speeches directly from the minutes. Readers, make up your own minds!

NEWTON: “In relation to Item 11.1 on tonight’s Agenda, Requests for Reports. Firstly, in October 2010 Council sought a report on, to the best of my recollection, every meeting with MRC and Trustees. That report was submitted to the Council Meeting of, to the best of my recollection, the 2 November 2010. The resolution was at that meeting to note the report.

To the best of my recollection that was unanimous. To the best of my recollection the Mover was Cr Penhalluriack. Since November 2010 the only contact I’ve had with the MRC or Trustees has been in implementation of Council resolutions. During the last two years I have never exercised the CEO’s delegated power in relation to the MRC or Trustees.”

PENHALLURIACK: “On the front page of the local Leader in an article ‘Mulch to fume about’ I think Cr Hyams suggests it should really be mulch ado about nothing I’m mentioned in it and it says I may have a Conflict of Interest because I sell mulch and similar products in my business. 

This issue was addressed by the Municipal Inspectors different terms same issues and it was also addressed by me directly to the Audit Committee in my submission to the Audit Committee to ask them to investigate the mulch sheds. 

I do not believe there is any Conflict of Interest whatsoever and had I thought there was I would have not raised the issue as I have with the Council. 

The article goes on to say I raised concerns about the disease a form of pneumonia then it tells you how much of course the independent assessment cost and the independent assessment found that levels of bacteria and fungi in the air were not elevated and there was no negative test results to indicate any current health risk according to a Council report. What the expert report didn’t do was analyse the mulch it would have cost ten percent of the amount and the situation when they did their testing was that the mulch shed had been effectively emptied so there was not dust in the air whatsoever. The mulch at the back of the shed was damp moist composted and not likely to spread into the atmosphere generally certainly maybe as an aerosol within the mulch shed itself but not around the back of the mulch shed where the testing was done. Now it’s erm, I’m quoted as saying I’m concerned about the community safety not about whether I sell mulch or not it’s next to a school and next to a children’s playground. The literature I’ve seen anything within two hundred metres should be carefully monitored. I say the shed costing one hundred and sixty thousand dollars was built at the current site in 2009. The shed unfortunately was badly designed right from the start because when the testing was done the mulch in that shed had been there for two years. Mulch when it is produced commercially for customers be they commercial customers or free customers is pasteurised. The Australian Standard says that mulch should be pasteurised. 

The selective quotations from the Leader are a good example of very poor reporting. They quote the report, no negative test results. They don’t say that the report also said exposure to shredded mulch can carry a risk to exposure of various fungi, yeasts and moulds and bacteria including legionella. They don’t say that the mulch was not pasteurised as it should be to accord with the Australian Standard AS4454-2003. 

What they don’t say is that a community wide outbreak of legionnaires disease occurred in Pas De Calaise, France from November 2003 to January 2004 and of the eighty six laboratory confirmed cases eighteen were fatal. 

Council voted on this matter they voted responsibly when they knew all of the facts and I believe the article in the Leader is misleading and false and needs to be criticised at this Council Meeting by me.”