PS: The sheer and utter incompetence of Glen Eira Council knows no bounds. Finally, after nearly 2 weeks the minutes have been published. They are a dog’s breakfast of endless repetition, questions with different ‘answers’ assigned and the PUBLICATION IN FULL OF QUESTIONERS’ NAMES, ADDRESSES AND EMAIL CONTACTS. This is unforgivable and breaches the Privacy Act. It is even more unforgivable given that this is the second occasion in a row that this has occurred. Only after a complaint was made were the details of individuals redacted from the previously published agenda. We can only conclude that this is the result of either total ineptitude or a deliberate attempt to somehow intimidate and perhaps ‘silence’ those residents who have the cheek to speak up and ask uncomfortable questions. Needless to say the responses to these public questions are again totally uninformative and fail to either respond to the question directly or provide statements that are deliberately misleading. We will highlight all these in our next post.
The list of ‘mistakes’ by the planning department is growing and growing. No one is perfect and yes, errors occur. This is no excuse however for the failure to correct such mistakes straight away instead of heading off to VCAT for another expensive hearing and ratepayers’ hard earned cash going down the drain.
The latest episode involves the application for an advertising sign in North Road. A relatively minor issue and should have been resolved a lot earlier. Council decided that together with the permit for this sign they would impose a 5 year time limit – despite the fact that their own planning scheme states at Clause 52.05 that “the date must not be less than 10 years or more than 25 years from the date the permit is issued.” The poor consultant fronts up and has to say “Council acknowledges its error in setting an expiry date of 5 years from the date of issue.”
The applicant wanted 25 years. The result? A permit for 15 years.
Questions abound:
- Why did this have to end up at VCAT? Why couldn’t this be resolved earlier?
- How well do our planning decision makers know their own planning scheme?
- How much did this farce cost ratepayers?
Glen Eira Debates 
August 3, 2016 at 2:44 PM
Not their money so they don’t care. Not accountable so they don’t care. Not competent so what. Up to the ceo to get this place ship shape.
August 3, 2016 at 3:44 PM
Those sitting in the white house love making these “mistakes” as part of the punishment for having the audacity to question theie activities.
August 3, 2016 at 4:06 PM
Bring back Burke. He never stuffed up on the minutes. Merely wrote 100% bullshit. Now we’ve got bullshit and stuff ups galore.
August 3, 2016 at 4:15 PM
This is serious because it goes to the heart of oversight and accountability. It is clear that the minutes weren’t checked before they went out to the public. No one bothered to read them first. That raises the question of who is responsible and why something should happen two weeks in a row when they have already been given due notice that they have transgressed.
Perhaps council would be wise to ensure that instead of wasting public money on propaganda such as the notorious flyer that was sent out to everyone, or the repeated advertising on rate capping post budget, council ensured that it’s staff were adequately trained and au fait with its own planning scheme or the requirements of the Privacy Act and state government regulations.
August 3, 2016 at 4:26 PM
This is a very sensible suggestion, that wouldn’t be that difficult to implement. Simplifying GE’s Planning Scheme would also be a great help as well.
August 3, 2016 at 5:04 PM
nothing on the Obrien report. Pathetic bunch of no hopers.
August 3, 2016 at 5:05 PM
Absolutely unforgivable in both cases
Heading to VCAT when a mea culpa would have sufficed.
And as for the minutes – what a mega stuff up. Obviously held up by a stoush then flung together in a rush by someone who didn’t have a clue and without any oversight by a senior administrator.
Keep up the good work Councillors, at this rate even your family members won’t vote for you.
August 3, 2016 at 5:16 PM
We note that the private details have now been removed from the minutes. We also note that it should not take a formal complaint from a resident in order for this to be remedied – not when it is the second time this has occurred in the space of 3 weeks! Due diligence demands a far better performance than this council is providing!
August 3, 2016 at 6:03 PM
The addresses and emails from the public questions are now gone but they have not fixed up all the other errors. A very poor showing indeed. I would have thought that the whole document would have been proof read to eliminate these errors but obviously they didn’t bother.
August 3, 2016 at 6:23 PM
Why indeed?
August 3, 2016 at 7:23 PM
We’ve received several emails from individuals who asked the public questions. They inform us that they are still waiting to receive the hard copy response from council. We remind readers that council’s stated ‘policy’ is that residents will receive a response to all questions within 10 working days. It is now well and truly past 10 working days. Another example perhaps of we promise the earth and produce wonderful policy documents but ignore them as often as we can?
August 3, 2016 at 9:13 PM
The Minutes don’t disclose the reason why the meeting was closed when considering Item 12.1. There is no mention which, if any, of the grounds under S.89(2) Council deemed to be applicable. Also no surprises that Crs Hyams and Lipshutz desperately wanted the report kept secret. The revelation that the CEO is to prepare a “Diversity Policy” gives a strong hint that Ms O’Brien’s report was not complementary about the behaviour of two particular councillors.
August 3, 2016 at 10:45 PM
Good pickup. Diversity in this context isn’t about sexual preference. It’s about ethnicity, racism and whether or not you can call someone a bigot and get away with it like Hyams has done. F*ckwit applies to all genders and sexual preferences. O’Brien must have had plenty to say on Hyams calling Lobo a racist without proof and her recommendations wouldn’t have gone in Hyams favour. That’s why the report is buried cos these bastards voted to keep it secret.
August 4, 2016 at 7:13 AM
Who is surprised that our two conservative pseudo-secular counsellors Hyams and Lipshutz have been caught out (MODERATORS: phrase deleted). This report will not change their behaviour, it will just drive it underground, where most of it has been away. We only ever hear fragments of it anyway. Its an irony that these two wolfs in sheep’s clothing, are in practice the opposite of what they pretend to be.
So its back to school for these two, where they supposedly will learn how not to be pseudo-secular (MODERATORS: word deleted) in a diverse inclusive community. I bet they won’t even read the thing.
August 7, 2016 at 3:23 PM
At the rate the new CEO is going on is nothing but trail and error at the cost of the residents who pay her handsomely. A good CEO with very good experience would have handled this
situation carefully. Why is Mrs (MODERATORS: word deleted) Kenzie not recommending boldly her written views. (MODERATORS: sentence deleted) Will she lose her credibility? Will Paul be back? Where are the government bodies to probe into this Council sacked Rate payers are getting concerned as she is swimming in yakki waters with crocodirs, snakes covered with poisoned water. Time to go CEO, if you want to
save your name if any! Release the QC report plus the other 2 reports costing $44K+ is not from the BIG take home Salary. You took part to waste
our money and it is a disgrace to see you stoop to the level where only fools may dare!!