Topic: nsw govt
Picture: Collage via News Limited: "Gone ... Adam Holt, 30, and Roslyn Bragg, 29; their two daughters Madison, 2, and Jasmine, 3; and Ms Bragg's nephew Travis Bragg, 9 / NEWS.com.au composite image:"
One of many contacts on the central coast confirms early this February that Dick Person, formerly NSW Government administrator at the sacked Port Macquarie Hastings Council, has completed his report into Gosford Council.
This is the council that willingly gave away control of the old Pacific Highway at Piles Creek after the devastating untimely death of a family of 2 adults and 3 children in a washed out section of road.
The Sydney based coroner was scathing of lack of local government rigour:
Culvert tragedy: coroner blames council - National - smh.com.au 18 Sep 2008
Similarly this quote from the SMH:
"An "incompetent and ineffective" NSW council is entirely to blame for a highway collapse that killed five family members, including three children, a coroner has ruled.
In damning findings, deputy NSW coroner Paul MacMahon said Gosford City Council had failed to provide the most basic road maintenance, and that neglect had cost five lives.
Adam Holt, his partner Roslyn Bragg, 29, their young daughters Jasmine, 3, and Madison, 2, and Ms Bragg's nephew Travis, 9, died when a culvert collapsed and swallowed part of the Old Pacific Highway at Somersby, north of Sydney, in June last year."
And then we have this follow up:
Council risks second road collapse - National - smh.com.au 22 Sept 2008
and this
Pipes corroded before road collapse: inquest ABC An inquest into the deaths of five people in a road collapse on the New South Wales central coast has heard Gosford Council failed to keep adequate records of repairs needed to the roads.
and this
Documents reveal collapsed highway section needed repairs ABC
There are a legion of hostile residents and ratepayers in Gosford LGA or so it seems:
Yet the Person Inquiry was haphazard at best. Many did not know how to make public submissions. Indeed there wasn't any public advertisement calling for these. Did Dick Person access this torrent of information?
Another contact says there has been a report of alleged corruption sent to ICAC regarding deliberately deleting the content of resident complaints from the council's own information database. Of cooking the information flow. Who would have thunk it?
Picture: The inquest heard the Gosford City Council were 'aware of structural problems'. (ABC TV)
Another contact says there are two (not one) KPMG reports one of which allegedly calls for directors at Gosford to be sacked. Did Dick Person see this particular KPMG report? Does it exist?
Yet another contact says there are two reports by a state government and Gosford council retained consultancy called Internal Audit Bureau into alleged incapacity of Gosford to properly do land use planning and assessment in relation to water licensing. Are these the kind of skills also involved in landscape engineering, say for road safety? Did Dick Person access that as yet IAB confidential report?
Suffice to say our submission to Dick Person was sent direct via his email address at Port Macquarie Hastings not via Gosford Council.
We look forward to Dick Person's findings and the State Government response not least for the memory of those 3 dead children and their hapless parents. Will they get justice?
