Sturgo stays schtum
Following the public release of the draft Precinct Plan at the start of September this year a number of letters have been written to the Minister for Infrastructure seeking advice on what the government plans to do with the consultant’s recommendations.
Not a single acknowledgement or response has been received. Do you think the letters (set out below) warrant a response or is the lack of interest shown by the Minister just symptomatic of the Bartlett government?
Sent on 6 December 2009:
Dear Minister
By now you will no doubt be aware that Kingborough Council has endorsed the recommendations of the Draft Ferry Road/Little Oyster Cove Precinct Plan. (Refer to this news item.)
Is it likely that you will be in a position to provide the community with some positive indications of when the recommendations may start to be implemented? Given that the consultants report was commissioned in April this year it is taking a very long time to get some positive feedback on the government’s plans.
At a public meeting on 3 December, attended by Kingborough Mayor, Graham Bury and General Manager, Paul West, the issue was raised about what form of traffic management would be put in place to deal with the forthcoming holiday season traffic chaos which has become a regular feature of Ferry Road. Council of course pointed out that they had no control over DIER or the Bruny Ferry operator.
The residents of Ferry Road would very much like to see some action taken to minimise the inevitable disruption to their lives arising from the inadequate infrastructure.
I hope you can provide some assistance to deal with this short term problem as well as giving the Kettering community some hope that the government intends to make longer term improvements in line with the recommendations of the Precinct Plan.
Sent on 21 November 2009:
Dear Minister,
I wrote to you in September regarding the Ferry Road – Little Oyster Cove Precinct Plan (see email below).
In that email I asked “Are you able to give the community some early indication of the steps the government intends to follow as soon as this report is adopted.”
I have assumed that you did not respond to my question as the matter was still out for public consultation.
Kingborough Council will be considering the draft report at its Council meeting on Monday 23 November and it appears that the 3 month public consultation period has resulted in no substantive changes to the consultant’s recommendations.
Whilst Kingborough Council has done a good job in co-ordinating the development of the Precinct Plan it is clear that there is little they can do in terms of funding or implementing many of the recommendations. This responsibility falls to your Department. The local community is very interested to find out what your Department proposes to do about the recommendations arising from the Precinct Plan and in particular what financial commitments the government might make to their implementation.
I hope you can enlighten us.
Sent on 17 September 2009:
Dear Minister,
cc Mr. Aird,
Mr. West, Kingborough CouncilThank you for your letter of 30 July in which you provided an update on progress with the Precinct Plan being developed for Kettering.
The release of the draft report earlier this month has been welcomed by the community as the most positive sign in a decade that some improvements might actually be realised for Ferry Road. I congratulate Kingborough Council, your department and the Department of Economic Development for contributing to the preparation of this report.
Last week I attended both of the information sessions run by Kingborough Council and the consultants.
Most attendees wanted to know what would happen next. The only indication given was that Kingborough Council are seeking to determine if there is community concensus to the report. It was implied that no further action would be taken until Council had finalised the report based on community feedback. Due to the intervening Council elections it was stated that the report would not be considered by Council until a meeting at the end of November.
I strongly support the overall thrust of the recommendations of the Precinct Plan. My impression from attending public meetings in Kettering and on Bruny Island is that the overwhelming desire of residents is to see some detailed implementation planning commence as soon as possible.
Are you able to give the community some early indication of the steps the government intends to follow as soon as this report is adopted.
