The General Manager
Eurobodalla Shire Council
PO Box 99 14 June 2005
MORUYA NSW 2537

Re. Draft Management Plan 2005-09

Dear Mr Levy,

Coastwatchers does not think that this Management Plan reflects the desires and wishes of the general community as outlined in the recent IRIS survey. The findings of that survey indicate quite clearly that the ratepayers of this shire want environmentally sustainable development, protection of the beaches and bushlands, as well as an end to the ad hoc nature of the provision of services.

The Eurobodalla Shires direction in forging ahead with grand infrastructure schemes will in the long term add nothing to the amenity and protection of the valuable natural assets of the area. In fact these very schemes will drive further development in the shire contrary to the community's wishes and the clear directions that are being set down by the State Government in regards to coastal development.

Coastwatchers are aware of the shire's attempts at micro economic reforms by trying to spread the cost of infrastructure across as many users as possible and promoting business development to improve residents' ability to pay for existing services. We believe that this strategy is flawed because of numerous factors beyond the control of the Council. In essence we should be proceeding in a more cautious manner rather than committing future generations to the same mistakes that have been made in the past 20 years.

Our comments about the Draft Management Plan are;

Budget Strategy

Vision

Paragraph 3. "Government assistance will be required…" etc
The State Government is clearly telling all coastal councils in NSW that they will not be providing assistance unless infrastructure is fully utilised and development reigned in to acceptable levels. This direction will be clarified over the coming months with the roll out of the Regional Planning Strategy. Therefore it is foolish for this Council to rely on any future Government funding. Coastwatchers would prefer the budget was based on actual rather than predictive funding.

Private Public Partnerships

Coastwatchers is very wary of the worth of these arrangements as the public are often left exposed to the financial risk whilst the private companies skim off handsome fees and profits with nil risk. We note that there is to be an independent review of these arrangements in NSW and we feel that it would be prudent of the management of the Council to await the review's findings before locking the residents into a future of private profits and public losses.

Focus

Having noted that the ratepayers of the shire consistently place the health of the environment high on their concerns it is puzzling to see that only 2% of the budgetary attention is for environmental protection and monitoring. Coastwatchers believe that this figure is not adequate to professionally address the threats to the shire's environment. We note that many environmental outcomes are lumped in with the cost of infrastructure projects we hope that this is not done to disguise how little is being spent on the environment of the Eurobodalla.

The quote "the budgets assume no change to the current levels of service (eg frequency of grading) and range of services" means that for the proposed 13.5% rate increase the residents will not get any benefits apart from infrastructure upgrades. This is an appalling situation in which the Council is saying why strive for excellence when we can have the mediocre and should be roundly condemned.

Capital Expenditure Projects

There are two issues that stand out as areas of concern to this organization in the spending of these monies.

1. There are no projects north of the Clyde River for the next four years. This should be investigated and reassessed on the grounds of the equitable expenditure of Councils funds.
2. In years 05/06, 07/08 and 08/09 approximately 10% of the budget is allocated to projects To Be Announced (TBA). Most concerning are the Small Town Sewerage, Reticulation Works and Water Supply Expansion. These are large expenditure projects and should be spelt out in an open and honest fashion so that the ratepayers may judge their worth. If communities, such as Durras, are consulted and do not wish to have water and sewerage connected then those funds may be redirected to the upgrading of infrastructure. If these expansionist projects cannot be justified then a large percentage of the $24,000,840 allocated over the next four years could solve the shire's infrastructure maintenance problems without the need for a 10% variation of rates.

In essence, we are saying that this Draft Management Plan 2005-09 needs to be reviewed from the perspective of lessons learnt over the past 20years and the strong messages that the community has given the Council via the IRIS survey. Considering that most of the senior management of the Eurobodalla Shire have been running the shire for a great deal of that time Coastwatchers feel that it is time to reflect on the mistakes of the past and work with groups such as ours towards a sustainable future.

for Jenny Edwards, Secretary