Sewage Issues
DOUG Wilkinson (The Examiner, October 15) and M. Seward (November 3) both make some valid points regarding Tamar River sewage and silt problems.
In 1992, I retired from Launceston City Council and the secondary plant was started and installed around 1993 at Ti-Tree Bend. Unfortunately, the council did not continue the upgrade to tertiary treatment level.
Sheer neglect and wrong priorities has resulted in a cost for TasWater (tertiary) $400 million, and council to find the $110 million to replace combined sewage and water pipes in front of proposed new University of Tasmania campus at York Park.
Should silt be removed ($7 million state-of-the-art dredge) and used to beautify the banks of river it would make way for pleasure boats to take tourists on a river cruise, calling into wineries for meals, fishing, swimming, barbecues, weddings, you name it even cruises to Bridport and Flinders Island.
I estimate 200,000 tourists a year would enjoy this experience, together with our beautiful Gorge walk and Royal Park stroll.
It is Launceston’s dream begging to go, but where are our City of Launceston aldermen, tourist department, Chamber of Commerce, state and federal government members?
Basil J. Fitch, South Launceston.
Launceston City Council 26 Jan 2016,
THE Launceston City Council’s recent meeting to present its annual report was a complete farce.
The Thursday prior to the meeting at the Town Hall had run out of annual general meeting reports.
The meeting was scheduled to start at 5.30pm ``tea time” and many ratepayers had not even left work.
This is an old ``trick”, call meetings at meal times if you don’t want many to attend.
Only seven out of 12 alderman attended, just enough for a quorum and about six ratepayers ``what a crowd”.
The rules of meetings only allow two minutes for questions and two minutes to speak on an issue, totally inadequate.
Where has transparency gone in local government?
— BASIL FITCH, Launceston.
Fitch has radical plan for councils
PATRICK BILLINGS 3 Aug 2012, 7:57 p.m.
FORMER politician Basil Fitch is calling for a radical overhaul of the way Tasmania does local government.
The former long-serving alderman - who held positions on St Leonards and Launceston City councils through a period of amalgamation - has called for a stripped down model of civic governance.
Launceston aldermen Rob Soward has also joined the chorus putting forward his own savings plan based on mergers.
The two views are in contrast to those of academic Brian Dollery who put the kybosh on mergers in a report handed down last month.
Mr Fitch's proposal is the most radical of the three.
He wants council elections to be shelved and the 29 councils to be merged into three - North, North West and South.
Each would have eight ward representatives serving over an umbrella of community boards.
Once again he has called for an ``age test'' that would see councillors aged just 35 years on average in order to weed out what he sees as elderly elected members topping up their retirement savings.
He also wants to see the level of predicted savings to be deducted from rates charges in advance.
Before amalgamation, Mr Fitch wants councils to pay of their debt to avoid burdening incoming ratepayers whose councils were not in debt.
``Why should residents in West Tamar be lumped with Launceston's debt?'' he said.
In a different approach, Alderman Soward has put forward a plan designed to save $1.4 million in wages alone based on a merger of Launceston, West Tamar, Meander Valley and the Northern Midlands councils.
Alderman Soward said that a great deal more savings would be made once economies of scale were factored in and duplication removed.
Professor Dollery argues that changing the number of councils would only ``scratch the surface'' of problems facing local government and real reform would involve a new funding arrangement.
Cannabis trials 11 Jul 2014, 8:49 a.m.
WILL Hodgman has consistently stated the door is open to developers to do business in Tasmania and create "jobs, jobs, jobs".The decision not to allow Tasmanian Health Cannabinoids a licence to trial the growing of cannabis proves he was not fair dinkum.
Deputy Jeremy Rockliff and Minister Michael Ferguson's statements, "it could interfere with poppy growing" and could become a social issue, are unsustainable and just an excuse.
Two thousand hectares of poppies will be grown in Victoria this year and other states will follow (where trials are in progress).
Current growers of poppies could well do with this new industry to ensure their viability.
- BASIL FITCH, Launceston
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