Council’s development process seems to be done on the fly without the logical robust procedures or checks and balances that are supposed to stop train wrecks.
Large NSW government infrastructure developments should go through robust rigorous checks and ‘gateways’ at various stages to make sure we don’t waste everyone’s time.
Remember the Dingo Lane Solar Farm? It was former mayor Simon Richardson’s pipedream – there was no robust business case developed. ‘It’s a great idea… let’s go!’
Three to four years later with a cost of $1m of ratepayers’ money for consultants … all we hear now is crickets.
Where has that development ended up? Nowhere. Lots of local community bush experts recommended early on they join with like-minded councils and do a deal with large new solar farm farms out west and buy their green energy. But no. Simon knows best. Let’s borrow upwards of $12m and build our own plant here! We are, as ratepayers, $1m poorer, with zero to show for it. As one NRL coach once said, ‘There has to be an investigation!’
My favourite episode of the TV show Utopia (Series 1, Episode 3) was the ‘Very Fast Train from Sydney to Melbourne’ episode.
Kitty Flanagan, the communications/spin expert says: ‘This is a must-build – 95 per cent of people want the train, let’s go, we have everything we need. We have a logo!’
Rob Sitch counters with, ‘But the other five per cent are transport economists, infrastructure engineers and real cost estimators etc’. Therein lies the problem – the wrong people trying to steer the bus. A big expensive bus.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
