Campaign news
S.O.S. responds to the Springwood Options brochure
A BMCC brochure outlining options for Springwood's development was mailed to residents during the first week of May. S.O.S. responded with a leaflet setting out some initial concerns and advocating the option of "upgrading existing facilities over time paid for by grants or low interest loans." The full leaflet can be downloaded by clicking here.
A number of sample letters which residents might like to send to BMCC can also be downloaded from here:
S.O.S. public meeting a "great success"
Meeting held on March 2nd at Springwood Civic Centre
It was standing room only at the S.O.S. public meeting on Tuesday, the 2nd of March. A packed hall was provided with the latest information on the Springwood Town Centre Project. Presentations from S.O.S. members Narelle Halse, Pamela Smith and Michael Parker informed the public about the details of the proposals, the traffic implications, heritage aspects and the "deeply flawed" process followed by Blue Mountains City Council. Chairperson of S.O.S, Chris Taylor, provided background to the S.O.S. campaign and invited the public to become more involved themselves, and to make sure that when the poll of residents was held (later this year) that they voted early and encouraged their friends and neighbours to vote. All these presentations, as well as "podcasts" of the talks, can be downloaded from this website (see below).
The meeting was also addressed by Councillors Brendan Luchetti, Janet Mays and Howard McCallum. All provided fresh insights into the processes which have been taking place within council over the last 18 months. Podcasts of their talks can be downloaded from this website (see below).
Members of the public were also given the opportunity to ask questions and put forward their points of view. The meeting also heard a first reading of a poem, written by Diana Levy to warn of what the community stood to lose from unchecked development. Diana's poem can be viewed or downloaded here.
UNSW Associate Professor, Frank Zumbo, also spoke to the meeting, and outlined the broader context in which the Springwood situation fits. He gave a succinct overview of the lack of retail competition in Australia and the need for communities to become empowered through a local referendum process.
Downloads of Presentation Materials
Below are the presentations from the S.O.S. speakers. There are both PowerPoint presentations and speaking notes. All files are PDF (which can be viewed with the free Acrobat Reader).
Chris Taylor's Speaking Notes here.
Narelle Halse's PowerPoint Presentation here.
Narelle Halse's PowerPoint Presentation (smaller file size version) here.
Narelle Halse's Speaking Notes here.
Pamela Smith's Speaking Notes here.
Michael Parker's PowerPoint Presentation here.
Michael Parker's Speaking Notes here.
Downloads of Podcasts
A "podcast" is simply an audio recording in the MP3 format and can be played on any computer, as well as various portable devices. The files below are mono recordings (to keep the file size smaller), but the files are still quite large compared to text files (the sizes are shown in brackets).
You can right click with your mouse to save the file instead of normal clicking (which may cause the file to immediately start playing on some computers). Please email us at mail@saveourspringwood.org.au if you have any difficulties.
Chris Taylor audio recording (4 mb) here.
Narelle Halse audio recording (7.6 mb) here.
Pamela Smith audio recording (7.2 mb) here.
Michael Parker audio recording (9 mb) here.
Councillor Brendan Luchetti audio recording (14.6 mb) here.
Councillor Janet Mays audio recording (13.1 mb) here.
Councillor Howard McCallum audio recording (2.6 mb) here.
Eminent economist foresees end of PPPs
Eminent economist, Professor John Quiggin, has just written an important essay examining the implications of the current global financial crisis. Professor Quiggin, an Australian Research Council Federation Fellow, based at the University of Queensland, has written the essay, An agenda for social democracy, in the Whitlam Institute Perspectives series. He writes: "the idea of delivering public services through public-private partnerships appears to be dead, as least for the foreseeable future, and in its current form. This will entail acceptance by governments of responsibilities they have sought to outsource to the private sector." (page 8)
This viewpoint has implications for local councils which might be seeking to embark on PPPs. Clearly the global financial crisis has changed the ground rules for how councils build and maintain infrastructure. Canberra has already recognised this in its handing out of infrastructure grants on a scale not envisaged even 12 months ago. It would seem that the more progressive councils are those which become adept at accessing such grants, rather than pursuing increasingly discredited strategies involving PPPs.
The full essay by Professor Quiggin can be downloaded here.
