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Page 12 of 14 pages : significant questions (jump to page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14) :
City parts company with senior staffer : “The City of Albany has parted company with one of its long-standing senior executives. Development Services executive director Robert Fenn’s contract was not renewed when the Albany City Council met on Tuesday night. Council deliberated behind closed doors before making the decision put forward by CEO Paul Richards. Mr Richards said Mr Fenn had served Albany for fifteen years in three five-year contracts and the decision not to renew his contract followed a comprehensive review of City processes. Mr Fenn was initially employed as the Manager Development Facilitation and Advice in the former Town of Albany. Following the amalgamation of the Town and Shire of Albany in 1998, he was appointed the Executive Director Development Services with the City and has worked with four CEOs in the last 15 years.” “It’s time for a change – we are now going in a different direction.” Paul Richards, CEO, City of Albany Extract : AGS Weekender (Page 1), 21 Jan 2010 City parts company with senior staffer : “Albany Mayor Milton Evans said Mr Fenn had provided a dedicated and committed 15 years of service. Council is grateful for his long-standing service – Mr Fenn began working at the Town of Albany in 1994 and then with the City in 1998. With over a decade of service to regional planning, Mr Fenn had made an enormous contribution at a strategic level, Mayor Evans said. He has been an advocate for regional policy changes and instrumental in achieving major improvements to the City’s emergency management planning. The job has often been challenging and the lives of most Albany residents have been affected in one way or another by Mr Fenn’s advice and decisions. Mayor Evans said Mr Fenn took a lead role during the amalgamation of the Town and Shire and assisted his staff to adapt and move forward with the new structure.” Mayor Milton Evans, City of Albany Extract : AGS Weekender (Page 1), 21 Jan 2010 Grow Bunbury port – BGC chief : “Industrial magnate Len Buckeridge has thrown his support behind a proposal to expand the Bunbury port, saying that it would promote much-needed competition with port services in Fremantle. Mr Buckeridge, the founder of construction and building products empire BGC whose personal wealth is estimated to nudge $2 billion, said that although he had not been formally approached by representatives of the Bunbury Port Authority, he was prepared to sell part of his key port landholding in Bunbury to accommodate the plan. It comes as the BPA works on a proposal to almost treble the size of the port’s inner harbour from five to 14 berths as part of its multi-billion-dollar expansion ambitions. Under the plan, the harbour would be extended south to accommodate the new berths and bulk commodity exports such as coal, bauxite and fertiliser. Mr Buckeridge’s 24ha landholding in the path of the expansion had been seen as a potential hurdle.” “Mr Buckeridge said that so long as the Government was willing to pay a fair and reasonable price for his land, he would not stand in the way of the project. He argued an expanded Bunbury port would act as a counterpoint to the Port of Fremantle, which he said was monopolistic and plagued by congestion. The Fremantle Port Authority is an absolute disgrace, the septuagenarian said. It’s important to the State that Bunbury develops a capacity that provides a measure of competition to the Fremantle Port Authority. I wish the Bunbury Port Authority well – I think it should happen. Mr Buckeridge’s apparent willingness to deal with the BPA comes in contrast to his strident opposition to Main Roads WA resuming part of his Bunbury land in 2008. The resumption issue is the subject of a dispute between the two parties in the State Administrative Tribunal. Mr Buckeridge said that the difference this time was that he would expect the (Barnett) Government to negotiate in good faith.” “The Fremantle Port Authority declined to comment on Mr Buckeridge’s comments. Transport Minister Simon O’Brien would also not be drawn on the matter or on the BPA’s expansion plans. He said the plans were preliminary and it was premature to discuss their prospects. Opposition infrastructure spokeswoman Alannah MacTiernan said Mr Buckeridge’s criticism of the FPA was self-interested because he wanted to establish his own port at Point James, near Kwinana. Ms MacTiernan said that although some aspects of the FPA were monopolistic, the organisation enjoyed overwhelming support from business. She agreed that Bunbury should be developed to accommodate bulk commodity exports but argued it could never compete with Fremantle in its own right because handling containers through the South-West city was unviable.” Len Buckeridge, BGC Construction Group Pty Ltd Article : West Australian (Page 25), 02 Feb 2010 Suspend Council : “Albany MP Peter Watson (Australian Labor Party) has taken the extraordinary step of demanding the (Barnett Liberal National Alliance) State Government step in and suspend the City of Albany council in a desperate bid to clean up the mess it has created. Mr Watson wrote to Local Government Minister John Castrilli on Tuesday recommending Mr Castrilli’s office take control of the City and bring caretakers (Commissioners) in to run it. He cited revelations in Tuesday’s Albany Advertiser about the 2008 appointment of City of Albany chief executive Paul Richards as the latest in a long list of reasons for the council to be suspended. Albany ratepayers could no longer tolerate the ‘hassle after hassle’ that came with the current administration.” And for some seriously good questions over the past decade - jump to Page 13 |
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Rainbow 2000 © — a Regional Planning Strategy for Albany & the Great Southern, Western Australia |
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“I don’t know if it is leadership or what it is, but Albany is a city which is going ahead in leaps and bounds and I don’t think the council is on the same path, Mr Watson said. Unless you’ve got a very strong, vibrant council nothing will happen and Mr Castrilli needs to seriously consider bringing this in to sort all the problems out. Ministers have suspended councils in the past decade, including the City of Cockburn, the City of Wanneroo and the City of South Perth. A Department of Local Government spokesman said Mr Castrilli could suspend the council and bring in independent commissioners as caretakers if he recognised a ‘serious systemic failure’ during an investigation. The Department is already conducting a review of the City’s operations as a result of an earlier complaint from Deputy Mayor Dennis Wellington regarding the conduct of some councillors.” Hon. Peter Watson MLA, Member for Albany Extract : Albany Advertiser (Page 1), 01 Apr 2010
End of Statements. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Discussion papers available :
v Peak Oil Gas & Nuclear Power – everybody’s growing concern v Manypeaks Transitional Governance – a challenge for the State of Western Australia v Anzac 2014-18 – a National Celebration Strategy – there is a role for each Australian state / various cities v Albany International Airport – achieving regional accessibility for trade v Albany Industrial Seaport Relocation Plan – achieving regional accessibility for trade v Albany’s UNESCO World Heritage – Anzac & Convict Colonial Settlement – international tourism v Planning Instruments of Western Australia – the bottom line of WA Planning Commission activities v Planning and the Australian Media – part of the problem / part of the solution v Global Warming & Sea Level Change – profound implications for insurance & property development.
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HIJMS Ibuki - Japan’s Forgotten Link to the Anzac Legend
HIJMS Ibuki (foreground) and HMS Minotaur in Wellington Harbour, New Zealand (13-16 Oct 1914) Courtesy Royal New Zealand Navy
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Albany, Western Australia
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