It would seem that council’s arrogant conceit knows no bounds.
How else to characterise council’s latest advice?
To explain.
On August 19th, 2019, the association
wrote to council requesting basic information regarding the shire’s street lighting regime.
That request followed an earlier failed attempt by regional councils to get the state government to cough-up $61.4M to pay for the
Southern Lights Project proposal to deliver
Light Emitting Diodes (LED) featuring digital enabling infrastructure through 83,000 street lights across southern NSW.
The association believes that council signed-up to the project without the specific approval of the elected council, via its membership of the Canberra Region Joint Organisation (CRJO)
The planned infrastructure was characterised as ‘Smart Technology’ & it was claimed that regional communities could access opportunities for all types of digital monitoring, for example: security; traffic measurements; asset tracking; livestock location; water meter measurements; garbage bin sensors; parking sensors; pedestrian movements; and noise monitoring.
The association was initially supportive of the proposal
until it was suggested that the enabling technology could be the controversial
5G wireless technology that has aroused widespread concerns about possible health effects of radio-frequency (RF) energy transmitted by
5G base stations.
To this day council has refused to confirm if its proposed LED street light infrastructure will be enabled by 5G technology.
A bald-faced lie if ever there was one.
The fact of the matter is that the bulk of the information sought by the association was contained in council’s
Clean Energy Plan 2018-2030 (including a
Business Case recommending the expenditure of more than $1M on the replacement of the
Shire’s street lighting over a three year period), unanimously adopted by council at its
Ordinary Meeting of June 12th, 2019.
So why did the association make its request of August 19th, 2019 if the bulk of the information was already available?
Well, the simple reason is that in analysing council’s Clean Energy Plan 2018-2030, the association identified a number of major discrepancies in the information contained therein, casting doubt over the reliability of its conclusions & recommendations, in particular regarding the proposal to replace the Shire’s street lights with Light Emitting Diodes (LED).
Some examples include:
• Council cited its total electricity costs in 2017-2018 as being $1.679M (see page 2 of the Plan), while its’ audited Financial Statements for the same year confirm those costs to be $1.808M;
• On page 16 of the Plan, council claims that the replacement of the Shire’s street lights will deliver an annual saving of $257K & recoup the suggested $1M cost of the Plan in 3.8 years, while on page 36, the Business Case claims annual savings of $189K & a payback period of 5.3 years; &
• On page 30 of the Plan, council states that its total electricity costs amounted to $2.074M in 2013-2014; $2.045M in 2014-2015, $1.731M in 2015-2016 & $1.179M in 2016-2017, while its own audited Financial Statements for each of those years confirm its actual electricity costs amounted to $1.612M, $1.493M, $1.479M & $1.347M respectively
While the association is not able to analyse all of the claims made by council in its Clean Energy Plan, it believes that the discrepancies identified above are sufficient to cast doubt over its conclusions & recommendations, in particular to spend more than $1M to replace the Shire’s street lights.
The association believes that in completing its Clean Energy Plan 2018-2030, council’s senior management either demonstrated a singular incompetence or were determined to present a case that would achieve a pre-determined outcome consistent with its objectives.
Either way, the association is not the slightest bit surprised that council has tried to avoid scrutiny of its activities in this area, just as it continues to do in most of its activities at the expense of residents & ratepayers.
And finally, the association believes that council’s general manager should be disciplined for her totally misleading & unjustified refusal to oblige the association’s reasonable request for information.
John Richardson
Secretary/Treasurer
Bega Valley Shire Residents & Ratepayers Association
Tel: 0264945669
Email: secretary@begavalleyshireratepayers.asn.au
Website: http://www.begavalleyshireratepayers.asn.au
