Toward the end of this week’s council meeting, Cr Dodds reminded her colleagues that it was the 2nd anniversary of the Yankees Gap bushfire that ravaged property & destroyed three homes between Bemboka & Numbugga over a two month period in August/September, 2018.
Amongst her remarks, Cr Dodds said:
“… some residents who lost homes were dissatisfied with the response & assistance they got from council & I think that was due to restrictions on the Mayoral Fund & there was nothing that council could have done about that. I also understand that council did as much as humanly possible to support those communities after the fire.”
While the association accepts that Cr Dodds’ sentiments were sincere, it believes that it is important to correct the public record & highlight the failure of the council to come to the aid of those residents directly impacted by the Yankees Gap bushfire.
While the association accepts that council was not able to channel funds from the Mayoral Appeal Fund set-up after the March, 2018 Tathra bushfire disaster to assist the victims of the Yankees Gap bushfire, it rejects entirely council’s repeated & unsubstantiated public claims that it could not establish a similar mechanism in response to that disaster.
Moreover, the association advised council that it had obtained legal advice which confirmed that there was nothing to prevent council from pursuing such action.
In March, 2019, six months after the
Yankees Gap disaster, the association issued a
media release publicly questioning the failure of council to respond to the disaster in a meaningful way. A few weeks later, the association published another
media release on council’s failure to respond.
The association was so disgusted with
Cr McBain’s response & the fact that she had not even bothered to canvass the views of her fellow councillors
that it decided to write to all councillors, including
Cr Dodds, & seek their support for its proposal.
In what the association believes should be a matter of shame for every member of the current council, not one councillor responded to the association’s proposal nor, to the best of its knowledge, pursued the issue with council management.
The association believes that the victims of the Yankees Gap bushfire have every reason to be angry & disgusted by the failure of council to respond to their plight in a meaningful way.
The association also believes that council has once again demonstrated that its alleged concern for the wellbeing of the community usually only extends to keeping-up appearances, while manufacturing opportunities to congratulate itself for doing little or nothing of substance when the need arises.
John Richardson
Secretary/Treasurer
Bega Valley Shire Residents & Ratepayers Association
Tel: 0264945669
Email: secretary@begavalleyshireratepayers.asn.au
Website: http://www.begavalleyshireratepayers.asn.au