Gero Rate payers Action Group Letter to the Editor

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Hello Rate Payers,

Your ratepayers action group (GRPAG) has been granted a special meeting on 11th June at Queens Park Theatre 7 PM. We are providing a forum for you or ANYONE  ……  to attend and ask questions and provide feedback to councillors.

Those wishing to have questions answered on the night must submit them before 5th June to the City chambers.

We are asking council to live with within the level of rates our community is able to afford.

 Several topics are listed for discussion  including

  1. A CGG rates  freeze for 2018-19
  2. A discussion on finances related to specific topics. Do we need 14 councillors at a cost of around $450,000???  Perhaps a reduction from  14 to 7 councillors
  3. A need for the transparency  and disclosure of financial details  for major contractors
  4. Availability of information to rate payers.  Transparency except in special circumstances.
  5. Council finances..The need for resolutions relating to their analysis and propriety over the last 5 to 8 years

Please read this information and plan to attend on 11th June, to protect your assets.

 

Regards
Dr Barry Thompson
GRPAG              

Plastic recycling bin vandalism sparks review

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The remainder of a plastics recycling bin located Drummond Cove that was lit on fire by vandals.

The vandalism of a plastic recycling bin located in Drummond Cove has sparked the review of bin locations to ensure the safety of all sites.

On May 18, vandals lit fire to the recycling bin located beside the foreshore ablution block destroying the bin and damaging part of the building’s veranda, which has since been repaired.

City of Greater Geraldton Chief Executive Officer Ross McKim said a review of the blue plastic bin locations is now underway.

“There are 18 blue plastic bins locations throughout the City and we have begun reviewing these sites to address any safety concerns such as proximity to other structures and ease of servicing,” he said.

“Although the plastic bins are currently the property of the Northern Agriculture Catchment Council (NACC), the plastic recycling program is serviced by MEEDAC.”

Plastic and cardboard waste is managed through the City’s Reuse and Recycle Shop located at Meru Waste Facility.  This includes the careful sorting of plastic materials to remove contaminates such coloured plastics and lids and labels from bottles and containers. The plastics are then pressed into bales for transport to Perth where they are sold and shipped to China.

Although China is still accepting foreign waste, they have imposed new restrictions and will only accept material with a contamination level less than 0.5 per cent.

Despite this minor setback, the City still supports plastic recycling.

“City staff are currently in discussion with NACC and MEEDAC on how best to support the plastics program, which will ensure Type 1 and 2 plastics continue to be diverted from landfill,” said Mr McKim.

“Should the review result in any changes of bin locations, the City will notify the community via our website and social media channels.”

Students bring The Sound of Music to life

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The hills of Geraldton will be alive with the sound of music when Students at Strathalbyn Christian College present a stunning new production of The Sound of Music next month. 

The much-loved Rodgers & Hammerstein's musical, which brings to life the classic tale of family, self-discovery and love, offers a great night of family entertainment. 

Set in Austria at the beginning of the second world war, a young woman named Maria doesn't quite fit in at the convent. When the opportunity arises to become a governess for a Navy Captain's seven mischievous children, Mother Abbess believes Maria is the perfect woman for the job. 

Director Tahlia Mathieson said the show is still thrilling audiences more than 50 years after it was first performed. 

"The Strathalbyn students have worked extremely hard to master their singing, dancing and acting roles so the audience can look forward to a terrific performance."

Shows Thursday 14, Friday 15 and Saturday 16 June at 12 Noon and 7pm

Buy tickets online https://www.trybooking.com/UZYL or phone 9938 9100

$15 Adults $7 Students Seniors Discount $5 Matinee $7 Evening Shows, Children under 3 free (no seat allocated)

Cast of the Sound of Music – Von Trapp Children and Maria

Glencyl Ampoon (Maria), Asha Serman (Leisl), Peter Davies (Friedrich), Carissa Davies (Louisa), Ella Lamb (Brigritta), Toby Jensen (Kurt), Hazel Lamb (Marta), Amelie Horstman (Gretl)

EOI: Christmas Tree Trail

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Christmas may seem a long way off, but the City of Greater Geraldton is getting ready for the festive season and inviting artists to help transform wooden trees for a Christmas Tree Trail.

The multi-dimensional trees will feature in a prime location along Marine Terrace and showcase the artist’s interpretation of Christmas.

City of Greater Geraldton Mayor Shane Van Styn said it was a great opportunity for artists to have their work seen.

“It’s not every day that you get the opportunity to showcase your artwork in one of Geraldton’s most prominent locations, especially during such a busy time of year,” he said.

“The decorated craypots were such a hit last Christmas, and we expect the Christmas Tree Trail to be just as popular.

“I encourage all artists to start thinking about what Christmas means to them and get involved in this great project.”

Twelve artists will be selected to participate in the initiative and will be provided with a ‘blank canvas’ structure and plinth to transform and decorate.

Successful applications will be provided with $1,000 for the cost of materials.

Expressions of interest close on Wednesday 6 June and installations must be completed by Friday 23 November.

To be a part of the Christmas Tree Trail, please visit https://artgallery.cgg.wa.gov.au/christmas-tree-trail-eoi.aspx

Install a PSA CCTV system Now!

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In celebration of obtaining a Security Agent, Installer and Consultants license, Geraldton Electrical Contractor, Indigo Electronics EC13155, is offering a special on the installation of PSA CCTV systems. Indigo will supply and install the CCTV system shown for $1209 ex GST.

If you would prefer to supply your own CCTV system or wish for more cameras then give us a call on 0423603187, email indigo_electronics@iinet.net.au or reach out to us on Facebook and check the automation projects the eccentric individuals at Indigo have been working on: https://www.facebook.com/geraldtonwaaustralia.

This offer is only available to domestic clients whose household is single storey, non-asbestos and each camera is within 30m of the recorder.

 

711 Cadets receive Freedom of Entry

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The 711 Squadron Australian Air Force Cadets have received Freedom of Entry to the City.

The 711 Squadron Australian Air Force Cadets have received Freedom of Entry to the City after Council approved the request at this week’s Council Meeting.

The honour will be presented at the 2018 Sunshine Festival on Sunday 30 September.

City of Greater Geraldton Mayor Shane Van Styn also acknowledged the 711 Squadron Australian Air Force Cadets 25 years of service.

“The 711 Squadron has helped a large number of youth reach their true potential and they regularly support community events including Australia Day, ANZAC Day, HMAS Sydney II Memorial services and Variety Club events,” he said.

“The organisation has made a significant contribution to our community and I am proud to honour them with Freedom of Entry to our City.”

Freedom of Entry is a ceremonial honour whereby a military or civilian unit is granted the right of entry to the City.

It is awarded to Australian military and civilian units that have, through their command, a significant attachment to the City of Greater Geraldton. 

The award is conferred in recognition of their achievement while on active service or overseas duty or as a mark of respect and gratitude for their efforts in the defence of Australia.  

David Power, 711 Squadron Commanding Officer, said the honour was very well received.

“It is great to receive recognition for the commitment to youth development in Geraldton over the years,” he said.

“We have had several thousand young people use the Cadets as a great platform to develop remarkable self-confidence and leadership skills, and go onto bigger and better things.”

The conferring of the award of Freedom of Entry, will be held in conjunction with the 2018 Sunshine Festival opening ceremony at 1pm on 30 September 2018, before marching in the Sunshine Festival parade.

Those interested in the 711 Squadron Australian Air Force Cadets can visit www.aafc.org.au or head to the Army Reserve Depot on Monday nights during the school term from 6pm.

Offenders on the loose without being monitored

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West Australians were left in the dark when dozens of offenders, some with serious convictions including dangerous sex offences, were unable to be tracked following a telecommunications outage.

Shadow Minister for Corrective Services Zak Kirkup said it was incomprehensible the Government did not alert the community to the dangers posed by offenders able to roam the community without being able to be tracked.

“If there is a telecommunications outage and offenders cannot be tracked, the community needs to be made aware,” Mr Kirkup said.

“Last night in Parliament it was revealed 81 offenders with trackable ankle bracelets had been disconnected from monitoring as a result of the outage.

“The first the community has heard of this is through questioning in Parliament.

“The question must be asked, why did it take questioning in Parliament for this information to be made public?  Why didn’t the Minister bring this to the attention of the public at the height of the risk of these offenders being in public without being able to be monitored.”

Mr Kirkup said the Government needed to assure the public they would not be kept in the dark if there was a similar telecommunications blackout in the future in which offenders were unable to be tracked.

“It is the responsibility of the Minister for Corrective Services to be open and transparent about these very serious and concerning security issues,” Mr Kirkup said.

“He would have received a briefing that the Department had lost track of the offenders as a result of the outage, and he should have insisted on warning the public that this had occurred.

“His failure to do this smacks of a cover up.  I am concerned he may not have wanted the public to know that offenders were out in the public and not being tracked.

“This has only come to light through questioning in Parliament and it would not be surprising if the Government was hoping the questions would not be asked and this incident had not come to light.

“It is now incumbent on the Minister to insist his Department develop a communications protocol to alert the public whenever there is an incident in which tracked offenders are unable to have their movements monitored.

“The public needs to be assured they are protected from these offenders.  This is the Minister’s responsibility and he needs to take action now that this incident, and the potential for further such incidents, has been exposed.”

Shade sail and pontoon removals from the Foreshore

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The City of Greater Geraldton wishes to advise it will be temporarily removing the pontoons and the shade sails and shade domes along the Foreshore on Thursday the 24 May 2018 to undertake annual maintenance works whilst protecting them from potential damage caused by winter storms.

The pontoons and shade sails will be returned to their locations in the spring in October 2018.

Members of the community are requested to exercise caution and obey all warning signs and directions from authorised City personnel and contractors.

The City apologises for any inconvenience these works may cause.

If you have any queries please contact the City on (08) 9956 6600 or email council@cgg.wa.gov.au.

WA needs a real Rural Fire Service

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The announcement made by the Government in April of a Department of Fire and Emergency Services restructure was not the announcement of an independent rural fire service that will actually fight bushfires according to the Shadow Minister for the Emergency Services Dr Steve Thomas.

Dr Thomas also said that the apparent location of the proposed Rural Fire Division in Darlington in the Shire of Mundaring in Perth was a snub to rural communities, an embarrassment to the Government, and possibly a by-election bribe to the electors of Darling Range.

“The United Firefighters Union let the cat out of the bag last week when they publicly confirmed the location as Darlington, despite the Minister for Emergency Services sticking to his line that it has not yet been determined” Dr Thomas said. “This is on the edge of the seat of Darling Range and only 30km from Parliament House in Perth.”

“The only thing missing from this worst kept secret is a formal announcement by the Government, no doubt including the Labor candidate.”

Dr Thomas said that questions he had asked of the Minister in Parliament in recent weeks had revealed more detail about the proposed Departmental reshuffle that will be known as the Rural Fire Division.

“The Minister has acknowledged that the Rural Fire Division will not manage bushfires – this will stay in the Operations Division. Neither will it supply bushfire brigades with equipment.”

“The Rural Fire Division will in fact be 32 FTEs based in Metropolitan Perth whose role is administration, support and planning according to the Minister, not actually fighting fires.”

Dr Thomas said he believed that given the Government’s intent to not have a truly independent service, the leader of a WA Rural Fire Service should be a Deputy Commissioner, the highest rank below the Commissioner, to give the service the importance it deserved.

“I also believe that a rural fire service should be located in the country, not in the metropolitan region. I would be looking to the South West between Pinjarra and Manjimup to house the leadership group.”

Path and drainage works in Drummond Cove

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The City of Greater Geraldton wishes to advise it will be undertaking path and drainage works at Whitehill Road between Hester Street and Seacrest Way in Drummond Cove with works scheduled to commence on Monday 21 May 2018 for a period of approximately four weeks.

The anticipated hours of work will be between from 7am to 6pm. Traffic Management will be in place during this time. Members of the community are requested to exercise caution and obey all warning signs and directions from authorised City personnel and contractors.

The City apologises for any inconvenience these works may cause.

If you have any queries please contact the City on (08) 9956 6600 or email council@cgg.wa.gov.au

Beresford Foreshore landscaping begins

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The City of Greater Geraldton wishes to advise landscaping of the Beresford Foreshore will start during the week of 21 May 2018 and requires construction site access through three temporary entry points along Chapman Road for the duration of the works.

The entry points will be located on the north and south sides of the Adam Street Carpark and in front of Mitchell and Brown.  To ensure community safety, traffic controllers will be in place from Tuesday 22 May 2018 for the remainder of project works as required.  Motorists can expect delays and are encouraged to use alternative routes wherever possible during this time.

Members of the community are requested to exercise caution and obey all warning signs and directions from authorised City personnel and contractors.

The City apologises for any inconvenience these works may cause.

If you have any queries please contact the City on (08) 9956 6600 or email council@cgg.wa.gov.au.

‘An Incompetent Life’ to brighten up yours

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An Incompetent Life, is a short look into a life that could've gone a bit better.

Local comedian Brian Poller looks at life just a little differently; using incompetence to gain success – or at least one version of success.

Poller will be performing his unique comedy show, that sold out at Fringe World 2017, as part of the Big Sky Festival in Geraldton on Friday 25th of May. The event will be held at the Geraldton Regional Art Gallery commencing at 8:15p sharp (limited tickets available to the public).

Fitting in with the festival theme of “windswept words”, Poller’s intricate storytelling will have you completely absorbed in his world.

This one man show has been more than 50 years in the making… A soaring saga of disaster and comedy; inanity and depth.

In Brian’s world, competence may lead to success and money, but incompetence is a shortcut to seeing things a little differently, if only out of necessity.

“Anyone who loves tales of adventure, tragedy and raw life truths will love Brian Poller’s An Incompetent Life,” said Euphorium Creative Ringleader, Julian Canny.

“Brian’s story telling ability is incredibly engaging and will have audiences hanging on his every word. It’s also completely inspiring through his ability to tell his story and perform to a live audience, all whilst having a speech impediment.” Said Canny.

Tickets can be bought at the Geraldton Regional Library or over the phone. Please contact Tracy Smith on tracys@cgg.wa.gov.au or 9956 6659.

Find out what the Red Rubber Thing has to do with loss, how reticulation can only be managed from the inside, and a few other things that can’t be mentioned here due to….er…… incompetence!

For more information on the Big Sky Festival, please view the program online: https://library.cgg.wa.gov.au/Profiles/library/Assets/ClientData/Big_Sky_Readers___Writers_Fe stival_Program_2018.pdf

BANFF Mountain Film Festival in Geraldton

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The world's most prestigious mountain film festival is coming to Geraldton for the first time, screening at Queens Park Theatre Saturday 19 May at 7.00 pm

The 2018 Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour showcases over 2 ½ hours of the most enthralling mountain adventure films that will have you planning your next adventure before the credits roll. Get the crew together, tix available at https://bit.ly/2oGipHU

Desert Blue Connect – promoting strong and safe families

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The Midwest Early Years Network will be celebrating National Families Week with a free Family Fun Day on Saturday 19th May at the Beachlands Primary school oval from 10am to 1pm.  There will be engaging activities for children such as sensory play, bubbles, play dough and face painting from a variety of local organisations.

Desert Blue Connect will be attending and providing an activity stall, where children aged 0-5 years can paint their hands.  Their hand artwork will be then added onto a community network hand tree that promotes the theme of “we all have the right to feel safe at all times”.

Desert Blue Connect uses a whole of community approach to provide strategies that aim to prevent child abuse and children’s exposure to family violence.  One approach is to work with parents and carers to educate them on ways they can support their children to learn how to keep safe.  Education is provided on protective behaviour strategies that they can teach their children, which promotes safety and wellbeing, enhances resilience, and encourages positive sense of self.  Desert Blue Connect community educators will be available at the event to talk to and prevention resources will be available.

“The first step is to simply talk to your child and develop that open and trusting relationship”, says Meg Deluca, Community Educator at Desert Blue Connect.  “Your child has the right to be safe so reassure them that they won’t be punished if they say they feel unsafe or threatened by anyone, no matter who it is.”

“‘We all have the right to feel safe at all times’ is a key message we use to educate parents and children” said Ms. Deluca. “We will be using our community network hand tree as an artistic tool so children can communicate this theme.”

National Families week (15th May to 21st May) is held every year with people getting involved in hundreds of community events to celebrate the vital role families play in our community.  It is a time to celebrate the meaning of family and work together for stronger families and communities. 

If you would like any further information about the 2018 family fun day, contact Ngala Child and Parent Centre, Rangeway at rangeway@ngala.com.au or by phoning 99216814.

Desert Blue Connect offers specialist education in sexuality and relationship, respectful relationship and child abuse protection and prevention.  This is offered throughout the community customised to meet specific needs and working to implement and embed within local organisations.  Please contact Desert Blue Connect for further information on 9964 2742 or email info@desertblueconnect.org.au

Desert Blue Connect provide a range of free or low cost services that include women’s health, rural support services, family violence response, primary prevention and crisis accommodation for women and children. 

For an appointment at Desert Blue Connect, call 9964 2742 or drop into the office at 25 Chapman Road in Geraldton.

You are Invited to Geraldton Grammar School’s Open Day

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Save the date for Geraldton Grammar School’s Open Day Thursday 31 May and you’re invited.

Whether you currently have children going to Geraldton Grammar School, you are considering sending them there or you just want see what Geraldton Grammar has to offer, this is the perfect opportunity to get more information, have a look around, and speak to the staff.

It starts at 8:30am in Batavia Hall where you can listen to the outstanding Concert Band followed by a presentation by our Principal Neesha Flint in the library. Tours of the school will be provided and you will have time to speak with staff and students over morning tea.

If you would like any more information please contact the school on 9965 7800 or email them at ggs@gegs.wa.edu.au

https://www.facebook.com/events/174864739888173/

 

Beyond Primary

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As a parent, it’s important to be informed about the different choices available for Secondary Education in Geraldton. The changes to zoning and the public-school landscape means that as parents you need to investigate all options open to you.

Although your child might only be in Primary School, the years pass very quickly and now is the time to do your research.

Strathalbyn Christian College offers a ZONE-FREE education option. We have small class sizes, and all the options your child needs for either a university or TAFE pathway.

Beyond Primary offers a rare opportunity for parents with primary aged students to come to Strath and hear about our Secondary School options. This free, no obligation event that will run for approximately 45 minutes and it will feature videos and short presentation about the College and the different pathways available.

This free event will be held at the Strathalbyn Christian College Hall which can be accessed via Verticordia Drive in Strathalbyn.

To RSVP to this event - https://sccbeyondprimary.eventbrite.com.au

City to trial two-hour free parking at two CBD carparks

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Following the free parking trial during the installation of underground power in the CBD, the City will begin a trial of two-hour free parking at Carparks 2 & 3 with a proposed date of Tuesday 8 May 2018.

City of Greater Geraldton Mayor Shane Van Styn said trialling two-hour free parking at Carpark 2 at the Geraldton Regional Library and Carpark 3 behind McDonald’s will inform Council’s review of paid parking this year.

“The trial of two-hour free parking at these carparks over the coming months will help the City better understand the demand for short term parking at these two locations,” he said. 

“Being able to park for a couple of hours free of charge just may entice more people to visit the nearby shops, restaurants and businesses which is good for the businesses and their customers.”

The ‘Pay by Plate’ trial involves reprogramming the existing parking ticket machines so car park users can enter their license plate number into the machine and retrieve a ticket that states their plate number and the time the ticket was retrieved. Additional paid time beyond the two hours can be purchased simultaneously.

The valid ticket must be displayed on the dash of the vehicle whilst parked in the carpark.

The two hour free parking period in Carparks 2 and 3 has a proposed day of Tuesday 8 May 2018 to commence however further communication will be released to confirm the date.