The Ratepayers Association of Warrnambool has been made aware of the following information which we believe is a matter of public interest. This story was initially presented to The Standard Newspaper but they refused to publish it.
At the Ordinary Council Meeting on Monday 6th August, Cr. Neoh put forward a Notice of Motion for Council to relinquish its management responsibilities of the Warrnambool harbour, citing a lack of government funding support over the years. Cr. Neoh’s Notice of Motion which thankfully was not supported, is an insult to the community as it is believed he was aware of generous funding opportunities being available but seemingly withheld this information from fellow Councillors and the community.
At a meeting in July 2013, Local Member Denis Napthine made it perfectly clear to Cr. Hulin and former Cr’s. Brian Kelson and Peter Sycopoulis that large pools of funding would be readily available for Warrnambool Harbour upgrades, safety improvements &/or redevelopments if Council made a firm decision to move forward on the harbour. As Minister for Ports at the time, there was no reason to doubt Mr. Napthine and believe this to be true.
The Ratepayers Association of Warrnambool has witnessed documents that indicate the same assurances were made to both, Chief Executive, Bruce Anson and Cr. Neoh who was Mayor at that time. By all accounts, these assurances also included funding for multi-level car parking facilities. However, Council failed to capitalise on any funding opportunities that could have been accessed by a pro-active Local Member with influence.
It is reprehensible that the redevelopment of the harbour precinct has been sidelined against the wishes of the greater community and that the failure to capitalise on the benefits of this major redevelopment is tantamount to the economic sabotage of our city. Cr. Neoh’s recent attempt to blame Rate Capping and to posture himself as a political hero has not gone un-noticed. Why would anyone consider handing back the harbour in desperation when we could have accepted funding offers in the first instance?
If this is true, then Councillor Neoh ought to hang his head in shame. He should apologise for his putative betrayal of the community and should resign from his position on Council.
A lacklustre effort, as evidenced by the recent funding application by Warrnambool City Council no doubt added to the likelihood that no funding would be forthcoming. This latest effort from Cr. Neoh will do little to boost the confidence of current and future governments in relation to future funding opportunities for Warrnambool.
But what do we do about our local newspaper? Here we have an issue of significant public interest and even after the demonstrable facts are put before them, our local paper refuses to publish. A bit of investigative journalism would have revealed that the latest funding application was submitted only one day prior to applications closing and that no submissions were included from user groups as the application guidelines had stipulated. By their actions the Standard appear complicit in allowing this charade to go on.
