Bridge clarityCouncillor David Quayle
Swan Hill
PERMIT me to respond to the report 'Panel says yes to 9a' (The Guardian, Wednesday, December 28) and clarify some points.
The third column of your front page report refers to an immediate level liftspan, which should read intermediate level liftspan, quite a different description.
As for it being an independent report, the panel goes to pains to point out that they are only considering arguments for and against option 9a because any other option is out of the scope of the hearing.
So how can a reasonable decision be reached without a comparison to other options?
In light of this, how can Cr Cruickshank suggest that the opponents should support the panel's decision now that they've been heard and had their say, when in fact they were not allowed to present the reasons for their objection by way of offering another option.
The panel report continually refers to council's support of option 9a when in fact five of the seven councillors agreed that option 9a is the wrong location, but two of those five voted for it believing that if they did not, we would never get a bridge replacement.
So the four/three vote at council for the 9a option is hardly a sound majority.
A step to success
Councillor Bill Croft
Swan Hill
RE: PANEL says yes to 9a, The Guardian, Wednesday, December 28
We have a bridge; our very own state of the art bridge that is 50 years late but a reality. All the people of our rural city should be celebrating our municipality's fine work in getting to the front of the queue, a wonderful effort as most municipalities up and down the Murray are clamouring for new river crossings.
Now let us move on and support our leaders who will now go out and lobby for the funds to complete the construction, dragging Swan Hill into the 21st century.
The democratic process has been followed to the letter on this issue and I am quietly confident that all the citizens of Swan Hill will recognise this fact and embrace the future of our fine city, realising that to enter into any form of negative process at this point would smack of anti 'Swan Hill growth' activity.
This wonderful news comes at the close of what has been the most positive and productive three years for Swan Hill since the late 1970s.
As a councillor it has been my pleasure to serve beside Councillor Greg Cruickshank who has been, according to many, the most pro-active mayor since amalgamation.
His teaming with a like minded chief executive officer Dennis Hovenden has resulted in the pair having been unswerving in their dedication to the advancement of our municipality, building our city's credibility with State and Federal government funding agencies.
This good standing has meant that we are seeing the development of and the revitalisation of our equine racing complex, the modernisation of our CBD, aerodrome upgrade, Pioneer Settlement upgrade and the results of funding never seen before as we will see with Chisholm Reserve.
We are on the cusp of seeing Chisholm Reserve become a premier motor racing venue that will have the ability to attract thousands of visitors each year.
The last three years have been a great period for me personally as a new councillor elected in 2008.
The learning has not been so much the promised curve but a steep incline dotted with hurdles and thankfully some soft padding.
Up until now I have based my decisions on only the logic that has been presented on issues, believing that council has no place for assumptions, gut feelings, rumour or hearsay but should demand solid and logical information.
With many large enterprises circling, Swan Hill is in line for a growth spurt -- let's all enjoy the ride.
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