BATHURST Regional Council is set to start an official analysis of its role in a Land and Environment Court case that has cost ratepayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.
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The lengthy case was centred on the installation of a new, bigger swimming pool and a retaining wall at a home in McKell Street.
The crux of the dispute between Bhakti Manning, council and Ms Manning’s neighbour was that council had not advised her of the pending development, the first development application involving the pool and the second DA for the retaining wall.
Ms Manning took the case all the way to Land and Environment Court where she had a comprehensive victory, with Justice Rachel Pepper describing the decisions of council as “irrational, perverse and bizarre” when she handed down her findings last November.
Twelve months on, though, and council is yet to begin an analysis of the case to avoid similar errors in the future.
Ms Manning addressed mayor Gary Rush and the councillors during public question time at last week’s meeting and asked if they thought a year-long wait was appropriate.
“I was told there would be an analysis of what went wrong and why council lost this case,” Ms Manning said.
“I had been told that the analysis could not begin before costs had been settled, but costs were settled in August and I’m trying to find out if that investigation has taken place.”
Ms Manning said the case had had an impact on her health and her enjoyment of living in Bathurst.
“I indicated in my first two letters to council about this that I wanted it to be settled without having to go to court and that it was having an impact on me,” Ms Manning said. “That was in January 2012 and now it’s November 2014 and still I’m being asked to wait for answers.”
Cr Rush said councillors would begin their investigation of the case at a working party set down for tomorrow.
“As a group we are determined to understand fully how your matter turned out this way and what we need to learn from this development application,” he said.
Council’s finance records for 2012-13 showed council had spent $85,000 on Ms Manning’s case, while a quarterly update tabled last Wednesday showed an extra $150,000 had been paid in external legal fees this year.
