At Bathurst Regional Council’s September ordinary meeting, Mitchell resident Chris O’Rourke addressed councillors, saying that as it is an online survey that anyone can fill out it was “open to abuse”. 

“Respondents do not have to enter all their personal details, the identities can’t be checked, membership of a sporting group that uses George Park can’t be verified, IP addresses may or may not be captured, IP addresses may change, allowing people to make multiple responses in order to game the system,” he said.

“The nature of the survey means that many people will be disenfranchised.”

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Mr O’Rourke feared that people without internet access may have been unaware of the survey and be unable to voice their opinions. 

He did acknowledge that they could write a letter, “but only if they knew about the survey in the first place”.

In his address, he alleged that there were “a number of errors and omissions” in the draft plan, which could have “deceived” respondents. 

Among the errors, he said, was the frequency that George Park is used and the level of consultation with user groups and stakeholders. 

“Council has not consulted all the local residents, who are stakeholders,” he said. 

READ ALSO: George Park grass being damaged by cars, councillor John Fry says

Further to this, he said council appeared to have no clear definition of what a stakeholder was or a specific advertising and notification policy. 

Mr O’Rourke stressed that council had to ensure residents were made appropriately aware of plans like the master plan for George Park.

“It is important that the process is done properly; it needs to be both fair and reasonable. It is essential that council follow the right processes,” he said.

He implored councillors to ensure they had all the correct information so they could make an informed decision about George Park. 

The YourSay survey closed on September 24.