IT’S good to see that Bathurst Regional Council has rectified (well, sort of, as the new date of November 29, according to my calculations, is one day over the legislated cut-off for submissions) the cut-off date for written submissions to be received on council’s 2017/2018 financial statements.
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This was for good reason, because after the legislated cut-off date, council would not be obliged to forward any submissions received to the Auditor-General.
Was this simply an administrative oversight (for the second year running)?
What is not "cricket" is that council has still not put the 2017/2018 Annual Report on its website (at the time of writing, only 2016/2017 was available) so that ratepayers can conveniently review those financial statements online and make a written submission, if required, by the due date.
Ratepayers are therefore forced to go to the library or the council chambers. I’d say that would minimise the submissions received.
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And the late date fate?
ON the same subject, I emailed the general manager of Bathurst Regional Council asking him to clarify what will happen if council receives submissions after the legislated date and their previously incorrectly advertised closing date of December 5. To date, no response.
The next question: will the Auditor-General's Department accept written submissions post-dated by council after the legislated date from Bathurst Regional Council if council does the right thing by forwarding submissions on?
Minor, major or dramatic?
BATHURST gardeners remain peeved that Bathurst Regional Council changed, without consultation, regulations for water restrictions.
The mayor raised a few eyebrows last week on radio when he suggested the changes were minor, while everyone else is using a description like "dramatic".
I trust that garden lovers will be spending a bit more time on one knee maybe praying to the Hindu god of rain, Varuna, for regular rainfall to supplement the meagre water allocations they are now forced to manage.
I'll ask this question again: how is it that our level three restrictions are equivalent to Orange City Council's extreme level five?
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Post-PM toppling blues
HATS off to Bathurst Regional Council for the Drought Buster shop local campaign.
However, I hope council practices what it preaches when considering awarding contracts to suppliers of goods and services.
As a retailer, I believe most, if not all, local retailers are doing it tough. For mine, constituents have gone into "election mode" ever since Malcolm Turnbull was toppled as prime minister, closing the purse strings months earlier than is normal.
Consumers will be the winners, though, as I suspect major retailers will discount heavily in the coming months to keep driving traffic through their doors. For the rest of us, it's a case of hanging on!
Thumbs up
BATHURST Regional Council rectifying the submission date for comments on the 2017/2018 audited financial statements. But how did they get it wrong?
Thumbs down
CONSUMERS going into "election" mode early after the demise of Malcolm Turnbull.
