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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2008-09-10 Daily Xml
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COPPER COAST DISTRICT COUNCIL

The Hon. SANDRA KANCK (16:34): South Australia is currently witnessing an unusual and significant phenomena—that is, a council at war with its community. Discontent with the District Council of the Copper Coast became publicly evident when more than 300 people packed the Moonta town hall three months ago to discuss the consequences of a desalination plant (it was a meeting addressed by our parliamentary colleague, the Hon. Mark Parnell).

However, other major concerns were also building about the Wallaroo town centre redevelopment and the planned community waste water management scheme. So, last month I visited the area and met with residents to discuss those concerns. On my first night there ratepayers from four townships came together to meet me, and they discovered that, although their issues were different, they had common concerns about the actions of their council.

The next day the news spread by word of mouth about an informal chat I had planned with somewhere between six to 10 people in the park at Wallaroo to discuss the town centre redevelopment—and it exploded into a rally of almost 70 people. At that gathering those angry residents agreed to set up what they are calling the Copper Coast Council Watch. This is the first time those residents have worked together across town boundaries against their council.

A week ago, a 3,000-signature petition calling on the council to keep Woolworths out of Wallaroo was handed to council. With a council-wide population of approximately 11,500 people, this is equivalent to a 400,000-person petition in Adelaide. Tomorrow I expect hundreds will pack the Wallaroo town hall to protest against a Leasecorp Woolworths-focused redevelopment of the main street, and also to protest against the process by which council made the selection, inviting Leasecorp, but not other tenderers, to increase its bid.

Anyone ever involved in community action knows how hard it is to mobilise people. So, the fact that so many people have become active on the Copper Coast and that they have formed an ongoing campaign shows that something fundamental is happening. The type of people involved is revealing: they are pensioners, small business owners and retirees who settled (they hoped) for a quiet life. They are not political activists. Most of them have never done anything like this in their life, but they are learning fast. When I was up there I gave out multiple copies of the Local Government Act, which they are now using to make their council more accountable.

This is what it is all about. This council is in conflict with its community because it is not following the basic rules of consultation, transparency, objective decision-making and accountability laid down in the Local Government Act. I am told that the motion to sell council land as part of the Wallaroo town centre redevelopment was moved by a councillor who is a real estate agent who surely has much to gain if property values increase as a consequence of the redevelopment.

The wife of the former CEO of the council, John Shane, was a director of the company that was developing The Dunes at Port Hughes. Members will be aware that this was featured in a Sunday Mail story and that there is now an ongoing investigation by the anti-corruption branch of SAPOL. Both John Shane and the former manager of infrastructure for council, Roly Kavanagh, now work for the developers, and a current councillor has been a consultant to the developer.

The Dunes will require huge amounts of water to keep the golf course permanently green, so water is a problem, particularly as this is located just north of Goyder's Line. It is why a desalination plant was proposed. But a decision to drop that plan means that the problem of providing a large amount of water remains.

Enter stage right a community wastewater management system proposed by the council. Treated sewage just might solve the problem of water for the golf course. The scheme was proposed 18 months ago, but SA Water advised it was not financially viable, and this was using the less costly vacuum system recommended by KBR. Now the council has revived it and, without adequate explanation, has rejected the first report, engaging another consultant to prepare a report on the more costly gravity system, which by some strange coincidence is the same system being put in place for The Dunes development.

Ratepayers tell me the council is out of touch, that it is interested only in the big end of town. Some even used the word 'corruption'. I stress that corruption has not been established, but some in this council seem enchanted by the prospect of big money coming to town and they are not dotting every 'i' and crossing every 't' as they should. Pressures for development and the resulting conflict, as demonstrated by the Copper Coast situation, may well become a parable for South Australia as a whole.

Time expired.

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