This Scone Library sold & That Scone Library sold

(Image: Transcare screen capture)


As it turns out, so I've been informed, the reference to the sale of the Scone Library in the Finance Committee's Agenda ...



... mentioned in my last post was the old Scone Library, not the new Scone Library!

Who knew?

I am drowning in a flurry of questions which have crazily consumed me over the last couple of weeks as I madly try and find out answers, some of which I've had to spend more $$$ on to find out ... which I think sucks when you think most of this information ought to be in the public domain.

So ...

Why was the 'old Scone Library' (aka Barwick House) sold when Syd and Percy Barwick gave it to the Scone community for the Scone community's use? 

Yes the Barwick brothers gave it to the Scone community not the Upper Hunter Shire Council.

Who said the Upper Hunter Shire Council could sell it when it had been so generously bequeathed to us?

Was the old Scone Library (Barwick House) put up for tender?

Was there a song and dance about it? I don't remember - anyone?

Did the Upper Hunter Shire Council consult with us?

Who or what bought it?  
 (Ok so I ended up spending money on that question through the NSW Land and Property Information Division by doing a title search, and it turns out Transcare bought it in 2011, with conditions I think, for $380,000 - the 'price bit' I got for free through Google Earth, Six Maps and NSW Globe!)

Who or what is Transcare when they're (really) at home? 

We're told they're the old Upper Hunter Community Care .. so they had a name change? Why? Still got the same CEO though, but who are they?

And we're also told that they're a not-for-profit company?

Can you be a not-for-profit when you're a franchise?

And since they're a franchise who is their parent company? Who do they pay their royalties to?

And for their quality assurance, why would they use QAS International, a UK certificate mill ...



... which, according to the Australian QAS International (without the hyphen in their url), is a company not registered with the Joint Accreditation Scheme of Australia and New Zealand ...



... and therefore perhaps ought not to be issuing certificates of compliance in Australia. So very confusing.

Is this a question of health by stealth?

And why doesn't Transcare list on their website who is on their board? (Again it really sucks that I had to pay a tonne of money to discover that our local mayor is a director on the board - why the secrecy and why make it so difficult for us to find out this information?)

Why is the Upper Hunter Shire Council selling off all our libraries and buildings and to whom or to what are they selling them?

What is happening to Scone?

White Park Equine Facilities to benefit from Sale of Scone Library

by Sue Abbott



The Scone Advocate may have 'gagged' me by not printing my letter in their last week's rag (see my post Secret Sale of Scone Library), but suffice to say it'll take a lot more than that to actually silence me on this subject.

Hmmmm and anyway I wonder what the Fairfax Legal Department (where the Scone Advocate sent my letter) will make of what I wrote on the secret sale of our library ... the truth maybe ... the widespread community sadness ... we'll see.

Notwithstanding there is no getting away from the fact that the town has been angered by the Upper Hunter Shire Council's weasel words and weasel actions, which have left our children, our elders, all of us totally broadsided by the sale of our library and the former council chambers.

There is no library for us anymore ... and it looks mighty like there never will be ... because in a nutshell there are no evident plans for one at this stage.

In the Upper Hunter Shire Council's Finance Committee Agenda, I read that the Finance Committee, comprising of Cr Wayne Bedggood (still mayor after yesterday's vote-for-the-mayor-council-meeting), Cr Kiwa Fisher, Cr Michael Johnsen (current member for Upper Hunter), and Cr Peter Bishop (declaree of insignificant non-pecuniary conflict of interest over sale of library) were notified of their committee meeting to be held last Friday 25 September 2015.

Amongst the many money matters on their agenda, the propoerty disposal of our beaufitul Scone Library was an item ... and here's what it said:

19016.8522.6467:
Property Disposal
Monies set aside from the proceeds of the sale of the former Scone Library. Funds are to be used on the future development of White Park Equine Facilities. It is expected the funds will be utilised in conjunction with grant funding during 2014/15 if the grant is forthcoming.

It makes me weep ... and it makes me rage ... and it fills me and many others in the community with many more questions ...

... I mean just for starters and back to the June meeting where the secret sale of the Scone Library was discussed ...

1. Why was Cr Michael Johsen absent from that June meeting and that vote?

2. And more importantly why was Cr Lee Watts absent from that June meeting and that vote when she's so intrinsically involved with the Scone Neighbourhood Resource Centre and would have been acutely aware of the detrimental impact the sale would have on the community?

3. And after reading those June 11 minutes again, and in particular the following section:

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST:
Cr Peter Bishop declared a Non Pecuniary Interest insignificant conflict for the reason that he is a
client of the person offering to purchase the property. Cr Bishop advised that he would remain in Chamber and participate in discussion and voting as the conflict would not be relevant to his decision.

... why was Cr Peter Bishop allowed to continue in the 'discussion and voting' of the sale after his declared non-pecuniary conflict of interest?

4. And how is being a client of the purchaser a non-pecuniary conflict of interest rather than a pecuniary conflict of interest?

5. And it's a little bit subjective on his part isn't it that the declared conflict of interest was an insignificant one?

The Scone community is reeling from the reality that we now find ourselves in.

We are a community without a library.

In my opinion, the Upper Hunter Shire Council failed us in their secretive-behind-closed-doors sale of the Scone Library, and many of us in the community today question whether the Upper Hunter Shire Council has forgotten that their first duty is to the Upper Hunter Shire public, and not private interests.

#MassiveMunicipalFail, Upper Hunter Shire Council.

Government Information (Public Access) request - Secret sale of Scone Library & former council chambers 2015

by Sue Abbott

(Image: screen capture of 'Right to Know')


(details of my freedom of information request made via 'Right To Know')
 ---------------------------
Dear Upper Hunter Shire Council,

I would like the following information pertaining to the secret sale of Scone Library and former council chambers (Scone Library) which took place this year, 2015:

- full minutes of extraordinary Upper Hunter Shire Council meeting June 11, 2015.
- any other minutes from any other meetings where a discussion of the aforementioned sale took place.
- further information on Cr Peter Bishop's declared 'insignificant non-pecuniary conflict of interest' (that being his relationship as a client of the person offering to purchase Scone Library) outlining why the Upper Hunter Shire Council and Cr Bishop felt it would be satisfactory for Cr Bishop to remain in Chamber and participate in discussion and voting on the matter of sale of Scone Library, and why the Upper Hunter Shire Council and Cr Bishop considered that the declared conflict would not be relevant to his decision on the matter (sale of Scone Library).
- document(s) containing details of the purchasing proposal put forward by Mr Jason Brooks (the purchaser), and his agent involved, in order to purchase Scone Library.
- document(s) contaning details of other proposals put forward by others in the community, and their agenets involved, in order to purchase Scone Library.
- Development Application for works currently being done to the Scone Library.

I am aware that the information I require may appear in different formats. Consequently I request all the above information in all its formats whether held in paper, electronically, pictures, sound recordings and/or video to do with the secret sale of Scone Library.

I look forward to receving this information via my freedom of information request.

Yours faithfully,
Sue Abbott
Scone Resident

The Secret Sale of Scone Library

By Sue Abbott



The sudden sale of the Scone Library agreed upon by the Upper Hunter Shire Council at an extrordinary 'in camera' council meeting back in June 2015 has come as a nasty surprise to the residents of Scone.

Local people are outraged by the sudden jeopardy of much loved services, organised and run from this building, and understandably have been demanding answers to the council's hasty manoeuvres. 

Reading the many letters (here, here, here, here, here and here just for starters) published in the Scone Advocate over the past few weeks along with Joanne McCarthy’s Newcastle Herald article, I feel gravely concerned about these recent municipal proceedings.

Many questions beg to be answered yet so far the Upper Hunter Shire Council has failed to answer them.

By way of limited explanation from the Upper Hunter Shire Council found in the 'lately-added'-due to-'administrative-error'-minutes, it would appear that the Upper Hunter Shire Council saw fit to hide behind a much used section of the Local Government Act 1993:

10A Which parts of a meeting can be closed to the public?

(2) The matters and information are the following: 

(c) information that would, if disclosed, confer a commercial advantage on a person with whom the council is conducting (or proposes to conduct) business,

... which, I might add somewhat pedantically, was quoted incorrectly when this section was mentioned for the first time in those 'lately-added'-due-to-'administrative-error'-minutes. 

But I wonder why council felt the need to quote this particular section in their minutes when we had already been informed by the local paper that:

Due to the [premises'] classification as operational land, the council was not required under the Local Government Act to consult with the community about the sale and it was not required to go to             tender.
 
Who knew that the Scone Library building was 'operational land' as opposed to 'community land,' a classification immediately denuding us of any rights to information as council proceeded to sell this much loved building out from under our feet? 

Surely that cannot be correct? 

I thought 'operational land' was land such as council depots where councils stored their operational equipment, or rubbish dumps where councils coordinate and oversee their shire's waste management control. I thought 'operational land' was land that facilitated councils in their carrying out of council functions whereby councils could allow commercial activities such as regular markets to occur for the public benefit

And anyway why would the Scone Library come under the Local Government Act 1993 in terms of land classification when clearly the Scone Library building was acquired by council many moons before 1993? 

What am I missing here and what has not been explained?

I have to say that in my opinion I feel that the provisions of the Local Government Act 1993 have been misinterpreted by the Upper Hunter Shire Council as a shield to protect themselves from inevitable pressure that they knew would come from the Scone public when debating this incredibly sensitive topic.  

I also feel that the 'commercial interests' of Mr Jason Brooks, the purchaser of the Scone Library, have been deemed to be more important than the 'public interest' of the Scone community and that the Upper Hunter Shire Council were unable to distinguish between background information which ought to have been in the public domain and certain specific issues which might have merited some discussion in confidence.  

Was the Scone Library sale matter moved into confidence because of its local sensitivity and to avoid the controversy that the Upper Hunter Shire Council knew would be ignited within the local community once the matter was publicly flagged? 

By law the Upper Hunter Shire Council are required to adhere to and maintain high standards of accountability and transparency, yet how they hope to do that by conducting such important business secretly is beyond me.  

I cannot help but feel that the Upper Hunter Shire Council's secret meeting was a deliberate attempt to debate an issue of extreme importance to the Scone community without pressure from the Scone public and if this is the case I believe the Upper Hunter Shire Council's action was contrary to the democratic intention of the Local Government Act 1993.

We, the Scone Community have been robbed by the unseemly sale of the Scone Library and will suffer from its subsequent loss to us all.

Not happy, Upper Hunter Shire Council.

Open blogpost to Australia's 5th Prime Minister in 5 yrs, the Hon Malcolm Turnbull

by Georgie Abbott



Dear Prime Minister,

Let me begin with warm congratulations on your new job.

What an honour it is for you to be our new leader.

Honestly, you are a breath of fresh air, and that is high praise coming from a Greens voter.

After two years of an inarticulate troglodyte at the helm, I have high hopes for you.

These congratulations aside (though they are sincere), I have a few things I would like to ask of you now you are the proud leader of our island nation. You have been given a unique opportunity to bring back the great name Australia deserves, particularly when it comes to basic Human Rights.

Prime Minister Turnbull, I never believed I would see the day when Australia would be responsible for heinous abuse towards innocent people. I also never thought (though this was clearly naivety at its best on my part) that a government would deliberately ignore accusations and demonise the people who brought it all to the public’s attention. The Abbott Government’s confected outrage towards Gillian Triggs and her report, The Forgotten Children, was disgusting. The strict rules of silence placed upon doctors who witnessed the atrocities were yet another blight on our National reputation.

To seek asylum is a fundamental Human Right, and I, like many Australians, am continually horrified by the treatment of people seeking a better life here in Australia.

The ‘stop the boats’ mantra we have been fed for the last two years leaves me speechless. The truth is the boats will never really stop, and I ask you not to have the same ‘see no evil’ attitude as your predecessor and those before him. The new goal to help Syrian refugees is a step in the right direction, but not quite enough. Please do not ignore those desperate people being held on our doorstep. They left their homes for a reason and they do not deserve this torture.

Prime Minister Turnbull, another Human Right that is currently being ignored in our sun abundant land, is the right for all men and women to marry whomever they choose. I understand that you have been in a loving and committed relationship for a very long time. You know the joy of promising to share your life with someone. It is time to allow everyone to do this. Your support has been admirable, but there is much more to do. To wait for the next election is simply not good enough for those who have already waited years. Love is love, and everyone deserves to celebrate it. Denying a part of the Australian community the right to marry, continues to place a stigma on gay relationships. This is not fair and ultimately unacceptable. You can be remembered as the Prime Minister who made Australia equal.

Prime Minister Turnbull, you may have already guessed, the theme of this letter is Human Rights and another pressing issue, is the rights of those Australians we should be most proud of, Indigenous Australians. It is time for you to undo Abbott’s work of alienating Indigenous people, and create a successful dialogue that moves to support and celebrate the culture that existed in lifeand times before Captain Cook ever declared 'Terra nullius.' Regardless of where people live, be it rural, outback or in the cities, we should be supportive and not deem it a fault of their 'lifestyle choice.'

Please be a role model, and shame xenophobic racist behaviour. Speak with Indigenous leaders and hear their ideas unlike previous governments who chose the ideas. This is supposed to be a land of opportunity and compassion for everyone with no second-rate treatment for anybody. Please advocate for this… immediately.

Prime Minister Turnbull, there are so many things I want to ask you, but I realise you are a busy man. So, I will end with one more point in need of addressing. Women’s rights should be at the top of your agenda. Please do not be like the arrogant, chauvinist who came before you, and please give the role of Minister for Women to a woman. Look at the wage gap and make a change. It is not OK to say it will be closer in a number of years. It must be on par today. Please also address violence against women. More must be done to educate people on this issue and create a safe environment for victims to speak about their experiences. It is not the responsibility of women to avoid violence, and you can help eliminate victim blaming.

Prime Minister Turnbull, I have never seen myself as a Liberal voter, but I do respect you… for now. You have replaced a leader who gave Australia a terrible reputation. Please do not waste your time in your new role. Act fast and create a legacy Australia can be proud of. Be on the right side of History. Do this for Australia.

Kind regards,

Georgie (no relation to Tony) Abbott

Objections to the Drayton South Project Application continue

(For now this mum & bub are safe near Mount Royal but for how long in our valley of coal mines)


Guest post from local farmer, Peter Hodges of Bowhay Pastoral Company, outlining his submission to the NSW Department of Planning and Environment last week

-------------------------------

Dear Ms McNally

Re; Objection to Drayton South Project Application No: SSD6875.

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the above proposal. I have commented previously on this proposal and not all that much has changed. The proposed mine expansion is still too close to the Darley and Coolmore operations.

I am not an anti mining person. I have actually worked in 3 underground mines and a mine operated small power station. I appreciate the benefits of mining all sorts of products which help us in many ways. But I am against stupidity.

Putting aside the negative impacts on a lot of other activities such as agriculture, wine industry, tourism and yes, the thoroughbred Industry, let’s have a look at the environmental cost. A recent report I studied, said the mining output from the mines in the Hunter Valley and associated areas was 143 million tonnes for the 2013 year.

What it also indicated was the accepted ratio of per tonne of coal produced was 6.5 cubic metres of overburden removed. Roughly 6.5 tonnes of overburden per tonne of coal produced. That equates to close to 1 billion tonnes of existing geology, smashed. Just in one year.

When starting up a new open cut mining operation, a new mountain of overburden is started, from then on the overburden is thrown into the previous hole created, and as the mine finishes up at the end of the mining run, a hole is left that will more than likely eventually fill up with water.

The question then has to be asked, what will happen with the water that is contaminated from the now released by-product of the mining process. This by-product would have been previously locked away in different impermeable layers of rock and clays etc but now, because that has all been blown up and smashed, it is released. These can be different types of minerals, waters and acids previously contained in geology that evolved over millions of years.

My real fear is this contamination will eventually find its way into the Hunter River and head down to the coastal estuarine habitat areas which are absolutely vital for the continuation of many aquatic species such as young fish prawns worms oysters crabs etc.

Can’t happen?

Well I’ve been on the land, one way or another for most of my life. I grew up in Cessnock and remember vividly the 65/66 drought. The creeks around Cessnock dried up and the fish and yabbies were not happy. We were shown the impact of the drought on the farmers via black and white television. Dead sheep, cattle and crop losses. We landed in the Scone region early in the 1970’s. There were dairy farms and crop production all the way from Muswellbrook to Wingen in a continuous line. Most of the creeks seem to run all year round and occasionally flooded.

Then in 1979 it seemed to all change with the start of the 1979/1983 drought, followed by 1987, 1991, 1995 droughts and then the drought that ran from 2001 to June 2007. That one was broken by the Pasha Bulka, headbutting Newcastle beach. The thing that struck me about the 1970’s was one could bog a tractor on a gravel ridge because there was so much moisture about. When a period like this hits us sometime in the future it is not too hard to work out what the impacts of so much mining in a relatively concentrated area is eventually going to have on our stream and river system. Even with climate change this will still happen because again, as the planet heats up, the extremes will be bigger and have a greater impact. More droughts, more floods and more fires.

The big difference between open cut mining and agriculture based industries is this.

With open cut mining, the landscape is smashed. Yes they do rehabilitation work, but it is yet to be proven to stand the test of time. A scientist friend of mine, Mr Ken Reynolds, who passed away several years ago and who worked for the Soil Conservation Service told me he had been instructed to find a way to rehabilitate overburden. Experiments found the trees planted would last between 15 to 20 odd years but once their roots hit the deeper overburden material they would start to get sick and eventually die. So in other words, rehabilitation would look good from a distance but not stand the test of time. Eventually the land would become useless for agriculture and no good for mining because that’s already been done.

The future is in agriculture, whether it be in food production, such as cattle, sheep, goats, olives, vegetables, wine, hops, crops, citrus, stone fruits etc. And let’s not forget our equine industry. Especially the thoroughbred industry. Combined with all the other equine breeds and uses, the horse industry the last time I looked, was the 3rd biggest employer in the country. Overall In the agricultural sector employment is going up. Opportunities are there and rewarding. I love the stuff!

Employment in the mining industry is heading south and the sackings are continuing, even though overproduction is going up. The idiots in government need to stop throwing snags at the renewable industry because if this industry was allowed to develop it would help make up opportunities for those who lose their jobs in future automated open cut mining. The other thing the government needs to get rid of, are the crooks. But that seems to be a very slow process indeed. The fact that some of them have been politicians might be the problem.

Yours Sincerely
Peter

PAC ASSESSMENT PUBLIC HEARING 8 SEPTEMBER 2015 WARKWORTH EXTENSION - BULGA

(Flying foxes, some of the many casaulties of 'mine-induced' habitat-destruction in the Hunter Valley)


Guest Post from local architect, Bev Atkinson, outlining her presentation to the Planning Assessment Commission in Singleton earlier this week

-------------------------------

I come from Scone, north of here in the coal belt. I am an architect.

I speak about making a healthy economic and social transition, straight away not later. Many of us reject any simplistic use of the word ‘jobs’ as persuasion to favour mines. As if it were mine earnings or no earnings. We all know that is not true.

In Scone all the time, we see trades drained of practical workers, to feed the mines. They use only a tiny percentage of all workers, but from the available skilled tradies needed in towns, they drain a significant number; and often the best. Many don’t return. So trade apprentices don’t get trained; there’s no time. Our living standard has actually dropped: it’s terribly difficult to get trade work done soon and well. Tourism fades as mining grows; and all those jobs go with it; permanently.

Miners earn a lot, but where I come from, it erodes equality, rather than spreading wealth around. And sadly, they can lose their health, which is priceless. I bought my home from a mine manager. He was well paid, but then he died young, of lung cancer.

Health effects from mining are spreading north. But we don’t see our doctors asking for more mines. Doctor shortages in the country are not boasted of as positive job opportunities from mining. Jobs involved in mental health problems, accidents to shiftwork drivers, and chasing up of infringements ... those jobs are not used to advertise mining. Many mine related jobs are just to patch up its problems.

How good for us all, if these jobs were lightened up and redirected, in an environment of healthy work and healthy land. People would spend more in town then, not less. Patients would not be advised to leave town to survive longer.

The fact is, new emerging and clean industries too, create flow-on and indirect employment.

I want to see the ancient traditional owners, and the people of Bulga today, with their history and society unbroken, their land intact. I hope to see them living free from the tensions of fighting for existence, free to work producing food and fibre ad infinitum on a clean landscape.

Their young workers will enter jobs which hurt nobody and sustain us all. Jobs in agriculture, in renewable energies, in manufacturing. Benign, creative jobs using practical skills. To get there we need to spend on jobs in re-training, research and development; now, not later. Training and research provides inspiring work, and it too, generates many support jobs. Mines have served as a sinkhole for top talent, and for training opportunities, for long enough. The balance is now tipped right over. Hence we have excess readiness for mine jobs, and underfunded TAFE colleges.

The advertised energy and optimism of mine work belongs more truly to jobs which endure, with the intact land, for longer than a handful of decades. Jobs which feed but also inspire our grandchildren’s grandchildren. Jobs which make things in Australia to serve our people, rather than jobs which import huge diggers made elsewhere.

We need workers in sustainable design and manufacturing, in technology for reducing energy demand; in our CSIRO, in water management, soil sciences, in habitat preservation and nature conservation, in the arts, and in careful timber production.

Is this expensive to do? So what ... we get what we pay for! Paying is what we want to do surely: paying workers! Isn’t that what we want? Jobs? Two researchers for the price of one miner, and both of them happy to clock off and have normal family hours.

It may cost, to start up these investments, so let’s subsidise that instead of mining.

Sadly, all mining must to some extent affect the land, the water, the soil, the trees and the habitat, while spoiling the air and climate. It cannot avoid extinguishing land which took eons to evolve. Land which left alone, could produce and sustain life for as long as Earth endures.

So to be credible, Government economic analysis needs to take in a realistically extended future timescale looking centuries ahead at least. Only then could it validly choose life or death for the planet. With luck, it might see the light and choose pathways which nurture the planet and its amazing species, against the fatal depredations of its escalating human population.

I salute the world famous people of Bulga, and the Wonnaruah our gracious, gentle and kindly landlords, for showing us where to start.

Bev Atkinson B.Arch Hons UNSW