DO YOU HEAR THE ALARM??

FROM THE EXAMINER: “Alderman McKendrick cited information provided to him by traffic engineers that one-way streets were safer for cyclists and pedestrians .... He said that as 47.3 per cent of public responses to the project in the community consultation phase had been in opposition to the changes he did not feel they had community support ... ‘‘I don’t believe the people of Launceston want that change,’’ he said ...‘‘If we’re going to consult let’s take notice of it.’’... Council general manager Robert Dobryznski said the decision made by the council at Monday’s meeting would be fundamental to the City Heart project .... ‘‘We’re proposing to put a $15 million project to round three (of National Stronger Regions federal funding) which fundamentally reflects what the council decides here today,’’ he said. ‘‘If the council doesn’t decide anything I fear for our prospects of getting any funding in round three, which is any funding in the lead-up to the federal election.’’Sections of CBD streets to become two-way By ALEXANDRA HUMPHRIES ... http://www.examiner.com.au/story/3566545/sections-of-cbd-streets-to-become-two-way/?cs=95 .... Moving on into 2016 and it seems that there is quite a bit of fumbling going on and not too much movement for the project. Business people in the city need to remember that the proposed changes are entirely dependent upon securing funding for the City Heart project and 2016 being an election year and Bass having a parish pump worth pumping ... So there is some relief in this just so long as the Council functionaries do not get too excited and start spend the money anyway... It could happen! ... But if this were to happen not only would Launceston’s CBD more than likely would be ‘buying a pup’ .... result being rates taking a hike ... again. ... Even if the money does drop from the sky, as is the hope, long after the hurrahs and ribbon cutting is done with there’ll be bills to pay ... lots of them ... Maintenance and depreciation for starters ... It is time to stop this nonsense and engage with the communities that this Council will be extracting those ever higher levels of rates from and whom they, the functionaries and representatives, are supposed to be 'servicing'... There seems to be a shortage of ideas and if the Aldermen have any they are being put down ... or just plain shy ... Yet it might just be the case that neither the functionaries nor the representatives have an idea  to bless themselves with ... It’s no time for visions and dreams of a future linked to memories of 'better times' .... Neither are projected futures built upon aspirations for a return to a lost past of any use whatsoever ... Time to call ‘time out’, reassess and call the purveyors of false hope to account ... The alarm bells are ringing!!