They’re the perfect neighbours: no loud parties, the grass is kept tidy and neighbourhood crime has receded since they arrived.
Who wouldn’t want cows next door?
That’s the opinion of residents living around Collendina’s abandoned Bonnyvale Road retirement village where a herd of belted Galloways has wandered into the residence from nearby paddocks since the village’s grass was eliminated as a fire hazard and graffiti vandals disappeared, the cows’ owner told the Ocean Grove Voice newspaper.
Bill Steains said the site’s owner had given his blessing to the new tenants.
And the neighbours must be udderly delighted!
“Civic leaders” apparently want the Andrews government to break its promise of restoring a democratically elected council to Geelong in October 2017.
And, according to a news report this week, Local Government Minister Natalie Hutchins (pictured) is taking their considered concerns very seriously.
“I’ve already had people raise with me … that they feel the length of time for the administrators is insufficient, that they’d like to see a longer timeframe,” she was reported to have said.
So who are these “civic leaders”?
Well, the report later identified them as “leaders from the real estate and social welfare sectors” who “used a meeting with Ms Hutchins to raise their concerns”.
With all respects to real estate agents and social workers, Geelong must be seriously lacking in “civic leaders”.
Which is what happens when you sack a council, eh Ms Hutchins.
To be fair, the report also identified another “civic leader” of sorts – Rebecca Casson, the chief of private lobby group Committee for Geelong.
Ms Casson (pictured) was also quoted sharing the concerns of the unidentified real estate agents and social workers.
The committee would seek a parliamentary extension of City Hall’s three administrators, she warned, “if we believe more time is needed”.
Her words might make Geelong wonder who the committee represents since it was only overwhelming public anger that forced the Government to slash its initial timeframe for restoration of an elected council.
Attention lobbyists, real estate agents and social workers: stick to your day jobs and hands off our vote!
Ms Carson’s implied support of the Government’s preferred longer stint for administrators happily coincided with some welcome taxpayer largesse toward the committee’s pet program.
Just a page over from the “civic leaders“ story was a report that the Andrews government would give $800,000 to the Geelong Community Leadership Program, which the committee established 10 years ago.
Double Take would hope the substantial investment could provide at least some “civic leaders” but can’t recall any of the annual program’s many graduates ever being elected to council.
