Dear News Of The Area,

Isn’t it marvellous when MidCoast Council (MCC) indicated that it required more funds for roads and bridges in the Midcoast Region, the first thing to do is hit the ratepayers for the increase.

Of course they all follow the usual procedure, run information nights under duress from irate locals, then conduct the survey which always indicates that ” the ratepayers don’t mind paying more if we receive better services”.

Then it’s the application to IPART indicating that they have exhausted all avenues of cost saving and the only alternative is to slug the poor old ratepayers again.

But wait, there’s more.

MCC realised that whilst merging, they could not apply for a Special Rate increase for three years.

And now, guess what, they have managed to find savings through efficiencies and that, together with an application for a grant of $14 million, means they will not have to seek the rate increase.

One would have thought that MCC would have known the rules and regulations regarding the Special Rate application instead of wasting our money on information meetings and surveys of which there has been no result mentioned, except for the conclusion always realised above.

John Alterator
Hawks Nest