Category: General News

PROPONENTS of a five-star resort at Goode Beach and a residents’ lobby group critical of the project were preparing to make separate closed-door pitches to Albany’s mayor and councillors as The Weekender went to press last night.

City CEO Andrew Sharpe said a meeting between councillors and the Frenchman Bay Association would be closed to the public as it had been arranged at the Association’s request.

“The Frenchman Bay Association wanted an opportunity to present to councillors in a less formal setting to explain how they believe the proposal will impact on them,” he said.

“Given the volume of information they wished to share, a separate information session was considered appropriate.

“For balance, the development proponent has also been invited to present separately to councillors on the proposal and what they have done to address some of the concerns already raised throughout the process.”

Mr Sharpe anticipated a revised structure plan for the resort would be submitted to a meeting of the City’s Development and Infrastructure Services Committee on July 11.

“The public and other community members will be able to share their views in public question time at both the July committee and council meetings,” he assured.

Mr Sharpe said last night’s meetings would not be forums for the resort to be debated, but would give the applicant and Frenchman Bay Association the opportunity to be heard at length.

He said councillors would be allowed to ask questions to ensure they were fully informed before the matter returned to council.

“All councillors have been invited to attend the meeting and representatives of the city’s planning department will also attend to help clarify or explain anything process-related,” he added.

On behalf of the Association on Tuesday night, Goode Beach resident and former city councillor Roland Paver thanked officials for arranging the meeting.

The structure plan was set to be considered by councillors on November 28 ahead of referral to the Western Australian Planning Commission.

But the applicant – Margaret River-based Ahola Planning on behalf of landowner, Perth-based paediatrician Cherry Martin – withdrew the plan.

This was after the Department of Fire and Emergency Services raised concerns over emergency access to the site that sits between Lake Vancouver and the beach.

If the Planning Commission eventually approves the structure plan, detailed development plans will then need to be considered by a State-convened assessment panel before the luxury resort proceeds further.

BUNNINGS shoppers harbouring a beef about the productivity of elected officials need to beware they do not complain to the wrong city councillor.

The Weekender does not issue the warning lightly, following a chance encounter between a riled-up ratepayer and a hyper-informed city councillor at the hardware outlet on Albany Highway recently.

At a council meeting on Tuesday night, Ray Hammond told his elected colleagues, city staff, three people in the public gallery, two journalists and a mysterious young man taking camera footage that he recently found himself on the wrong end of a tongue lashing.

“I was pulled up in there at Bunnings by someone bagging Council,” Cr Hammond recounted.

He said the ratepayer started haranguing him about purported lack of time spent by some councillors on civic affairs.

Unbeknown to Cr Hammond’s tormentor, the city councillor was primed to deliver a smack-down.

He told the meeting that days before the Bunnings rebuke he had cause to complete a statutory declaration reporting on every piece of council work he had done that took more than 10 minutes.

Cr Hammond’s tally for one month came in at 52 hours and 24 minutes.

“I was able to whack the person around the ears about this and it made me feel really good,” he said.

Sniggers ensued from Cr Hammond’s colleagues and at least one member of Albany’s Fourth Estate.

FIFTEEN months from the next council election Dennis Wellington says he will nominate for a third term as Albany mayor.

The Weekender can reveal that, aside from Mr Wellington, at least five of six city councillors whose terms expire next year plan to run again.

Mr Wellington said he was still enjoying his role.

“There is a lot of stuff that I haven’t finished yet,” he said.

“It’s a fair summation to say that I’ll put my hand up next year.”

He said that if re-elected he would do everything he could to see the hotel planned for Middleton Beach completed.

“I want better tertiary education in Albany for the research of renewable energy,” he said.

“Using the windmills to power Albany is a goal.

“For a town this size, using renewable energy makes sense.”

Deputy Mayor and Frederickstown Ward councillor Greg Stocks said he would also run again as a councillor and throw his hat in the ring for the council’s 2IC position if elected next October.

Kalgan Ward councillor Bill Hollingworth, Yakamia Ward’s Anthony Moir and Vancouver Ward’s John Shanhun all indicated they would run again for council.

All these councillors ruled out a tilt at the mayoral position.

Breaksea Ward’s Paul Terry would not say whether he would attempt to retain his councillor position.

He also declined to comment on whether he would run for mayor.

West Ward’s Sandie Smith said she would run again for councillor but at this stage did not intend to run for mayor.

“It’s a bit early in the piece to say I’ll run for mayor, but at this time I won’t be,” she said.

Cr Stocks said he would not run for mayor as long as Mr Wellington intended to do so.

“He’s a good mayor and it’s not my intention to run against him,” he said.

Cr Hollingworth said he would support Mr Wellington’s nomination.

“Dennis is doing a terrific job as mayor,” he said.

Cr Moir said Mr Wellington had “good leadership and a great structure of staff behind him”.

Cr Shanhun said Mr Wellington was doing “a great job”.

Former Kalgan Ward councillor Janelle Price, Vancouver Ward councillor Nicolette Mulcahy and Frederickstown Ward councillor Carolyn Dowling, all voted out in the 2017 election, said they would not re-contest in 2019.

Mr Wellington was first elected mayor in 2011 after defeating incumbent Milton Evans, and fended off a challenge in 2015 from city planner Neil Smithson.

Breaksea Ward councillor Ray Hammond, Frederickstown Ward’s Rebecca Stephens, Kalgan Ward’s Emma Doughty, Vancouver Ward’s Tracy Sleeman, West Ward’s Alison Goode, and Yakamia Ward’s Robert Sutton will have their terms expire in 2021.

WHETHER farmers of non-genetically modified crops should be compensated for contamination by growers of GM plants is a bone of contention between two politicians whose electoral regions together span the entire Great Southern.

In her submission to a Parliamentary inquiry into ways of compensating farmers for loss caused by GM material, Greens WA MLC for South West Diane Evers recommends that a compensation fund, cashed up by GM seed merchants, be established.

Ms Evers argues it is “imperative that appropriate protection is provided for GM-free growers as soon as possible, so that they can confidently exercise their democratic right to farm as they see fit”.

She asserts that more than 28 countries in the European Union – including Germany and France – have bans on growing GM crops, and many also ban GM imports.

“In South Australia, of course, the Greens secured legislation to extend the moratorium on growing genetically modified crops until September 2025,” she submits.

“However, in the absence of a ban, a package of measures – with a farmer protection fund as a centrepiece – should be developed to ensure that Western Australia can reliably supply GM-free produce to global markets, and has a reputation for being able to do so.”

Ms Evers cites a WA Government report she says acknowledges is it not possible to eliminate the risk of GM contamination.

“The court case involving Kojonup farmers Steve Marsh and Michael Baxter, in which it was decided that [Mr Baxter] growing a genetically modified crop was not liable for economic loss suffered by his neighbour’s loss of organic certification when GM seeds escaped and established on [Mr Marsh’s] farm, demonstrates the need for dispute resolution to avoid expensive legal cases, and for a mechanism that helps to avoid dispute in the first place,” she opines.

Ms Evers recommends that consideration be given to introducing an alternative dispute resolution service for farming communities where GM crops are grown.

But Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party (WA) MLC for Agricultural Region Rick Mazza argues that current Commonwealth and State laws are adequate to resolve significant disputes.

“There should be no need to add to it and further complicate regulatory matters for Western Australian farmers,” his submission states.

He notes the Marsh v Baxter case provides the “only reliable factual evidence on economic loss suffered by farmers in Western Australia caused by contamination from GM material”.

“From a legal point of view, Mr Baxter’s lawful use of his own land did not constitute a wrongful interference with Mr Marsh’s use or enjoyment of his land,” he declares.

“Further, Mr Marsh was deemed to have put his land to an abnormally sensitive use and he could not unilaterally enlarge his own rights and impose limitations on his neighbours to a greater extent than would otherwise be the case.”

In another submission, University of Western Australia Professor of Agriculture Kadambot Siddique says there has been “no visible impact from the introduction of GM canola in Western Australia”.

“Growing both types of crops is possible on the same farm, because the two types of canola seed, GM and non-GM, are marketed separately in national and international markets,” he submits.

“Therefore, it is unclear what the parliamentary committee will investigate.”

Professor Siddique advises there is no evidence of loss to non-GM growers in WA.

“In fact, the opposite occurs – non-GM growers are favoured by higher prices for non-GM product that meets the EU standards …,” he states.

“The use of GM technology has been, and will continue to be, very valuable to help feed the world and improve the economy of Western Australia.

“GM canola growers and non-GM canola growers have learned to live together, and will continue to do so as new GM products are approved through the federal regulatory system.”

The inquiry is expected to report in early 2019.

A NEW building addition to its campus and an expansion in the schooling program will make Bethel Christian School the fourth school in Albany to cater for students from kindergarten to year 12.

Principal Mim Butler guided The Weekender through an exclusive tour of the school’s new Early Learning Centre on Tuesday and said the $6.7 million, 18-month project is set to wrap up in early July.

Ms Butler said the new centre will have the capacity to hold 200 students and provide the school with the space to retain year 10 students through to year 11 and 12, after a need to expand the school’s K-10 status was identified.

The new Early Learning Centre will house kindergarten, pre-primary, and years one and two students.

The current Bethel campus will cater for years three to 12 students.

Next year will see the first group of year 11s continue their education at Bethel, and 2020 will be the first year the school has a year 12 graduating class.

“We’ve been landlocked for 37 years,” Ms Butler said, when asked why the school had not previously expanded.

“People would ask us why we don’t go to year 12, and I would say, ‘well, where are we going to put them?’”

Ms Butler said a survey was conducted in 2014 and it identified a need for the school to include year 11 and 12 in its program.

However, the issue of campus space still remained as the main barrier to the school’s expansion.

A silver lining appeared in 2016 when an acre-sized property across the road from the school hit the market.

The previous property owners’ daughter alerted the school to the sale and provided Ms Butler the opportunity she needed to increase the campus’s capacity.

The Weekender’s tour through the Early Learning Centre revealed its brand-new plush coloured carpets, colour-tinted windows, interactive whiteboards, whiteboard desks, a three-storey cubby house, slides and climbing walls.

Ms Butler said she is more than happy with the final product.

“I’m very excited,” she said.

“It’s been full-on but I’m happy.

“We’ve just got the carpark and stairs to go now.”

Ms Butler said the school will hold an official opening and celebratory event in October during the first week of term four to unveil the Early Learning Centre.

CENTENNIAL STADIUM will no longer be known by that name if moves to sell the naming rights to Albany’s main football venue for at least $50,000 a year succeed.

In The Weekender, the City of Albany has sought proposals by 2pm on June 28 to buy the stadium’s naming rights.

The City says the sale is “a significant opportunity for a suitable organisation to grow their brand and marketing reach throughout Albany and the wider Great Southern region”.

The City asserts the arrangement would suit “an iconic national or Western Australian brand”, an outfit already established in the Great

Southern and wishing to grow its market share, one new to the region, one wishing to demonstrate its commitment to regional Australia, or one wishing to reinforce a “bricks and mortar brand position”.

A minimum $50,000-a-year deal over three years, with a right to renew for three years, is also on the cards.

President of the Albany Ratepayers and Residents Association Elizabeth Barton said rebranding the stadium with a corporate name disrespected the area’s rich sporting history.

She said the name ‘Albany Oval’ would be preferable to any corporate moniker.

“What?! $50,000-a-year?” she said when told of the minimum price sought.

“You’ve got to be kidding.

“This is Albany, not Perth.”

Asked if the venue could be re-badged ‘Albany Stadium’ to promote Albany to tourists and investors, City Executive Director Corporate Services Michael Cole said the City had “made a substantial investment into the construction of the stadium and welcomes opportunities for public-private partnerships that will contribute to the ongoing sustainability of the facility and increase return on investment for ratepayers”.

Mr Cole said the deal was only for the stadium building, which would remain part of the Centennial Park Sporting Precinct.

Asked if the City’s Buy Local policy would apply to the arrangement, Mr Cole said the City would “look favourably” at a bid from a local group.

“In the absence of any suitable local or regional organisations wishing to take on the sponsorship, organisations that are from outside of the region will still be considered,” he added.

A glossy nine-page brochure explains that large signs featuring the successful tenderer’s brand will be erected on the stadium building.

Other benefits include the name of the brand on event tickets and advertising signs around the oval and scoreboard.

The successful tenderer will be offered free use of meeting rooms up to five times a year, the main hall twice a year, and the oval.

Further inducements include tickets to City of Albany events at the oval, two free adult memberships for the Albany Leisure and Aquatic Centre, and 10 free passes to the National Anzac Centre.

Asked whether the option of retaining the words ‘Centennial Stadium’ in a sponsored name had been considered, Mr Cole said, “The words used in the venue name will be based on the ability to deliver the appropriate level of brand recognition in line with the investment being made by the sponsor, subject to required selection criteria and sponsorship policy guidelines”.

He said the City “currently” had no plans to sell the naming rights of other venues.