DISMAY AND DISBELIEF
At the recent Dungog Council meeting, many of the 40 or so citizens who turned up to watch and listen left the meeting with a sense of disbelief and outrage.
I wonder: is there no way for the voice of reason to prevail?
Is there some reason why, what in my opinion are the obvious, deeply held convictions of many ratepayers and citizens, are not just being ignored, but are being trampled on?
Even the folks who were there to support the 'stand alone' concept must have left with a sense of deep foreboding.
There were a number of speakers at the meeting. All but two spoke of their dismay with council.
A young man, a builder, lamented the lack of forward planning, and apparent lack of cooperation.
Another was there to speak about the absolutely deplorable – nay, impossible, state of the many bridges that have been rendered impassable, not just to heavy vehicles, but to light and wide farming equipment as well.
Most speakers were there just to try to get the councillors to see reason and accept the inevitable.
A merger with a council that wants to merge with us.
And did they?
No.
The whole thing devolved into what I believe was a farce of jargon, which resulted in people shaking their heads and walking away.
DIAL DOWN THE VOLUME
Could I suggest to the proprietors of a number of the eateries and coffee shops in town, that most folks go to their establishment to have a quiet chat?
The operative word there, is “quiet". It is impossible to do that when the walls, the floor, and every other surface is hard and unyielding.
The general hubbub when more than one conversation is going on is just impossible.
Surely it would be worth a trial of a few wide strips of carpet, suspended down the walls, to absorb that noise that just gets louder as the crowd grows?
Just sayin'.
