UNDER the current economic climate we are told to tighten our belts.
Home buyers struggling to pay loans with ever-increasing interest, pensioners and low-income people struggling to keep up with food and petrol prices.
With things being tough we then find a select group of workers get a 30 per cent pay rise, namely shire and council councillors.
The big question is why?
Surely these public people know what is required of them before they put their hand up to be elected.
One has to ask are some councillors only in it for the money?
What has happened to the days when people did this job because they were doing their bit for the community?
I accept councillors should not be out of pocket, but a 30 per cent pay rise is beond me.
I object to this 30 per cent pay rise as a ratepayer and if you are not happy with pay and conditions may I suggest you do not stand at the next  council elections.
Ian Bates,
Bendigo.

Take note: these are priorities

I thought our community would be best equipped to decide what would be priority projects to help with the future growth of Bendigo.
But how wrong I and many readers of the Bendigo Weekly must be.
After reading comments from the two Labor party cabinet ministers Cameron and Allan dismissing our concerns about the bottleneck along Pall Mall, I am left appalled that elected members of parliament should be so flippant and arrogant in dismissing community calls for action on a ring road.
I would suggest the Bendigo Weekly now offer to take Mr Cameron and Ms Allan out for the day, dining at the al fresco cafes as sheep and cattle trucks rumble by.
That could be followed by a drive from Big Hill to Huntly, constantly stopping and starting as traffic lights regulate the flow of traffic and trucks and reduce the efficiency of timed light changes.
Preferably this should be at peak time when mothers are ferrying their children to school, sharing main urban routes with big trucks.
The community is crying out for decent infrastructure investment – a ring road, a bus station out of Mitchell Street, piping of Coliban Water’s open channels to name just three.
But all the state government of John Brumby with Mr Cameron and Ms Allan as senior ministers can say is they are not priorities.
The Bendigo Weekly and readers like me have got news for them: these are priorities.
Frank Jones,
Bendigo.

Community planning half baked as usual

There is one characteristic guaranteed to be found in the work of our council.
It is certain to be “half-baked”.
Many other councils around Victoria and overseas for years have used a technique known as “community planning” to determine developmental priorities.
Community planning involves a regular and systematic attempt to consult with all sectors of a community about what they want.
Wise consultation includes a consistent effort to inform locals of projects and models found elsewhere so that local consultations are based on broad and sound knowledge rather than parochial non-informed views.
So, the first step for a council such as Bendigo should be for senior staff to do some solid homework to find out how to go about community planning.
And our councillors should accept nothing less.
Instead of going down this track when he was first appointed, our former council CEO fastened on to the idea of a “search conference,” a useful enough technique when properly done.
It was a bit like trying to run an Olympic Games with the only event the 100 metre sprint.
There are literally dozens of other known methods of consultation including surveys, face-to-face discussions, debates, emails, letters, community meetings, project teams, questions, complaints, drawings (for children), blogs, web sites, etc.
Different methods suit different people and a wise council would spend a bit of time working on a comprehensive consultation plan rather than diving off into a search conference largely involving hand-picked participants.
It is nowhere near good enough to let a search conference come up with suggested answers to pre-determined questions and then to, graciously, allow the rest of us to have our say.
 Neil Clark,
Randwick, NSW.

Where is society heading?

LAST week’s Anzac Day celebrations were heart warming to participate in and watch.
We celebrated death and life: the death of those who gave their lives for ours, and the life and freedom we enjoy because of their willingness to put someone or something above themselves.
And yet, at the same time in our society, we applaud those who will put their own desires above the lives of others and call it pro choice.
How can taking the life of someone who has never had the opportunity to celebrate life be good?
How can allowing men and women to profit over the deliberate ending of another’s life be lauded as a valuable service to the community of Bendigo?
Where is society heading if it allows its most vulnerable and voiceless to be slaughtered?
Which vulnerable group will be next if we allow this travesty to continue?
Jenny McWilliam,
Axedale.

Turning their backs on a necessity

It is disappointing that Jacinta Allan and Bob Cameron have chosen to turn their backs on a very necessary cause for Bendigo – their home town – namely a ring road.
As traffic becomes heavier through the CBD due to the improved Calder freeway, the congestion, noise and fumes will worsen.
Community and business leaders are concerned that the Bendigo Transport Study is more than a year behind schedule already and with only one MP, Wendy Lovell, behind the project, it is looking like being a long way off becoming a reality.
But then the Calder duplication was a long time coming wasn’t it?
C. Leslie,
Bendigo.

From the Website

Comment from James Riley re: Councillor claims bullying at forums
Congratulations Cr Williams for speaking your mind on this issue. The Shire of Mt Alexander has suffered under a similar “behind-closed-doors” policy – unofficial and denied though it may be – for years.
The fact so many CEOs / councillors seem to protect and even encourage this closed-door policy must bring into question the integrity of the whole council process.
After all, if you genuinely have nothing to hide or fear from your behaviour in your publicly-funded position, why hide your actions?
Councillor transparency? Yeah, sure.
Just like solid granite.

Comment from PJ Bear re: Home sale hits high spot of $1m+
Isn’t it great to see value being placed on the grace and beauty of Bendigo’s heritage architecture. It is only a generation since the desire to be modern led the people of this town to throw away so much of what made it special.

Comment from Drovers Dog re: Mitchell Street chaos
Great site for a bus terminal. But then the Bendigo Traders Association has added a multi-million dollar carpark to their plan.
BTA has successfully torpedoed their own idea.

Comment from Richard, Bendigo re: Mitchell Street chaos
Something is missing in the debate about Bendigo buses. How about the convenience of the public who use the buses, the people who do not drive cars, the elderly and the young. If the oldies are given the choice of getting off at the Market Place, or the far end of Bath Lane it is not hard to guess where they will shop. Another nail in the coffin of central Bendigo.

Comment from Sandy Wiles re: Anzac services
Thank you. I was up at 4.30am on Anzac Day searching the net trying to find the times for the dawn services. Thank goodness I tried the Weekly as it was the only place on line I could find the answers. Cheers.