A newspaper doing it's job
THAT City of Greater Bendigo CEO John McLean should find it necessary to call for a government investigation into his own council is a surprising development for Bendigo.
While the CEO is not prepared to tell the media the reason for the investigation, the Bendigo Weekly is prepared to have a guess: We think it might have something to do with the publication in the Weekly of the council’s Outdoor Water Management Plan before it was officially released.
There are no practical or beneficial reasons for this investigation, which might aim to discover if there are people close to the council who are prepared to discuss, in a timely fashion, council’s thoughts and decisions.
Unfortunately for the council, its own handling of the issue was more surprising. Mayor David Jones revealed at the recent council meeting that the council had been going to unveil the plan on September 9. When the Weekly published it on the front page on September 8, that plan was suddenly shelved. THAT City of Greater Bendigo CEO John McLean should find it necessary to call for a government investigation into his own council is a surprising development for Bendigo.
The Bendigo Weekly was simply doing its job: informing its readers of the news. In this case, the news was that the council planned to close a number of swimming pools in the summer because of the shortage of water.
Why would Mr McLean wish for an investigation into this? Did the publication of the information affect anyone in particular? Did the publication a day earlier than planned have any real effect on the council? Eventually, it would be revealed in detail by the council a week later.
It could be said that the decision to close the pools highlighted a positive and strong decision by the council, even though it was published just a few hours earlier than the council had first planned. What the delay in publication of the decision says about the council is up for debate.
What do you think?
