26/03/2024
HCA corrects factual inaccuracies.
We just had this post from the mayor sent to us, and we went to the Mayor's page to respond directly, only to discover that, along with the huge number of community members who have been actively vocal on flood mitigation and who she has blocked, we have also been blocked from her page.
We find this behaviour very unprofessional from an elected official using their official mayoral page and stifling open dialogue.
Corrections as follows:
*Premier Minns has visited the Hawkesbury twice to see the damage firsthand. Pictures of his visits are posted on this page.
We also hosted Greens Cate Faehrmann, (now) State Emergency Services Minister Jihad Dib, Rose Jackson (now) Minister for Water, and several media representatives on separate tours. We took them to inspect the damage and speak to community members from all sides of the political spectrum.
We invited the (then) minister for Water, Kevin Anderson, and (then) Premier Perrottet to visit the same sites and people.. Both refused to acknowledge our invitation. (We understand they may have undertaken a tour with the Mayor but were not introduced to a cross-section of community members and a variety of views beyond Liberal party members, one of whom we now hear - via jungle drums - will be running for council as a Liberal.)
* Robyn Preston was the State member while her party was in Government for 2.5 years after the flooding. During that time, no improvements were made and no mitigation measures were undertaken, so it's astounding that the Mayor blames the current State Government when her own party failed to act while in Government.
*The Council over the past ten years has not maintained the drains at Cornwallis, and we believe receives ongoing funding from the State government to do so.
*Council has not fixed our roads post flood, or done a sub standard job, and the community is sick of the lack of transparency on it.
* Hawkesbury Community Alliance hosted a flood mitigation forum for the community, Government and media. All councillors were invited. The Mayor refused to acknowledge our invitation or RSVP.
Other councillors attended, along with State Member Robyn Preston and Peter Primrose MLC. Federal member Susan Templeman felt it was important enough to send a delegate from her office.
If the Mayor was so concerned about mitigation, she should have shown up then. We had Professor Stuart Khan from the University of NSW present who gave an excellent presentation on how floods could be mitigated by lowering the full supply of the dam, and providing water security to Sydney.
*At the Community Forum while the Liberal Party was in power, Robyn Preston addressed the crowd, promising to advocate for lowering the full supply level of the dam for mitigation, but she did not do so.
While we are disappointed that the NSW Reconstruction Authority is seeking yet more community consultation rather than proceeding with actioning flood mitigation based on the community input at the NSW State Government flood Inquiry, we must correct the blatant untruths in the Mayor's post. It smacks of shameless politicking.
We are posting here because she has limited the people who can comment on her page to only those who agree with her.
We encourage you to share it with your networks.
Hawkesbury City Council McMahon Jihad Dib MP Chris Minns Rose Jackson Peter Primrose MLC Susan Templeman MP Hawkesbury Post Hawkesbury Ratepayers & Residents Action Guardian Australia The Sydney Morning Herald 2GB Sydney preston Sick of North Richmond traffic snarls Hawkesbury District Independent Magazine CAWB - Save Windsor from the RTA
