Local Government - Shire Councils

Sometimes I wonder how local shire councils keep running. If they were a small business, they'd be long since bankrupt due to mismanagement of funds, inability to make decisions, completely absurd decisions and a lack of what would be termed customer service when dealing with the general public. They do not care except about pumping up their own ego's with their perceived elevated status in town because "they're on the Council". If I were them, I would NOT advertise that fact! An example in my town is decisions they have repeatedly made about slowing traffic through our shopping centre, which is a highway.They put brick "humps" in the middle of the road at 'strategic' intervals with signs on them telling you they are there. But oh, did they stop to think that larger vehicles that have to travel that highway cannot fit, so everytime a wide load gets to town, they must call out council employees to take down the signs, guide the truck through and put the signs back up. When the townfolk suggested maybe remove the brick humps. Oh no, not a good idea at all for all sorts of insipid reasons, one being the cost to do so. But we all wonder at the costs incurred for wages alone to call out employees at all sorts of odd hours, let alone the fact they have to repair the humps every month due to the damage the wide loads cause. Go figure.

Then they installed walls at the corners of the shopping centre streets to beautify the streetscape. Blocked views, accidents caused, children playing on them dangerously near traffic etc etc. So they finally decided to amend these. Amazement rang out throughout the township. They put a lot of thought and studies into it apparently, then installed big black iron balustrades on top of them. Supposedly to stop people sitting on them, children jumping, to beautify and match another area in the street etc etc. Now vision is completely obstructed and they're about to spend thousands doing another study because they realise what a huge error this was and "they just don't know what to do."

These Councillors live in our town and use these intersections daily. None are blind. None are deaf. None have impaired brain function. Whatever happened to common sense? Whatever happened to listening to the public's sensible suggestions? Whatever happens to the brains of previously sensible people who join the ranks of the Shire Council?

You have to wonder when after all these things (and more), they tell the public they just don't know why they had to raise the land rates so much this year to balance the budget!