Letters
MacNaughton Place – it simply doesn’t wash
Ed,
Councils sold the WaterCycle office at 1 MacNaughton Place and is now proposing to spend $925,000 of the $1.8M Federal Grant Funds intended for the MacLachlan Park Boardwalk to “improve” the surrounding area and thereby significantly increase the value of that now private property.
Why didn’t they do that before selling the property? Any benefit to the ratepayers here, is pretty hard to identify.
If CVC were to green-light this disgraceful misuse of public funds, Maclean stands to lose its RSL Club, its Veterinary Clinic, its CWA Hall and its only hardware store.
The “gain” to Maclean would be a private residential development along the river front from MacNaughton Place to Munro Lane.
The lame excuse from Council for spending the money at MacNaughton Pl instead of at the McDonald Lane end of the “Riverside Precinct” was that the State Government couldn’t manage to find a relocation site for the Fisheries office.
It simply doesn’t wash! The State Government and the CVC already jointly own an eminently suitable river front site for a relocated Fisheries office, only 400 meters from the existing office. It’s equipped with boat ramp, and an abandoned slipway. There’s also a two story brick building that is only partially used by the SES. What the hell is wrong with a joint SES/Fisheries occupation of an existing State and Council owned property?
Ian Saunders, Maclean