Community & Business
17 September, 2024
‘Heads should roll’ over igloo
THREE former Tablelands Regional Councillors want “heads to roll” within the organisation over its handling of the Patrick English Pavilion at Malanda, after they signed a Statutory Declaration that they were never given advice or any structural reports about the state of the building while they were in office.
In the legal document, former councillors Peter Hodge, David Clifton and Bernie Wilce assert that not making councillors aware of the disrepair of the building was tantamount to “a dereliction of duty” by council officers.
They say that because the 2023 TEG report on the building stated that it was likely to fail within 12 months and immediate action be taken to repair the curved trusses, councillors should have been made aware of the situation.
The councillors signed the declaration as part of evidence in a lengthy and comprehensive complaint to be submitted to the Office of the Independent Assessor, the Ombudsman and the Crime and Corruption Commission this week.
The complaint is being submitted by community advocate Matt Lachlan, who presented a 3000-signature petition to Mayor Rod Marti recently, and strongly believes that council has failed due to its inaction to repair the building or close it when notified of the poor state of the structure in May 2023.
In that 2023 report, regarding the condition of the curved trusses, the consultants stated: “Take immediate action in short term within audit period (eg: 1 to 3 months) as appropriate to address defects. Plan for appropriate and immediate rehabilitation or renewal. Risk – Failure likely within audit period (eg: 1 year).”
But TRC strongly rejects that it should have acted at this stage, with chief executive officer Gary Rinehart stating in an email response to The Express that officers had sought further clarification from the consultants regarding any risk to public safety and were “advised that….the building is not considered as a risk to prevent its use. However, as deterioration continues there will come a time where dilapidation will get to a point where the building is considered none (sic) usable…”.
Mr Lachlan hit back, saying: “Any attempt by TRC to discard the report and instead rely solely on that statement, is nothing short of a desperate attempt to continue to deny accountability for what can only be regarded as serious wrongdoing by council.”
The council abruptly closed the pavilion in May 2024 after receiving a subsequent structural report.
The Express was also provided with a portion of an email sent to Mr Lachlan from TRC Community Services general manager Hilary Jackson in which she stated that along with councillors, Mr Rinehart was also not advised of the disrepair of the building prior to May this year.
Ms Jackson confirmed that divisional Cr Dave Bilney was the only councillor who was apprised of the situation in July 2023.
Mr Hodge told The Express he was appalled about what had occurred, saying in his long association with local government, he had never seen such a situation where councillors were not advised of such a serious situation and one that could have placed the public at risk.
“When we discovered that councillors had not received the 2023 report, alarm bells rung for me – those officers have put the safety of people at risk because when they brought the report just before this year’s show, they said we had to close the building down immediately,” he said.
“If we would have known the state of the building in June 2023, I would have moved to get another report and actioned the issue straight away. If something drastic had of happened, what were they thinking?
“For officers not to share this vital information with councillors, nor the CEO, is unprofessional and whomever was involved in that decision should be dismissed – heads should roll,” he said.
“If the CEO doesn’t dismiss those people responsible, then the whole administration should go.”
Mr Lachlan said when TRC acknowledged that councillors had not been made aware of the 2023 structural report and the state of the igloo, he was “astounded” and “dumbfounded to say the least”.
“Under the Local Government Act 2009 council officers are answerable to, and take direction from the CEO. It is abundantly clear that council officers, under the current CEO, are effectively running council, dictating and controlling the information that is supplied to elected representatives, against the public interest,” he said.
“Stunningly, in this case failing to brief even the CEO, of an external report that outlined serious safety risks, and in doing so placing public safety in jeopardy.
“It is my unequivocal view that the CEO’s position is entirely untenable.”
A decision is looming on the future of the pavilion, with the council expected to consider the results of the recent consultation, which drew criticism from the community because it did not allow for an option to retain and repair the igloo, at its 26 September meeting.
