Better vibe but no resolution in Korumburra standoff
WHILE the Korumburra Senior Citizens Club and South Gippsland Shire Council remain locked in a legal dispute over the Senior Citizens Centre, members of the club and six of the nine councillors sat down for a chat after Wednesday’s council meeting.
The conversation was mostly restricted to concerns from the Senior Citizens group about a registered letter from the club’s President Janne Grenon to Mayor Nathan Hersey being answered by a member of staff and not shown to the Mayor at the time.
An attempt to steer the conversation onto ownership of the Radovick Street site on which the Korumburra Senior Citizens Centre sits was unsuccessful with councillors holding firm on not being able to discuss that while legal proceedings are afoot.
Regular council sparring partner David Amor previously brought the matter of the letter to Cr Hersey’s attention during a meeting at Mr Amor’s business premises, with the Mayor acknowledging that on Wednesday and thanking him for doing so.
“Council receives thousands of pieces of correspondence and requests that come in through Facebook, email, and handwritten, and any organisation of this size must have a process for handling that sort of correspondence,” Cr Hersey said.
“In this instance, a response was given; it didn’t come to me until after the correspondence was responded to but I wouldn’t have responded anyway (because) this is a legal matter and it would not be appropriate for me or any other councillor to have responded to that correspondence.”
Cr Hersey added that he has now asked for a weekly list of correspondence that comes directly to him that goes beyond basic matters such as someone’s footpath lifting.
Ms Grenon’s letter to the Mayor called for him and other councillors to meet with members of Korumburra Senior Citizens Club, “seeking a peaceful and common-sense solution to the current situation outside of expensive litigation to our ratepayers and further damage to our seniors.”
While the seniors continue to call for an informal meeting, council has repeatedly stated it is happy to discuss the situation but only through formal mediation due to the fact it is a legal matter.
“Given a court proceeding is afoot in relation to this matter, council considers that the most appropriate forum for any settlement discussion is at a formal and confidential mediation, as required by the court’s orders,” the council’s response to Ms Grenon stated.
“Council’s correspondence management arrangements are longstanding, deliberate and designed to ensure timely, consistent handling of a high volume of community enquiries,” council chief executive Allison Jones said.
She noted that “The correspondence in question was correctly classified as a customer request and managed through Council’s formal customer service systems, consistent with all other requests received, regardless of how they are submitted.”
“Officers assist with the initial triage of correspondence received by the Mayor and councillors, which is both necessary and standard practice in local government.”
All requests received by councillors are centrally logged and available for councillor visibility and review.
Cr Hersey welcomed anyone to contact him directly by email, phone, or through his personal PO Box.
Mr Amor urged council to ensure that if a response is being made on a councillor’s behalf, that councillor is aware that is happening.
As for the drawn-out saga of the Senior Citizens Centre, Cr Clare Williams posed the question “When can we all sit down and have a serious conversation about the Senior Citizens building?”
While Wednesday’s discussions made it clear councillors are also keen to see a resolution to the matter, it is difficult to know how that can occur until both parties agree to the format of the discussions.
Nobody was heard to argue with the assertion that drawing out the legal proceedings will cost more than council would get for the Radovick Street land concerned.
