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Most valued service or facility
Newcastle City Council provides dozens of distinctly different services and facilities. What service or facility do you value most and why?
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Comment 1 6 Feb 2008, 7:57 PM
The cycle network. We do not have enough seperated cycleways (that is not mixed in with the traffic) but those we have are the valuable start of what should become a network the city is proud of. We have a mild climate and a city that is relatively flat in many areas. We should have much more cycling but who would cycle amongst all the hoons on the road, much less let their kids??
Comment 1.1 15 Feb 2008, 6:42 PM
Good idea but dont forget the pedestrians
Comment 1.1.1 26 Mar 2008, 6:35 PM
For the benefit of cyclists, pedestrians are the ones to terrorise if they slow you down or get in the way when you are flying along the walkways!
Comment 2 8 Feb 2008, 11:06 AM
I think Blackbutt as it currently is is a great facility that council often overlooks as important to the community and could be at the forfront of environmental education if funded more appropirately rather than being at risk of losing facilities
Comment 3 8 Feb 2008, 2:38 PM
Our beaches are the thing I enjoy the most but the facilities are limited. There are so few kiosks you have to wait ages for a coffee. There must be opportunities for more cafes near the beach
Comment 3.1 15 Feb 2008, 6:43 PM
Great beaches, great parking, not too commercial - keep them as they are, not like Bondi!
Comment 3.2 19 Feb 2008, 12:37 PM
you could do with better rubbish facilities and RECYCLING!!!
Comment 4 9 Feb 2008, 3:57 PM
I think the Regional Art Gallery is fantastic. We went in today to see the temporary exhibit and William Dobell retrospective - wonderfull stuff. I would like to see it stay free entry and have the gallery redeveloped so that more artworks can be displayed with the additional benefit of creating a new focus through retail/commercial/educational space.
Comment 4.1 15 Feb 2008, 6:45 PM
Look I like the gallery but is it really a priority next to park maintenance, affordable housing and tidying up the city? Perhaps a charge would be ok for the few users there are?
Comment 4.1.1 20 Mar 2008, 11:30 PM
I wonder how popular the gallery would be if it was user pays?
It is also interesting to note the quantity of art in the city that is not done by the NRAG.
I think all art groups should have to lodge applications for funding and that grants must be matched at least dollar for dollar. That would be fair and just.
Comment 5 15 Feb 2008, 6:46 PM
Buy Nobbys and make it a public place before it gets ruined!
Comment 5.1 19 Mar 2008, 7:01 AM
The people already own Nobbys. I walk up there frequently and the view is great. Nobody stops you, there are no ferocious guard dogs waiting to eat you. The sign says don't go there but that's really just to protect the Port Corp from being sued.
Comment 5.1.1 20 Mar 2008, 11:36 PM
If Peter Garret can go up there we all should. We do not need kiosks, beds and restraunts. Just open the gate and let us all in. Council should budget for the welcome signs in the Management Plan.
Comment 6 19 Feb 2008, 12:41 PM
We think the most valued contribution council makes is to children and young people's cultural activities through grants for the arts. As a theatre company running for over 32 years, we have seen the social impact the arts has on the development of young people first hand. We have seen young people develop into well rounded, sucessful individuals who give back to their community through the recognition of what companies like ours have done for them. The council should continue to get behind companies like TANTRUM to ensure that we continue to provide engaged, relevant and alternative social activities to young people, which will have long term benifits for this region in the future.
Comment 6.1 19 Mar 2008, 7:07 AM
There is plenty of money to be saved by the Council Administration and reapplied to worthy causes. If Tantrum is fair dinkum, you would dig through the Council's spending and publicly highlight ways of diverting money from waste to good causes. In other words, stop begging for handouts and start encouraging Council to be better managers. Compare NCC and Lake Macquarie spend on legal fees NCC more than 1 million, Lake Macquarie less than $300,000. Demand to know why!
Comment 6.2 20 Mar 2008, 11:43 PM
Just because something has been done for 32 years its no reason for it to continue. We have also seen some of our young people turn into drunkards and city vandals every friday and sat nights!
In this years Management Plan lets put all the arts and crafts money in one bucket and let the groups seek funding grants based on competitive merrit. If Tantrum is as good as you say then I am sure it would get grant funds and may be even morethan you get now.
Comment 7 20 Mar 2008, 11:24 PM
What has this question got to do with the Management Plan? These are questions for the community plan and other strategic documents.
The management Plan is about putting dollars to the wish list.
What does Samantha see as core services and facilities. Non core items should not even be considered until all core activities are satisfied.
Samantha Comment 7.1 Project Coordinator 26 Mar 2008, 10:58 AM
The Management Plan costs (core) services and initiatives identified through: consultation with the community; priorities identified in the Community Plan and other strategy/ policy documents; and/or those required by legislation. The Management Plan is then used to allocate resources bewteen the different proposals.
Comment 7.1.1 26 Mar 2008, 12:41 PM
SAMANTHA, I THINK THE COUNCIL SPENDS TOO MUCH TIME EFFORT AND MONEY ON "PSEUDO CONSULTATION" WITH THE COMMUNITY, AS EVIDENCED BY THE PALTRY NUMBER OF RESPONDENTS TO THIS SITE AND POOR ATTENDANCES AT MOST WORKSHOPS AND FORUMS.
SOMETIMES IT IS NECESSARY TO TAKE GUIDANCE ON SOCIETAL NORMS AND EXPECTATIONS FROM OTHER SOURCES AND JUST FOCUS ON THE CORE BUSINESS.
FOR INSTANCE, YOU SURELY DON'T NEED TO CANVASS OPINION OVER THE IMPORTANCE OF TRADITIONAL ROADS, PARKS, FACILITIES AND RUBBISH DO YOU?
A LOT OF TIME, MONEY AND EFFORT IS WASTED ON DUPLICATION OF GENERIC PROCESSES AND TO A LARGE EXTENT, THE CONSULTATION PROCESS, WITHOUT ACTION, IS A WASTE. LET'S TEST THIS . I WILL TAKE PHOTOS AND VIDEOS OF GARBAGE TRUCKS IN ACTION THIS WEEK AND NEXT MONTH AND SHOW THE DIFFERENCE IN PERFORMANCE (REFER COMMENT IN OTHER SECTION).
Comment 7.1.1.1 27 Mar 2008, 8:27 PM
Reformer are you suggesting counil shouldnt consult?? And yet you seem to be appreciating the chance to comment and have done extensively on a number of issues. Would you prefer to be ignored? Im confused! Personally I like having a chance to input.
Comment 7.1.1.1.1 28 Mar 2008, 12:26 PM
Dipsy, I've tried for more than 20 years, on and off, to consult in the normal way.
However, with NCC, whenever you start to ask difficult questions they almost always clam up or give answers that are ambiguous or misleading and not straight answers.
Also, most of the objection or comment comes from .01 percent of the population anyhow, the the bulk of people either disinterested or incapable of contributing. So there will always be bias in the consultation process, which can be ignored when the results suit the organisation.
It's a bit like the Tax Dept. consulting on whether we want to pay more tax. Most will say no, so why ask?
Comment 7.1.2 26 Mar 2008, 4:37 PM
It seems that you as Project Coordinator are not clear about what the Management Plan is. The core services and initiatives are developed over time via strategies outside the Man Plan framework. The Man Plan then identifies the expenditure necessary to achieve those activities or part of the activity and establishes methods of raising the revenue necessary. The DLG web site explains the process.
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I note my questions were not answered by Samantha. Namely what has the original question got to do with the Man Plan AND what does Samantha consider as core services and facilities?
Comment 8 21 Mar 2008, 9:23 PM
I think it is precisely because the COuncil tries to provide too many services that it has got itself into a financial mess. And asking the community questions like this is futile, unless they are provided with an understanding of what are Council's statutory responsibilities, what are discretionary, and what are the consequences of NOT giving priority to some of the basic things - like proper infrastructure maintenance.
Comment 9 26 Mar 2008, 12:28 PM
PUTRESCIBLE WASTE (OLD STYLE GARBAGE) COLLECTION, FOLLOWED BY POTHOLE-FREE AND FREE-FLOWING ROADS, SAFE FOOTPATHS, GOOD AND SAFE DRAINAGE, CLEAN STREETS, ATTRACTIVE SPORTING AND CULTURAL FACILITIES, GARDENS AND PRESENTATION, THEN LIBRARIES, WITH THE SAME STANDARDS APPLIED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE CITY. FIX THESE AND THE MOST OF THE OTHER THINGS WILL FALL INTO PLACE.
I WOULD START BY ENSURING THE GARBOS LEAVE THE BINS UPRIGHT AND CLOSED, NOT OPEN AND ON THEIR SIDES. THIS FUNDAMENTAL KEY PERFORMANCE MEASURE IS IGNORED BY MANAGEMENT AND COUNCILLORS.