Peninsula Community Access Edition 382
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Fire brigades to get station improvements
Belinda Neal may be only Peninsula candidate Former Member for Robertson Ms Belinda Neal may be the only remaining Peninsula candidate for Labor pre-selection for the Federal seat of Robertson. The nominations of two of three local candidates, reported in the last edition of Peninsula News, have faced administrative obstacles. Killcare resident Mr David Abraham has withdrawn his nomination after being informed it was invalid due to what he described as “a small administrative anomaly”. “In the interests of unity and clarity, I will now withdraw from the Robertson pre-selection race rather than appeal this matter,” he said. Pearl Beach candidate Mr Van Davy has acknowledged he was unable to furnish the names of five supporting members required for nomination. He said he had requested access to a database of local ALP members so he could canvass them for support. He said that he would lodge an appeal if his nomination was not accepted. Describing herself as a community activist and former Gosford councillor, Ms Neal said she was the only Labor candidate ever to have successfully won the seat of Robertson from a sitting Liberal Member. “I have been a resident of the Central Coast and the Peninsula for 30 years and have raised my family here and run a business here. “I love this community and our environment, but we are not getting our fair share from either Federal or State government.” “I am very aware of both the benefits and challenges of calling the Central Coast and the Peninsula home, and I want to stand up and fight for our fair share of funding and resources.” Ms Neal said she believed most observers expected that
Ms Belinda Neal
an overwhelming majority of Peninsula Labor Party members would support her in the preselection. Ms Neal said she had always been a strong advocate for the local community. She claimed to have secured more Federal funding for the Peninsula and Robertson overall during her time as Federal Member than the Liberals had done in the previous 10 years. “As the MP for Robertson, I ran a successful campaign for a Regional Cancer Treatment Centre at Gosford Hospital with a Federal Government grant $28.5 million and negotiated the support of the NSW Government for ongoing operational costs.” She said she had “obtained Federal funding for our schools and hospitals, commuter car parks and a new freight rail corridor to reduce delays and disruptions for commuters, obtained CCTV in the Woy Woy, Ettalong and Umina CBDs to counter antisocial behaviour and secured funding for massively-improved water infrastructure for the Peninsula”. She said she was “passionately committed to securing more training assistance and new Youth employment programs to give our young people better opportunities”. “Whatever your politics, you have to agree that what has happened to TAFE under successive NSW and Federal
7 December 2015
governments is a disgrace,” she said “I will fight to make sure our young people have access to the skills and learning they need to succeed in the future. “I will not rest until we have restored an affordable, high-quality TAFE system and ended the farce of $100,000 uni degrees.” Nevertheless, Ms Neal said she was not resting only on her record: “Ï want to achieve new goals for the people of the Peninsula and obtain the best results for our community. “Working as an MP is all about achieving for the community,” Belinda said. “I have spoken with many Peninsula residents, about local issues, and I have gained new insights on how to further improve our health services, enhance education, secure better infrastructure and encourage local jobs.” Ms Neal said she had worked in close cooperation with many Peninsula and Gosford community partners over the years, including church-based charitable organisations, social welfare organisations, disability services, youth support groups, mental health support groups, women’s groups, parents and citizens organisations, unions and the union movement as a whole. She said she had “a great record in Council and as an MP of standing up for sustainability, meaningful action on climate change and conservation of our natural and built heritage”. She said she had the trust of the environmental movement on the Central Coast, including the Greens. “At the next election, Labor must attract Green preferences to have any chance of winning Robertson,” she said. Media release, 30 Nov 2015 Belinda Neal, Woy Woy Bay Email, 1 Dec 2015 Dave Abrahams, Killcare Interview, 1 Dec 2015 Van Davy, Pearl Beach
Both Pearl Beach and the Bays Rural Fire Brigades have been permitted to submit development applications to undertake projects to improve their stations. Gosford Council has agreed to donate the services associated with the applications. The project to be undertaken to improve the Pearl Beach RFS facility will be the construction of an additional tanker bay with a new office and new meeting room. The current station comprises of two bays. One houses a Category 1 heavy tanker and the other a Category 12 personnel carrier. The station does not have a meeting/training room and lacks appropriate storage space. If the brigade was to accommodate a second tanker it could not be stored in the current bay. The rear of the Bays RFS Station will be extended to house a meeting room, office, kitchen, amenities, change and store room. The improvements will align the station to the RFS building standard. The kitchen and amenities at the station were in poor condition and below the required standard, according to a report from council staff. Detailed drawings for Pearl Beach and The Bays Stations were
not available but similar projects to be undertaken at Wamberal and Mangrove Mountain indicated that Council would donate around $5500 to $6000. It said the Gosford Rural Fire Service was responsible for all bush fires, structure fires, motor vehicle accidents and other fire related incidents. This also extended to bush fire mitigation, planning and public education. Gosford Council has had a long history of working in partnership with the Gosford Rural Fire Service, according to the report. Under the Act, Councils have the responsibility and funding obligations for the establishment of a Fire Control Centre, the establishment of Rural Fire Brigade Stations, the supply of ancillary vehicles, the maintenance and repair of the vehicles, the insurance of all vehicles, the maintenance and repair of all buildings dedicated to the RFS, the insurance of all buildings dedicated to the RFS; and the general costs associated with the running of the RFS. The report stated that the existing Rural Fire Brigade stations at Pearl Beach and The Bays were aged and had limitations that required upgrading to meet Rural Fire Service and local brigade needs for kitchen and amenities. Gosford Council agenda CON.40, 24 Nov 2015
Neal alleges defamation Labor preselection candidate for Robertson Ms Belinda Neal has alleged Peninsula News has defamed her in a front page article published last edition. Ms Neal claimed the article was inaccurate and untrue, defamatory and damaged her reputation. She said that whether or not Peninsula News had the intention or reason to damage her reputation that had been its effect. Peninsula News does not believe the article was defamatory, but apologises for any hurt or
embarrassment it may have caused her. As a gesture of goodwill, further distribution of Peninsula News was stopped when Ms Neal raised her complaint and material in the article was deleted from online editions. Apart from the media release used in the lead article on this page, and seeking an apology and retraction, Ms Neal has not submitted any corrections of fact for publication. Peninsula News, 4 Dec 2015 Mark Snell, editor
THIS ISSUE contains 77 articles - Read more news items for this issue at www.peninsulanews.info Office: 120c Erina Street, Gosford Phone: 4325 7369 Fax: 4321 0940 Mail: PO Box 1056, Gosford 2250 E-mail: editorial@centralcoastnews.net Website: www.centralcoastnews.net