Councillor Don Palmer Providing Local Leadership & Working for You

I am being informed that the Feds will not be honouring a previous verbal undertaking (by the previous government) for their third share of the funding for whatever flood mitigation is eventually agreed to.

So after much debate since 1996, after squabbling between some of the Councils, after the State Government has oft threatened to take it away from the councils, as resident action groups pit themselves against each other, we find ….. as the Unley elected members prepare to be briefed tonight on the current status of the project with suggestions that we MAY finally be getting close to a workable solution; the rug has apparently been pulled from under our feet.

What will we find out tonight, not whether funding promises by our upper levels of government but how we have progressed with the current engineering work on the project.

I have only been involved of course for 3 1/2 years but this is the period where everything thing got intense. To find now that funding may not be available leaves me somewhat cold.

I am sure that our rates would not cover us taking over the federal government contribution and quite frankly i have always felt that it was not the correct approach for 5 councils to carry the burden when it really is (in my mind) a State issue.

Anyway I guess more news on this as it comes to hand.

Of curse it may take the punch out of some election campaigning because it may no longer be an issue.