Yes the fiasco surrounding the culvert soon to be installed in Forestville Reserve as part of the Brownhill Creek Stormwater Mitigation project and a lack of consultation can be blamed on me.

Some three or four months ago at a briefing to Council by the Stormwater managemnt team it became apparent to me that Goodwood Junction Project was simply going to steam along under the State Government’s unrealistic time frame with no recognition of its impact on the Brownhill Creek Stormwater project.

A Culvert was going to be pushed either down Devon Street or through the back streets of Millswood behind the Goodwood Oval to get around the fact that the train tunnel was going to dissect Brownhill Creek (at its (the tunnel) lowest point. Nowhere therefore for the stormwater to go.

I pointed all this out at that briefing and suggested that the proposed (temporary) works might in fact interfere with the politically sensitive dam v No Dam option up at Brownhill Creek. So out came the big guns from DPTI, The Stormwater Management Authority and Council to determine how to best address this section of the Brownhill Creek Culvert diversions.

In other words the design of the Culvert in this area was going to be bought forward twelve months and the construction some three years all because it made absolutely no sense for major works to be carried out in this area only to see it all happen again in three years.

I refer to my post on this blog site http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8908282396990356616#editor/target=post;postID=6239395343102204442 dated 24 August as proof of this.

My theory – do it now do it right.

That meant of course that we at Councilwould get caught up in the malaise that has been the Goodwood Junction Project – a project with no consultation by DPTI on behalf of the State Government because they (the Gov’t) did not give enough time to consult before design,  a fact I have noted previously a number of times on this blog site (read any n umb er of posts on this topic).

No time to consult or design before the Government took possession of Forestville Reserve and surrounding areas. No time to go to our residents about the culvert before DPTI started chopping down trees for the Goodwood Juncton project or before they started invading the neighbourhood with their trucks, again for the Goodwood Junction project.

The alternative was to (Council) sit on its hands and let DPTI on behalf of the Government run amuk and construct culverts that impacted on our residents worse than what appears now to be the most practicable solution. Let them construct culverts that would not address the needs of the stormwater mitigation project.

So, as I said at the outset. Blame me, but don’t expect an apology. The alternative was worse and residenst would have been more angry had we allowed the Governmnet’s project to continue with what simply was never going to work.

I have been, along with my co-councillor Jennie Boisvert working feverishly to ensure the Goodwood Junction project interfered with the residents of Goodwood South Ward of the City of Unley as little as possible. Unfortunately issues have arisen in Goodwood Ward that were unforeseen by my compatriots in that Ward. Make no mistake though, they like you want the best possible solution and feel just as frustrated as you probably do at this fiasco.

Trust me though, as little time as we have had to consult with our residents in that ward their contribution will still be valued by our team as we put together that which we are responsible for in this convergence of projects. Their input will be taken on board just as it has in the past, when the Reserve was upgardied aftre the basketball stadium was demolished.

And don’t forget that 90% of what may be disturbing you if you are a resident of this area is what the Government has done, not the Council.