Mayor4Unley

Before leaving for the UK, it was sad to see the mass of ripening quinces, olives, pomegranates and chillies in the home garden. Six weeks later, arriving home, it was a busy week picking and processing the fruit. Olives now in brine, chillies 🌶 picked and 'sun' dried and chopped, pomegranates squeezed and juice in the freezer and quinces being slow cooked today. Tip: a splash of pomegranate juice in a gin is superb 🍸

Staying in Looe, Cornwall UK was definitely a highlight. One of our best destinations. Made more special because of our fantastic BnB hosts. Four great nights (and days). On the last night we enjoyed a home cooked feast. Our host is a well known celebrity chef in Cornwall. Early in the day we went to the fish market; starts at 4:30am. What a catch! So much choice. We headed home with 2 dozen scallops and 16 fillets of John Dory. A feast for 5 people. Simply cooked. The scallops in garlic butter and the fish pan fried in oil. Side dishes of boiled baby Cornish potatoes and a green salad. The wine was a fresh NZ Sauvignon Blanc (none of that European muck). A long and slow feast of local seafood 🐠 With little room left, we slowly managed pots of chocolate mousse with Cornish cream. A great way to finish our stay in Looe. @ the best place to stay in Looe 😀

This morning ... just so sad to see a magnificent big tree cut down in Unley - next to the tram line, corner of Norman Terrace and Fourth Avenue in Everard Park. A gathering of residents protested the removal. I asked the tree feller (the guy with the chainsaw) why it was being removed. His reply was that it was dead. 'Just dead branches Mate'. Yet around the stump there was healthy green growth and shoots. And it was healthy last year. This tree does lose its leaves. None of the nearby residents knew of the planned removal. They just came out at the sound of a chainsaw. On whose land was it? DPTI or Unley Council - always hard to tell around rail corridors. A loss of another big Unley tree, probably to be replaced by a shrub. Surely residents must be informed and consulted prior to tree removals. I suspect that it was a DPTI removal. Just sad.

I was staggered to read in the newspaper (EC 15 May) that the cost for rebuilding King William Road had blown out by 250%, up from $6m to $15.5m. What on earth has happened?  Why didn't Council decide to scale back the work to a more modest upgrade, similar to what was done on Goodwood Road. That's what I advocated back in 2018. A bitumen road would have saved 20-30% and has lower ongoing maintenance costs. That was the first shock. The second shock was the newspaper report that all road contract details and project discussions will remain confidential for at least 12 months. Why? The contract has been awarded and work is about to start. Surely we have a right to be informed. We're simply told that the work will be complete in February 2020. There's no mention of the fact (according to a source) that work will stop during the period of December to January to help traders with Christmas trade and to host another $250k Tour Down Under street party. I'm...

Given Bill Shorten's resignation as leader it will probably take 4-6 weeks for Labor to elect a new leader. Given the size of the defeat and the broad (and perhaps overly ambitious) platform it pursued, I reckon it will take Labor at least 6 years before it can win an election. Just being realistic. Any sooner would be a lack of preparedness. The target should strategically be 6 years; not 3 years. It will take 6 years to be ready and re-gain the trust of the people. So choosing the right leader is important; not just for now but for readiness in 6 years. It's time for a generational change; now. Choosing someone more likeable (like Anthony Alabanese) won't cut the mustard in 6 years. By then he will be a better fit for elder spokesman. It's time to choose someone younger and someone without 'history'. This is not a time to recycle; not past leader aspirants. Anthony Alabanese is the top contender. Tanya Plibersek has withdrawn (saying now is not the ...

What a fantastic 6 weeks holiday in the UK. Nice, but very expensive. The Poms are doing it tough, but don't really know it. Petrol and diesel is exactly twice as much (as in Australia). Food in the supermarkets is a bit more expensive. On the positive side, there's a huge choice of food from across Europe and beyond. Everything is available during all seasons. We bought some raspberries to have with Cornish clotted cream. The raspberries were from Morocco! Wine (sold in the shops) is somewhat expensive and compared with the choice in Australia it is absolutely woeful. Even the Aussie wine available is very average stuff. Much of the wine has foreign language labels so it was pot luck as to what you picked. Even buying by price (paying a bit more) didn't help. Mostly muck! Eating out at restaurants and cafes is expensive; costing twice as much. And I'm not talking about high end restaurants. It was a fantastic experience, but after 6 weeks it was time ...

I was staggered to read in the media that the cost of the rebuild of King William Road has more than doubled to ~ $15m! Absolutely staggered! When I was on Unley Council in 2018 the forecast maximum was ~$7m with lots of extra (and unnecessary) options added. I opposed this and suggested that the road be bitumen (not bricks) and the quality be on par with what was done during the rebuild of Goodwood Road. So what has gone so horribly wrong? How could the cost have more than doubled? The new Mayor, Michael Hewitson must be held responsible for this. The buck has to stop with him.