Mayor4Unley

It looks like there will be quite a few candidates for the position of councillor, in Parkside Ward, Unley Council. It will be difficult to replace the calibre of Mike Hudson who has retired. He had a track record of speaking his mind and not being swayed by a faction. I met one of the candidates the other day and had a bit of a chat. My prediction is that due to Covid-19 there will be a lower % of residents voting. I reckon that those voting will be less than 20%.

SALA 2020 is almost here. It’s a strange year with Covid-19. I feel like I’ve already done #SALA. Two weeks ago I attended the #Unley launch of a pre-SALA event, hosted by an acclaimed local artist. Her works were stunning. My name is on the sold sticker on 3 of the paintings. I can’t wait until SALA is over and the paintings come home  ❤️

I was speaking with a resident who tuned in to listen to a recent #Unley Council meeting when the new tree planting plan was approved. The resident was annoyed that many elected members commented that so few residents had responded to the plan. That got her really mad. She commented that these days (and over the past year) the residents received little communication from Unley Council. The Messenger has gone (and you can only access it online via a subscription). The Council magazine Unley Life has disappeared. Haven’t seen one for a couple of years. If it is delivered then it’s lost in amongst the junk mail. There have been no newsletters from the councillors or mayor. Actually there was one recently delivered to some streets asking people to respond to the Tree Plan, but it was delivered after the close date for submissions. Residents are not happy with the lack of communication from Council. It’s just not good enough. Especially during Covid-19, council should have made a c...

A week ago Unley Mayor Mike Hewitson said that he would get a sign up on Third Avenue, Everard Park to explain what was happening with the creek excavation works between Anzac Highway and Third Avenue. Still no sign and many locals don’t fully understand what is happening. Lots of chatter about the extent of the work eg. will it continue up the creek towards the swimming pool and will the Third Avenue bridge be replaced. How hard is it to print a sign, laminate it and erect it near the bridge on Third Avenue. It is just common courtesy to keep the locals informed about local works .

Works are in progress in Keswick Creek, between Third Avenue and Anzac Highway. I was told by a worker that at the upstream entrance to the culvert under Anzac Highway there was ‘a big fat palm tree in the creek that would have slowed the flow’. It is believed that this was a major cause of annual flooding in Third Avenue over the years. Due to the dense vegetation along this privately owned section of the creek, it had been difficult to identify a blockage at Anzac Highway. Anyway, it’s a good outcome and hopefully when the current works are complete in June 2020 there will be a reduced likelihood of the annual flooding in Third Avenue.

At last residents near Wilberforce Walk in Everard Park have received an update on what is happening to the creek between Third Avenue and Anzac Highway. Here's a link to detailed information. Wilberforce Creek works Bugger it, the link doesn't work. If you want a copy, contact Unley Council. It's a good document and the design looks good. The shared pathway will make easy access to Anzac Highway. It's just a pity that the information wasn't circulated a couple of weeks before the creek works commenced. It's not good enough to simply leave us all in the dark. Why didn't #Unley Mayor Michael Hewitson (or perhaps the 2 local councillors) walk the area and explain what was happening.

See today’s Tiser, pages 52-53. There are 8 Public Notices about land acquisition by Unley Council. I suspect it is for the land (the creek section) along Wilberforce Walk, from Third Avenue to Leah Street. I just hope that with the planned flood mitigation works along Wilberforce Walk that the old pre-settlement aged gum tree is saved. We must fight to save this magnificent tree  ✅ What is it about public notices. They don’t have detail re the location of the affected land. Why not add a bit of plain English text describing the general location eg. adjacent to Wilberforce Walk from Third Avenue to Leah Street!!? People in the locality want to know, wherever it is. Just poor communication from #Unley Mayor Michael Hewitson.

The residents of Everard Park (and some in Black Forest) are still furious with #Unley Council’s recent decision to approve the high rise development at Life Care aged care, bordered by Norman Terrace, Fourth Avenue and Ross Street. Unley Council simply ignored the wishes of the locals. It’s hell bent on high rise provided a few trees will be planted. After the decision, the Mayor (Michael Hewitson) sent an email to the residents. It basically said we listened to your objections, but for the greater good of Unley we voted for the high rise. Given that the Mayor is the spokesperson for Council, it’s a shocking communication from Council. Here’s a copy of the Mayor’s email sent on 24 March 2020 ... Dear Concerned Residents Council voted unanimously this week to support an amended DPA for Norman Terrace. Councillors recognised that the decision would be unpopular but rather than seek political gain, they took the hard but necessary approach and voted for it. We be...

Unley Council will tonight approve a high rise aged care facility in Everard Park. This is despite spending ~ $20,000 on public consultation and then ignoring the wishes of the local residents. People are asking ‘why did they ask us when they are now ignoring us’. At a committee meeting on 16 March 2020, there was a lacklustre debate on the matter. The motion to approve was moved by Cr Don Palmer and seconded by Cr Jennie Boisvert. The 2 councillors for the Goodwood area (Emma Wright and Nicole Sheehan) voted for the high rise. The Mayor Michael Hewitson voted for the high rise. He liked the idea that there would be a few trees. He also praised the work of Council to get the matter resolved. And then he blamed the Planning Minister (in advance) if there there is any height increase. A couple of other councillors spoke. The sad thing is that much of the debate mentioned councillors’ nanas (grandmas) and elderly relatives who had spent time in aged care facilities and high ris...

Unley Council has lost its way and understanding of the community in supporting a 5 storey development of Life Care aged facility on Norman Terrace, Everard Park. Mayor Michael Hewitson should not have supported this proposal to go ahead. It should have been reduced to 3 storey before going out for public consultation. Within days of the recent public meeting (attended by 100 residents) one family in Ross Street has put their home up for sale. They moved into a quiet street and don’t want to be confronted with a 2 storey building across the road, rising to 5 storey on Norman Terrace. Word on the street (and from a couple of councillors) is that #Unley will vote for the 5 storey on Norman, tapering down to 2 storey on Fourth and Ross. The only acceptable proposal is 3 storey on Norman and 1 storey on Fourth and Ross Street ✅ Will Unley Council truly listen to the locals and enact their wishes? I bet you a Bob that they don’t. It’s a bit of an irony that at the sam...

Looks like there will be another Tour Down Start and Street Party on King William Road, Unley in January 2021. Trust me it will happen. And it will cost us hard hit ratepayers at least another 0.5% rate rise. Another rise well above CPI  ❌ At the Unley Council meeting on 28 Jan 2020, the following motion was    passed ... That: 1. The report be received. 2. An Expression of Interest for the City of Unley to be considered as an Official Host Council for the 2021 Tour Down Under Stage Start be lodged with Events SA. All Councillors voted for it  ❌ Essentially it was a vote to jack up the rates. We in the community should have been consulted before committing to a probable rate rise. The mayor Michael Hewitson should have stomped on this. But no, it’s party time again and up go the rates. Totally inappropriate given the huge rate rise last year. The Council will argue that it is only an expression of interest and not a firm commitment. N...

Another great TDU in SA. And a reasonable crowd at the street party on King William Road, Unley. That party cost Unley Council $275,000 (or 0.5+% of the last rate rise for Unley residents). A great party, but at a huge cost to the rate payers. Soon we will hear from Council that the event brought in excess of $1million in revenue to the local businesses. After 20 years of funding by Council, maybe it's time for the local businesses to contribute more to fund the event. I feel that the street party has run its race and Unley Council should save money and perhaps fund a few smaller and more community themed events in our larger parks. Its time to change! Unley should give it up and let the event go to Kangaroo Island in 2021. Mayor Michael Hewitson is all smiles at the recent street party

I'm just staggered by how long it takes for the legal system and bureaucracy to act. Back on 30 October 2018 I posted the following ... There’s a nasty red coloured leaflet being circulated in Unley. It contains blatant lies and is whipping up hysteria about an 11 storey development to be built ‘next door to you’. It’s very amateurish and has a ‘how to vote’ showing a preference for Michael Hewitson. The gossip on the street is about who actually funded it. To me, it’s clear who funded it. Yesterday, whilst at the local pub, I was told that this matter was being investigated. It seems that someone must have reported the concern of false information being circulated during the local government election in #Unley (14 months ago). My source at the bar was unknown to me, but seemed to be quite knowledgeable about the matter. If this is true, it is just staggering how long it has taken to launch an investigation. To be fair, there might have been a bit of a back...

I was appalled to read that Unley Mayor Michael Hewitson voted at the Local Government Association AGM to continue to permit election corflutes on poles ('Is this the end for corflutes', The Messenger, 06Nov2019). He is out of touch with community sentiment that the plastic corflutes are visual pollution. At the recent Council election he had corflutes in most streets across Unley. It was a good outcome that the majority of other Councils voted to review restrictions. Commonsense by the majority of Councils did prevail. Voting by Mayors at the Local Government AGM should truly represent the sentiments of the local communities and Councils; and not just vote by personal opinion. I wonder if Michael did consult Unley Council and the community. I suspect not.

I went for a walk along King William Road. Not many people shopping; saw about 20 people. Perhaps Wednesday is a quiet day. But good to see some people making the effort. Joybird (the new chicken shop) was busy; compared with the rest of the street. The mottled white pavers are being laid on the footpath and a mix of black and white pavers are being laid on the up-ramp parking places. Each brick is being laid by hand so I can understand why the finishing touches are scheduled for February 2020; after a pause during Dec-Jan. The white footpaths will look good, but the same can't be said about the mix of black and white in the parking sections. There is no order to the pattern; in fact there is no pattern. It's almost like the workers are placing them where they like; like which brick comes first off the pallet. Then, moving south near the newsagent, the black and white mix is gone and it becomes a swirly brown brick which looks terrible. I would recommend that this sect...

It was sheer agony last night listening to Peter Goers interview Unley Councillor Mike Hudson and Mayor Mike Hewitson about the road works on King William Road. Peter Goers from start to finish was hell bent on describing the road works as a disaster. The 2 Mikes did their best to survive the onslaught by Goers. Hudson did well and conceded that he shouldn't have supported the cost blow out project. Hewitson banged on about reusing the old road pavers (to fix our footpaths) and the issue of door mats to traders. Goers was just negative for the agonising 10-15 minutes. My scores for the interview: Peter Goers, score -1/10 Mike Hudson, score 7/10 Mike Hewitson, score 3/10 ps there are some interviews you shouldn't do 😉

I have a gripe about the delivery of Unley Council's quarterly magazine 'Unley Life'. It arrived rolled with a pile of junk mail. I very nearly threw the lot into the recycle bin, but thought I'd have a flick through ... maybe Stratco had a super bargain 😉 Given this method of delivery those 40% of residents with 'no junk mail' signs would not get the 'Unley Life'. Add a high % of others who often just toss the junk mail into the bin. So probably ~ 30% of residents are receiving the magazine. At best, readership probably doesn't exceed 50%. Maybe it's time for Unley Council to cut the 4 issues per year to 2 issues and use the money saved to pay for reliable distribution and personalised delivery. That's my thought that I would like Unley Council to consider. Oh BTW, a few days prior to accidentally getting the 'Unley Life', I also found the 'Mitcham Community News' amongst the junk mail in my letterbox. Prove...

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...

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.