Pittwater Life April 2024 Issue

BEFORE
after photos). The
couple installed
CCTV cameras
and thereafter
captured vision
of the “offender”
returning for
more batches of
AFTER
blooms on two
further occasions.
Last month in Manly Court, a
66-year-old Palm Beach woman was convicted of the theft
after pleading guilty to three counts of stealing plants
– allegedly at least 10 per time – in a garden. Magistrate
Robert Williams convicted her on one charge and fined
her $450, The Daily Telegraph reported. She was handed
nine-month good behaviour orders on each of the other
two counts. The offender’s barrister said her client had
displayed “a lapse in judgment”. Although she thought
the home was uninhabited and “boarded up”, she had
fully admitted her actions were wrong and she was “quite
remorseful”.
ABSURD…
Palm Beach resident Robert Ellis contacted Pittwater Life
last month about what he described as ongoing lack of
care and maintenance of Council-managed land, including
Pittwater Park opposite the high-end, tourist-magnet eatery
Barrenjoey House. Robert’s complaint is one of many we’ve
received from readers in recent months. Robert was so
disappointed and frustrated at the “disgraceful condition of
this very popular leisure destination” that he took matters
into his own hands, lugging his mower down to the car
park. “I mowed a strip of it myself, out of sheer frustration,
to try to remember what it can look like when the Council
mows it spasmodically,” he said. Two weeks later Robert
reported: “Council’s contractor turned up and cut the grass.
Well, some of it. Sloppy, incomplete and visually a mess.
There is so much dirt in the gutters that grass is growing!”
He added: “As an aside, we sometimes get a Council worker
turning up with a bin and long grab-claw; he wonders around
casually picking up to odd piece a paper. Meanwhile the
park remains a disgraceful mess.” We asked Council for
comment: “Northern Beaches Council regularly maintains
parks and reserves right across the peninsula as scheduled
and on an as needs basis, to provide quality open space for
everyone to enjoy,” a spokesperson said. “Contractors are
used to provide a range of maintenance activities including
mowing of parks and are selected after a rigorous open tender
process to ensure Council is delivering a value for money for
the community.” It noted four firms were engaged under the
LGA’s mowing contract and “… while the contractors may
travel from outside the LGA, they usually visit multiple sites on
the Northern Beaches on the same day.” It added: “Contractors
provide reports on works undertaken on a regular basis,
including photographs of sites. Council staff also inspect a
portion of completed works to check on the quality of work by
contractors, ensuring works are carried out to set specifications
and contractors are providing appropriate value for money.”
We suggest Council managers add these pics to their files.
We await their confirmation that this work is considered
“quality” and “value for money”.
BEFORE
ROBERT
COUNCIL
News
The Local Voice Since 1991
APRIL 2024 33