Well Mick's post struck a chord with me.
Nearly 13 months ago I applied to subdivide a block of land and put a removable house on the piece hived off. The council was very slow with all the paperwork concerning the subdivision to the poi where I had to nag them every week.
When approval finally came they had approved a drainage outlet that ran uphill and a driveway that had a power pole sme in the middle.
When queried about this the fellow at council ( a foreign qualified engineer) was a bit miffed that I should be upset. I explained, politely at first what the problems were. His answer was that this was the decision made and that was it.
Then i became a bit upset and asked if any one from council had actually had a look at the site. "No". was the firm reply. It took several expletives to get it through his skull that he was trying to run water uphill! It still cost me $250 to apply for an amendment when no fault lay with me.
Now I am having trouble with the rest of the plan. The house was approved, with certain easily met provisos.Now they want full engineering plans for the sewer connection and drainage. Funny thing is I have paid for the headworks and the council does that anyway. I have to employ private operators for the plans and the res of the work. The rest of the work I can appreciate but the plans have me stumped.
Everything is privatised now. Council simply rubber stamps. This does not make things cheaper, easier or quicker. Where is the advantage in such a system?? I see a few privateers getting fat checks, council staff not knowing anything or getting it wrong and we, the ratepayers/consumers forking out big dollars.
