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AN ALTERNATIVE
VOICE FOR INDIGO SHIRE
(John Harvey's Website and Blog) Welcome to my website and blog. The
primary purpose of these pages is to provide a forum
to counteract the "spin" that comes from Indigo Shire
Council headquartered at Beechworth in Northeast
Victoria (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shire_of_Indigo).
It
is dedicated to freedom of expression, fighting
political correctness and countering the social
engineering of the "woke" left. Sometimes I will also
comment on state, national and iorder backnternational politics and
society. Unless otherwise stated all opinions
expressed on this website are those of the author,
John Harvey.
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"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." (attributed to Edmund Burke)
(click here) Objection to Indigo Shire's Beechworth Historic Precinct Masterplan - 06/09/2021
Objection to Indigo Shire’s 2021-2022 Draft Budget
(Submitted to Council by John Harvey - 10/06/2021)
A majority of Indigo Shire councillors have already passed a “draft budget” for 2021-2022 and it is very likely they will approve a similar final one on June 29th. Many councillors and bureaucrats are calling the 2021-2022 draft budget “an infrastructure budget”. Yes, it does propose to spend millions of dollars on infrastructure but unfortunately a lot of that is inappropriate infrastructure. Instead of concentrating on repairing and improving the existing infrastructure of Indigo Shire the draft budget proposes to spend large sums on rail trails and bike paths that will only benefit a small portion of the population. These trails and paths will probably come in over budget, requiring additional expenditure. Ongoing maintenance and repair work in the years ahead will swallow up large sums. All the towns in Indigo Shire have residential areas that lack even basic footpaths let alone paved ones. Existing roads need improvement. Most people in the Shire will be relying on cars for basic transport for many years to come. These areas require urgent attention. The heritage assets of Indigo Shire are irreplaceable and priceless. Protecting and preserving them does not require turning some of these assets into a high tech “Disney World”. Council’s expenditure needs to be redirected towards ensuring all the built heritage and other heritage assets of Indigo Shire are restored, preserved and protected for future generations. It is time that Indigo Shire got back to basics, “rates, roads and rubbish”. Instead of wanting to increase rates and charges each year it should seek to cap them or even lower them. This is not impossible. The Shire needs to concentrate on basic services that benefit all residents instead of social engineering that benefits only a few.