Mr Lei Parker Editor
The Beagle Weekly
Dear Editor
I write in response to Mr Vivek Sethi’s incorrect proposition that Council is trying to flood Surfside (Letters, The Beagle, 7 March).
Firstly, Mr Sethi’s emails to Council were not ignored. The email in question was not received, but when it was mentioned in a subsequent email from Mr Sethi, a Council staff member left a voicemail message for Mr Sethi requesting detail of the complaint. Mr Sethi never responded to the phone message. A further email was received from Mr Sethi on 7 March about a different matter and the same staff member took the opportunity to ask Mr Sethi to re-send the email that had still not been received. Council’s IT department has confirmed that Mr Sethi’s email was not received due to its size (it included lots of images) and that he received two bounce-back messages from Council advising the file size was too large. Mr Sethi’s letter has now been retrieved from Council’s email servers, and he received a response to his questions on 8 March.
For the information of your readers, the dredging of the Clyde River estuary near Hanging Rock was carried out by a contractor on behalf of NSW Government Crown Lands.
Surfside residents immediately adjacent to the beach had been requesting for a number of years that the long-term loss of sand from the beach be addressed. Using the dredge material was a benefit to those residents and was a practical means to deliver a project with multiple community benefits at no cost to Eurobodalla ratepayers: safe navigation, better access and improvements to the beach, and the protection of the public reserve and adjoining houses.
As part of the project, Crown Lands engaged a consultant to undertake the necessary due diligence including direct communication with the residents who own properties adjacent to the beach.
Mr Sethi’s concerns regarding the stormwater outlets was received on 8 March and will be inspected by a Council officer and a determination made as to the appropriate course of action. However, it is worth noting that this culvert is typically blocked with sand due to natural processes until it self-cleans in rain events.
I would prefer valuable ratepayer resources be spent achieving positive outcomes for our community rather than correcting misinformation that a simple telephone call or email could have resolved.
Yours sincerely
Dr Catherine Dale General Manager 9 March 2017
