Rubbish sign of the times in our town?

At last night’s (Tuesday) Campbelltown City Council monthly meeting staff were given a pat on the back by the mayor and the councillors for the beautiful entrance to the town from the Hume Highway, which is a sea of native plants and a variety of flowers.

But what old timers like me noticed was the lack of corporate memory in the council because nobody mentioned how the garden entrances were the brainchild of the late general manager Ian Porter almost 20 years ago.

The only councillor who would have been on the council then is Meg Oates and maybe her colleague Rudi Kolkman, but it probably slipped their mind.

The matter was brought up by the mayor, Paul Hawker, who said the beauty of the entrance got a mention on a Sydney radio station after a presented drove past on the weekend.

Well, don’t want to be cynical, but it’s 20 years too late.

More importantly, is the current council, officers and councillors, starting to drop the ball on the look of the town, that may be the question.

Down in Airds Road, Leumeah for a photo shoot last week I spotted the rubbish on the footpath, on the Campbelltown Sports Stadium side of the road.

This is not a sight I have seen for many years around Campbelltown but it’s one of several lately.

The other example is dumped rubbish in bushland areas like Kentlyn used to get picked up quick smart but not so lately.

The late Ian Porter and then Paul Tosi after him made sure Campbelltown was one of the cleanest, smartest looking towns you’d ever see and I am sure  most people would want that to continue.

♦ What do you do when it’s your birthday, you’re an elected councillor and there’s a council meeting on this special day? You attend the meeting, that’s what veteran councillor Rudi Kolkman did last night, so at the end of the meeting Campbelltown’s new mayor Paul Hawker got all the councillors to give him a big cheer for turning 65.

“We won’t sing Happy Birthday to you,’’ the mayor said, “but we can all put our hands together for Rudi, who turns 65 today,’’ Cr Hawker said to enthusiastic applause around the chamber.

♦ Across town, in Liverpool, the mayor Ned Mannoun and his Liberal Party colleague Peter Ristevski are engaged in a big power struggle. At stake is which of the pair will get the numbers to run as that party’s mayoral candidate next year. Their fight is mostly out in the open so it’s not doing the Liverpool brand any good and a  local businessman made a good point while talking on the phone to South West Confidential: “it’s all very well to fight over something, but couldn’t these two do it more quietly?’’ Fair point, boys.

♦ Budyari Community Health Centre in Miller,which provides health services to members of the local Aboriginal community, has recently undergone a $280,000 renovation to support improved patient care. A morning tea was held to celebrate the reopening of the centre, which looks really good as a result of the renovations. The reopening included a traditional smoking ceremony and Aboriginal dance performance.

♦ This year marked Liverpool Hospital’s 21st anniversary of caring for babies who are born prematurely or who require intensive care in the immediate period after birth. It also happens to fall in line with the recent Miracle Babies Foundation’s Thank U NICU Day morning tea, where these pictures, below, were taken.