Election campaign time can be an awful time, with candidates slinging mud at each other. It’s just something pollies do, and must seem the most natural thing in the world to attack your opponent. But there are exceptions to the rule that warm the heart and reminds you that deep down politicians are part of the humans. South West Voice was chuffed to see bitter rivals being kind to each other at a pre-poll voting booth in George Street, Liverpool last week. Liberals Melanie Gibbons and Mazhar Hadid were side by side at the entrance handing out how to vote leaflets as people came in, with Labor’s reps on the other side of the entrance, Holsworthy candidate Charisma Kaliyanda and an older gentleman who was a volunteer worker for sitting Liverpool member Paul Lynch. It was this gentleman who suddenly raced out to where all their election posters were on the footpath when Melanie Gibbons’s fell over. He picked it up and put it back the way it should have been, dusted himself off and came back to resume handing out leaflets.
♦ If you’re thinking of grabbing your laptop and heading down to the Campbelltown Library make sure you’re not in a hurry with whatever it is you want to do on your computer. There are signs on the front entrance saying that users should expect delays because of the rollout of the NBN in the Campbelltown area. We checked it out and yes, it was on the very slow side connecting and then executing commands. But at least it’s good to know the NBN isn’t too far away in the capital of Macarthur.
♦ A Glenfield Road resident got the shock of his life when Campbelltown Council told him he would have to fork out $180,000 as a Section 94 payment for six units he wants to build on his property. Councils use Section 94 funds to provide community facilities. His people are pretty convinced he has wrongly been caught up in a policy designed for big developers. And six units on Glenfield Road hardly rates as a big development.
♦ Talking about development, we spoke to someone high up in the Campbelltown Council food chain about last week’s item of a an anonymous push to open up Kentlyn to rezoning. Our council source, who will also remain anonymous, told us that the people behind the push could be one or two Kentlyn property owners, each with an unusually large parcel of land they’d like to subdivide. Most properties in Kentlyn are five acres.
♦ As we said last week by way of disclosure, the South West Voice is produced out of Kentlyn.
