Onkaparinga, Tea Tree Gully, Salisbury among the state’s council controversies
These dogs were much-loved by their owners and the community alike, but this was not enough to stop them being disregarded by two SA councils following their deaths.
North & North East
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With local government elections on the horizon, councils and councillors are looking to remind ratepayers of their good work over the past council cycle.
While some councils have boasted incredible achievements, others seem to never be far from the headlines.
Whether it’s residents petitioning against developments, or councillors getting themselves in hot water over questionable comments and actions – local governments can be a cesspool of controversy.
Some have even prompted Independent Commissioner Against Corruption investigations and received scathing words from Commissioner Ann Vanstone to up their game.
State Ombudsman Wayne Lines in the last financial year received at least 906 complaints relating to local government, an increase from the previous year.
Over the past four years, Mr Lines received 3713 complaints.
It’s a number he has consistently said is too high.
He said complaints relating to council usually accounted for 20 to 25 per cent of all complaints received.
With Mr Lines’s stern words continually ringing in councils’ ears, all local government’s are anticipating the commencement of the Local Government Behavioural Standards Panel later this year and providing feedback on a proposed Behavioural Management Framework.
Until then, here are some of the council controversies that left us scratching our heads and wondering, “really?”
Council throws beloved pet out as rubbish
The owners of a much-loved pet were forced to take time off work and undergo counselling after their local council threw their dead dog in landfill.
Harry, an 11-year-old German shepherd cross akita, was heartbreaking hit and killed by a car on Burton Road at Paralowie.
But when his owners, Kimberley Hein and Kerin Edwards went to collect him from the Salisbury Council depot to cremate him, they were told he was too big for their storage facility and he had been taken to the dump.
Making matters worse, they were told he had been “compacted” and any hopes of recovering his body were gone.
“We just wanted his ashes and we wanted to know he was treated at least with respect,” Ms Hein told The Advertiser.
Council chief executive John Harry wrote to the pair offering his condolences, but said the process followed was standard procedure.
“Please be aware that there is no legal requirement for council to hold deceased pets that are unidentified, although our operating procedures do generally allow the chance for owners to reclaim remains where possible,” he wrote.
Snuffy’s almighty snub
Everybody loves a dog, even more so when they’re a hero.
But for the Onkaparinga Council, Snuffy the wonder dog was not wondrous enough for special recognition.
The loveable St Bernard wandered the halls of the Adelaide courts comforting victims, children and the terminally ill.
When tragedy struck and Snuffy died of cancer aged just eight, councillor Alayna de Graaf sought some kind of hard-earned recognition for his years of service.
But her motion earlier this year fell on deaf ears as fellow councillor Geoff Eaton said the council needed to first investigate the value of the dog’s work.
The decision left Scruffy’s owner, Sandy Edwards, in tears.
Onkaparinga Council backflips on controversial CEO hire
The Onkaparinga Council’s decision to hire Alastair Dawson as chief executive – and give him more than $300,000 to do it – almost immediately blew up in their face.
Mr Dawson had only months before the appointment taken to LinkedIn to slam child sexual abuse survivor and former Australian of the Year Grace Tame.
Mr Dawson branded her “childish” and a “spoilt brat” over her now infamous interaction with former Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
Within a week the council decided Mr Dawson perhaps was not he most ideal candidate and they mutually agreed with their prospective employee to part ways.
Deputy Mayor Marion Temeliotis opposed the appointment, as well as a vocal group of residents who threatened to rally in public if it was to go ahead.
Tea Tree Gully’s state-first legal action binned
It was controversial from the moment news broke that a small servo at St Agnes was going to morph into a recycling centre, but when the Tea Tree Gully Council got involved things really got heated.
Emmanouel Pishas’s move to turn his independently run petrol station into a commercial recycling facility drew protests and indignation and saw the council take him to court to block the proposal.
Charities were involved, colourful (and spirited) deputations were made and thousands of dollars were spent.
At the end of the spat, Mr Pishas walked away from the Environment Resources and Development Court with full planning consent and a smile on his face.
But it was not before months of battling between him and the council and $26,000 of ratepayer-funded legal action.
Beloved Semaphore water-slide heads to the scrap heap
It’s operator said there were no issues, but Port Adelaide Enfield Council inspectors disagreed and moved to demolish the iconic Semaphore Waterslide.
The council voted against restoring the once-beloved attraction given a $260,000 repair bill and the demolition decision saw an outcry from ratepayers.
Two petitions were presented to the council by operator Peter Blum containing more than 1000 expressions of support for the slide.
Mayor Claire Boan addressed concerns saying it was an unpleasant but necessary decision to make.
Just more than one year later, the council released a first look at a revamped foreshore and many concerns evaporated.
Treehouse of horrors for Seaview Downs family
Their children’s treehouse saw the City of Marion order them to pull down what the council said was a “deck”, but a Seaview Downs family were not going to let go easily.
Joe Statton’s 13-year-old stepdaughter Zenayah said she used the treehouse as an escape from “the parents” – but the council said it was “unlawful” and required development approval or risked a $20,000 fine.
Like something out a situational comedy, the family told The Advertiser they maintained it did not require development approval, would not be pulling it down, and were happy to go to court over the hullabaloo.
Marion mayor Kris Hanna said he wanted to negotiate over the treehouse – cubby houses in the council must be less than 5 sqm to be exempt from requiring development approval and Zenayah’s measured 6.25 sqm.
The Stattons maintain they are hopeful they will be able to keep Zenayah’s treehouse.
Council’s idea goes down like a lead balloon
With the Norwood Payneham & St Peters Council excited to roll out their plan for phasing out single use plastics, one councillor took things very literally.
While many councillors were anticipating the plan to stop plastic bread tags and bags from ending up in landfill, councillor Mike Stock questioned whether phasing out balloons would make the council look like a “killjoy”.
“I think this is an overkill because you cannot compare balloons with (plastic) soy sauce fish,” he told the council.
The council itself had suggested instead of balloons, baked good could be substituted in instances like baby gender reveals.
Mayor Robert Bria said the dilemma was a “vexxed” one, but one many councils would encounter in the future.
Tree roots leaves family stumped
They were promised the Australian dream, with an extra car park, but years of deliberation and battling with the Tea Tree Gully Council saw a Wynn Vale family’s home start to depreciate.
The cause? A tree at the front of the property which had uncontrollably growing roots pushing up their pavers and even causing cracks in their footings.
Jayne and Garry Kelly were left at their wit’s end after the council, instead of removing the tree, installed a new footpath that was impacted by the exact same roots that were ruining their front yard.
They saw some light at the end of the tunnel when a councillor moved a motion for the council to pay to cut the tree down – something that would cost about $10,000 – but the motion was defeated with even the mover voting against it.
Duck pond destruction answer to poo bill
When the City of Charles Sturt were quoted at least $900,000 to clean a beloved “urban oasis” in the heart of West Lakes they decided it might be best to take stock.
In taking stock they suggested an option to completely fill in the oasis – a collection of Duck Ponds – and make it a grassed area.
The residents were not having it and feared the council had been swept up in an underground deal with a developer.
Months later two petitions were presented to council with about 1000 signatures opposing the decision.
One resident, Tim Sylvester, suggested the removal of the lake would mean the suburb would need to be renamed to West Lake.
A month later the council shelved the option of entirely infilling the lake and pushed on with consultation about restoring it (and finding a cool $1m to clean it).
Childhood innocence? No, thanks
The Onkaparinga Council copped harsh criticism for a decision to force the removal of a beloved cubby house at Seaford.
The cubby house was a joint community venture constructed by several children at a local park.
But when the council got wind of it they forcibly removed what had been created, deeming it a safety risk.
Alongside the cubby house was a bike track that was also removed.
A council spokesman said in a review late in 2021 the “alterations” to the park were deemed “unauthorised and dangerous”.
But parents of children who played at the park were left stumped.
“Everyone sort of worked together … it was a real community thing,” Tiffany Bradley said.
Bike track falls to bits
It was billed as the answer to all of our BMX prayers, but upon its first professional use the Marion and Onkaparinga Council’s Sam Willoughby BMX track proved anything but.
Used to host the BMX Nationals in January, the track started to fall apart shortly after before being abandoned over safety fears.
The track was not yet “finished” at the time of the nationals but had been deemed “event ready”.
However, heavy rain conditions complicated the event, according to Marion Council chief executive Tony Harrison, before it was stopped early.
Mr Harrison revealed a final top coat had not yet been applied to the track, but a report would be ordered to confirm why the track so was so quickly damaged.
Days later, the council held a confidential meeting to discuss the damage to the $6m track, which they had spent an extra $60,000 preparing for the BMX competition.
Council calls in the debt collectors
The Tea Tree Gully has been no stranger to controversy with a mayor who has racked up 35 code of conduct breaches in this council tenure.
But a decision to send debt collectors to claim $642 in unpaid fees from a candidacy poster scandal was an interesting one.
The council asked former councillor Paul Barbaro to remove posters they claimed were contravening then-new state government corflute rules by December 1 last year.
But when he had not done so they sent council workers to complete the task.
Months after asking Mr Barbaro to pay them back the costs of taking down the signs, and on the advice of lawyers, they decided to delegate the task to debt collectors.
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Alleged murderer’s plea over mother and son’s death
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