Wingecarribee council backflips, will charge bushfire victims fees
A Southern Highlands council last night voted down a motion to waive council fees for residents who lost their homes in the devastating bushfires, despite flagging they would waive the bill.
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A Southern Highlands council slugging bushfire victims thousands of dollars in development fees to rebuild their homes will keep the “disgusting” policy – despite councillors flagging they would reverse it.
Wingecarribee Shire councillors last night voted down a motion 6 – 3 to waive the development application and construction fees for residents who lost their homes in the devastating bushfires and didn’t have insurance.
The motion was put forward after The Daily Telegraph revealed the practice by the council, which included Exeter homeowner Sara Haslinger being quoted $10,000 if she wanted approval to build her scorched block.
Mayor Duncan Gair had defended the practice before the article was published but backflipped the next day saying he thought it should be waived.
He again changed his mind last night voting against the motion.
Ms Haslinger said it was horrifying.
“I’m horrified about this decision, it is disgusting. We’re all tired, we’re tired of dealing with this,” she told The Daily Telegraph.
“(The meeting) was like something out of Monty Python. The councillors had everything prepared for what they wanted to do or say before they went in, it looked like a performance for the cameras.”
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Councillors against the motion repeatedly mentioned they needed state and federal government funding to recover from blazes that destroyed 60 homes and 250 buildings in their electorate earlier this month.
Mayor Gair reiterated this point before saying criticism of council was unwarranted.
“There is a lot of emotion, and a bit of a beat up, by some councillors and some members of the community who are trying to point that council is the bad guy. We are the closest (body) to the community,” he said.
He was routinely interrupted by locals in the audience.
The loudest jeer came when Councillor Graham McLaughlin suggested waiving DA fees was a “get out of jail free card for insurers”.
Bundanoon resident Donna Andrews, 53, said she was dismayed by the apparent lack of care from council.
“It just shows that council is not listening to their community,” she said.
Council passed a motion on how they would allocate the federal government’s $1 million disaster relief fund – with the lion’s share of the money going towards rate relief and tree removal.