This is old news!

And what has anyone been able to do about this biased and obviously corrupt leadership?

There is a case currently pending in Western Australia with a council representative and taped evidence of a conversation he had with one of his personal associates to aid in his successful bid.

But say if he wasn't caught?

One can feel a bit down trodden when it is so obvious to many, the consistant and blatant examples of not what you know but who you know.

Are these leaders and management setting the right examples to our communities and our future leaders.

This only furthers the wide divisions between people and only serves to inflame those who have been committed to a democratic process.

Still delivering the party line, Ludwig? "Bottom up approach to vegetation management"? Give us a break. I was right at the coal face on the drafting of 5 Regional Plans. I saw all the smoke and mirrors, heard all the spin and deliberate misrepresentation of facts, the lies, broken promises and sleaze. And we still managed to produce RVMP's that were completely overridden by new legislation before the paint was dry. It came right over the top with stuff that had never even been mentioned in the drafting process, let alone debated fully. We know you are a paid up vegnazi but at least give the other readers their right to put your statements in context.

A good article thank you.

An effort to improve individual and organisational integrity directly by training, e-enabled transparency and accountability and an overhaul of the FOI and libel laws is badly needed. Fora like this can help build momentum for these changes.

As numerous NSW attempts will show, Planning is anything but planning. It is a reactive series of spot rezonings and political whims.

As the electoral cycles in NSW are fixed, OOPS, set on a four year cycle, so should planning matters.

I previously suggested to the Government that as a State Govt is elected in March, with the Council elections in September, the State Govt gets elected on a planning platform, draws it up and then by September Local Candidates are then armed with the State Rules and can develop their own platform.

By December the planning rules are set for the next 3 years, with no spot rezonings outside of an annual review each September.

What do you reckon? Could it work?