End scare mongering about Gwandalan tip site

Wyong Shire Council leaders have appealed for calm over the Gwandalan tip site.

Mayor, Warren Welham, and General Manager, Kerry Yates, called for everyone involved to end heated debate and scare mongering, especially about staff approaches and clean up costs.

“Some Councillors are claiming that Council is hunting down the staff who were involved in the Gwandalan tip site circumstances,” said Mayor Welham.

“This is absolutely and categorically not true.

“Council staff are hard working individuals who are just doing their day to day jobs.

“An independent auditor has cleared Council of any corruption or cover up in this case and that is a very significant factor for us.

“What we are trying to do, however, is find a way forward and implement some new Council processes to help ensure this situation will not happen again in the future.

“Every organisation learns from past practices and we are no different. Council’s past waste practices stretch back over 20 years. We now need to move on and find a way forward.

“Wild and misleading accusations from other Councillors are irresponsible and unhelpful. Instead I call on everyone to calm down and be a lot more constructive in moving this process forward.”

Mr Yates added that staff are already working towards developing new procedures for better managing Council’s waste services.

“Rehabilitating the Gwandalan tip site has already begun and a number of staff are helping us work out a way forward with this whole process,” he said.

“I want to thank our staff for their help in sorting through this process. We all need to learn from the past and move into the future.

“The independent auditor is still continuing some work but no-one is going to be hunting down staff and developing a scare culture within Council. That would be counter-productive and unfair.”

Mr Yates also reiterated that the cost of cleaning up Gwandalan tip site has not yet been determined.

“Recent claims of a $10 million clean-up bill are unsubstantiated. No cost has yet been confirmed for the work we need to do,” he said.

Media contact: Lisa McDermott on 0438 980 445

Page last updated: 28/07/2008