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By Chris Oldfield NARACOORTE’S roundabouts have a total expenditure of $14.6 million, according to the SA Government’s 2023-24 budget papers. That includes a further $2.75 million listed to be spent before June 2024. Ironically, a 2004 Naracoorte Lucindale Council ignored the community’s call for stop lights, claiming roundabouts were going to be cheaper. The $14.6 million listing is on page 113 of Budget Statement – Budget Paper 3. But it represents money spent since 2020. Explaining the expenditure to The News, Regional Roads Minister Geoff Brock said the $14.6 million Rural Roads Package – Naracoorte Roundabouts project “has comprised upgrades to two existing roundabouts located in Naracoorte”. Regarding the Riddoch Hwy-Wimmera Hwy/Smith St-Lucindale Rd roundabout, Mr Brock said it involved full reconstruction of the roundabout, kerb realignment, upgraded road lighting, line marking, new underground drainage and pavement reconstruction. “Main works were completed in June 2020, with a minor redesign of […]

By Nasik Swami The Tatiara District Council needs to make money from workers who will occupy the newly completed workers accommodation at the Bordertown Caravan Park, says an elected counsellor. During a council meeting, Cr Miles Hannemann argued that the $300 per week fee for the workers’ accommodation was too little for a council that was financially struggling. In a report that factored in the current ‘market context’ for providing medium-term worker’s accommodation, the council administration proposed a fee schedule of $300 to be set for the furnished worker’s accommodation. The council was divided on the proposal, with some councillors saying the fee was fair and would attract workers to come to Bordertown, stay there, and spend money. “Council does not have many streams of income, and we have got these units at $300 per two people; that’s $35 a night per person,” Cr Hannemann said. He said workers paid […]

By Nasik Swami The Tatiara District Council is in a “financial disaster” with a lack of transparency and lots of coverups it has been claimed. This is how concerned ratepayer Peter Barras of Bordertown described the council, alleging the public had lost trust, respect, and confidence in its elected representatives to run council affairs. Mr Barras, who attended the council meeting in Bordertown on June 13, wrote a letter to the council seeking answers on the council’s failed purchase of a truck, resulting in a loss of $356,000 of ratepayer funds. “At a time when families are experiencing unprecedented cost of living pressures and many businesses are still struggling after recent years, it was breathtaking to see this council lose $356,000 and then have the temerity to propose a 5 percent increase in council rates,” he said. Mr Barras asked if the ratepayers of the Tatiara District were punished for […]

By Nasik Swami It was not just an ordinary bus tour of the district. It was a tour that included some of the elected counsellors of the Naracoorte-Lucindale Council on a bus, witnessing the various conditions of some of the roads in the district. As fascinating as it sounds, Cr Peter Ireland described the tour as an important one, giving elected members the opportunity to be “out in the field and not just be making decisions from the council chambers”. The June 16 tour was organised following a question with notice from Cr Abigail Goodman at the council’s May 2023 Strategic Asset & Planning Committee meeting, asking whether elected members would be interested in participating in a full-day bus tour that showcases the different roads in the district. Cr Goodman stated the tour would include examples of: Roads that demonstrate the different service levels and how they are determined. How […]