Meet the Molonglo Candidates

cmdwedge said :

Had the pleasure of attending this meeting last night, it was very well run. Most of the questions were about the same general subject matter (planning) but it was great to see the candidates in action. Was a gruelling 2.5 hours of questioning!

Particularly impressed by Corbell (ALP), Hanson and Sefton (Lib) and to a lesser degree, Rattenbury (Grn).
Most ALP candidates spent the night playing with iPhones or iPads, barely spoke and let Corbell do the talking.
Seriously underwhelmed by Le Couteur and Siddle (Grn). Pocock (Ind) I couldn’t understand a damn thing he said, just kept rattling on about being a Catholic. Stuart Bigg (PPA) kept answering questions that had been asked about 10 minutes previously. It was weird. But he had a cool beard.

My notes on the questions indicate the following:
Question 3 – Griffith high density housing development – community engagement perceived as lacking.
Question 7 – Quamby re-purposing – community engagement perceived as lacking.
Question 8 – Yarralumla planning – community engagement perceived as lacking.
Question 9 – Fitter’s workshop – community engagement perceived as lacking.
Question 10 – Issues with ACAT – ability for community to participate in process perceived as one sided and inaccessible to the layman.
Question 11 – urban intensification – community engagement perceived as lacking – feedback sought from candidates on preferred method
Question 12 – Duplex development and DA notification anomalies – community engagement perceived as lacking
Question 13 – Sterling ridge and NCA issues – How to involve community needs with NCA planning?
Question 14 – Query on independent oversight for Development applications

Of 20 or so questions, 9 of them were in relation to perceived lack of successful community engagement in the planning and development process in the ACT.

If it had made sense to address each question individually and assuming ‘ceteris paribus’, then answering in that fashion would have been fine.

Unfortunately a detectable pattern emerged after a few questions that highlighted an underlying problem.

Recognising and pointing out that pattern and problem is the first step in coming up with a working solution. Which meant drawing comparisons between questions and highlighting the similarity to previous questions.

I’m glad you like the beard.

Stuart Biggs
Pirate Party ACT

I’d rather see them all addressing the Lego. So very revealing.

We thank Laurie Wilson, our moderator, who helped us out with only a days notice.

The whole point was to give all the candidates time to put their cases and allow the public to question them on their issues. Getting the balance right is hard, the timekeeper Ann Forrest, also did a good job. The meeting finished on schedule.

The main concern of ISCCC is planning so that explains the questions.

Tuggeranong Community Council (Brindabella Electorate) webcast their meeting, and incorporated twitter, this will be on their website when downloaded. http://www.tuggcc.com/

Had the pleasure of attending this meeting last night, it was very well run. Most of the questions were about the same general subject matter (planning) but it was great to see the candidates in action. Was a gruelling 2.5 hours of questioning!

Particularly impressed by Corbell (ALP), Hanson and Sefton (Lib) and to a lesser degree, Rattenbury (Grn).
Most ALP candidates spent the night playing with iPhones or iPads, barely spoke and let Corbell do the talking.
Seriously underwhelmed by Le Couteur and Siddle (Grn). Pocock (Ind) I couldn’t understand a damn thing he said, just kept rattling on about being a Catholic. Stuart Bigg (PPA) kept answering questions that had been asked about 10 minutes previously. It was weird. But he had a cool beard.

And whilst he didn’t have a great deal to say, when he spoke, our own GungahlinAl, Alan Kerlin (Grn) did a good job too, just needed to settle the nerves. He spoke far better than Le Couteur and should have been allowed to speak more.

Quick VeryBusy, see if you can join the dots.