Hi Judy,
I guess i'm getting a little tired of all the stuff that comes out of the back of a bull about the Quarry from a small group of people.
Read below and especially There is a way to resolve all this.
It's time that they were challenged and not only me, but by members of the State Gov. from a legal level about the credibility of their self opinionated accusations and lack of evidence with legal opinion.
I ask this question.... Why are these people who want an "Independent Public Inquiry", afraid to instigate it themselves.... is it because they really don't have any credible evidence and want the Council or State Gov. to look silly, or, maybe they don't want their names in the lime light when the outcome is not in their favour.
It is not up to the innocent to prove ones innocence, it is up to the accuser to prove ones guilty.
From Councillor Steve Evans JP
Hornsby Shire Council
Direct lines:
Phone 9484 7955
Fax 9484 7911
Mobile 0438 777 520
0410 549 412
Email: sevans@bigpond.net.au
or steveevans@hornsby.nsw.gov.au
To all who have had to put up with receiving emails concerning the barrage of accusations made against Hornsby Shire Council over their handling of the forced acquisition of Hornsby Quarry by a small group of residents, My deepest apologies .
I also apologize for the length of this email, however, the accusations they make without supplying any credible evidence backed up with legal opinion should be challenged.
This unwillingness to supply legally backed evidence (it has been repeatedly asked for) appears to be their down fall as the accusations do appear to be just.that, self opinionated accusations with no credibility.
The above link will take you to the questions and answers on the Hornsby Shire Councils website concerning the forced acquisition of Hornsby Quarry.
Mr Robertson SC was asked by Council to give legal opinion on questions requiring such answers. I believe Mr Robertson SC gave sound legal opinion.
I believe that Mr Robertson SC would not jeopardize his reputation as hinted to in the last email ( repeated at the bottom of this email and really worth reading ), again, I believe that no one who is highly reputable in the legal profession would jeopardize their reputation in this manor. You will also see the qualifications of the one who is challenging the high reputation of the legal profession and also would probably explain the level of credibility of the writer.
We on council have seen these five lines in a recent email
"Councillors, if you still do not believe me about Robert Ball, tell me why.
You owe it to the community and yourselves to shut me up if I am wrong.
Prove to the public that I am a liar and have wasted tens of thousands of Ratepayers dollars.
Tell the community why? If you dont it your credibility that is on the line, not mine.
Do this and I will apologise and donate $50,000 to charity and pay Council the $10,000 promised in 2000.
1.I remember a conversation with the person who wrote these lines at one of theCouncil meetings I told him what I thought of his actions and that I had lost all respect for him, I remember the challenge I made to him "if you are so sure that the GM is so bad, you take him to court," I remember the threat made to me, "no, I won't take the GM to court, he tried to get me to do that once before, but I didn't fall for that, no, I'll take you councillors to court instead". If you have not got enough faith or guts to act on your own convictions, then you have no right to ask anyone to believe you.
2. Is it not the law, one is innocent till proven guilty?, all the failed attempts with accusations to ICAC and other Govt. departments is enough proof for the community . It is not up to the innocent to prove ones innocence, it is up to the accuser to prove ones guilty.
3.Why? do you really think you need our help???
4. Who's credibility?? read the first two paragraphs again, there is allot of accusations thrown at Council, the question is, IF any of these people actually believed in any of the accusations to be true then why don't they act upon their own convictions.
These few people who think Council is corrupt should take legal action themselves or take all their information to ICAC or the Premier's Dept and give this alleged information to them requesting for an "independent Public Enquiry".
I can imagine that this would be difficult to achieve as the "evidence" would need to be credible, not just what it appears to be and that is self opinionated accusations .
If this small group of people were listening to my question to, and answer from, Mr Robertson SC concerning "Independent Public Inquiries", they would have realized that they have every same right to request an "Independent Public Inquiry", A gain , this would be difficult to achieve as the "evidence" for an Inquiry would need to be credible and capable of standing up in a court, not just self opinionated accusations.
I don't believe Council is afraid of an "independent Public Enquiry" as hinted to in the email at the bottom, I believe it would be better for the small group of people wanting an "independent Public Enquiry" to instigate it themselves so that their name(s) will be held accountable for their own actions rather than Council being accused again of wasting rate payers time and money .
My question is,, Why are these people who want an "Independent Public Inquiry", afraid to instigate it themselves.... It is not up to the innocent to prove ones innocence, it is up to the accuser to prove ones guilty.
It is obvious to me that this group will never be satisfied with any outcome as the answer to this following question that was asked shows " If there was an "Independent Public Inquiry" would you accept the umpires decision?" the answer I received "It all depends on the outcome" in other words one could read it as saying, "I will only accept the decision if its to my way of thinking " .....
Quarrygate is a fictional title , for it to be fact, there must be evidence to prove that Council were corrupt in the way of handling the forced acquisition of the quarry , the evidence needs to be handed over to a prosecutor, the Council taken to court and found guilty. Again , this would be difficult to achieve as the "evidence" for charges of corruption would need to be credible and capable of standing up in a court, not just self opinionated accusations or fiction . Again, This appears to be where they will fail.
5. An apology on the front page of the Advocate with the evidence of payment to a charity and a donation to council will be appreciated as I answered the 4 points made, or, are you going to renege on your offer using some flimsy excuse.
There is a way to resolve all this and that is for the accusers to act upon the following demands and make it all available for public scrutiny, (at the accusers expence)
That the accuses are to provide evidence with legal opinion from one in the legal profession to explain
a) why Mr Robertson SC is wrong in his interpretation of the law concerning the forced acquisition of the quarry and
b) to explain the following:
1. It was not a forced acquisition
2. We were not required to pay CSR the sum set by the Valuer General
3. Council acted in a corrupt manor in handling the entire process
4. That all their accusations and evidence with its legal opinion, along with full documentation that the accusations are based on (none of the documentation is to be incomplete or reworded) to be made available for public scrutiny and reply. (same as what Council has done)
5. That with each accusation, the name of the accuser be printed so that they will be held accountable for their actions
Failure of the accusers to act upon their own convictions, failure take legal action or to fail in the above demand shows that their accusations are more than likely just self opinionated and not credible.
AGAIN, It is not up to the innocent to prove ones innocence, it is up to the accuser to prove ones guilty. This appears to be where they fail as until proven otherwise, their accusations are just self opinionated accusations.
"He is obviously a highly intelligent person". This was a comment made about our GM and all I can say is... We all know that, it explaines the statement by the Auditor that " we are in the group of well managed Councils." We obviously have the right man for the job.
Councillor Steve Evans JP
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The Hon. Kerry Arthur HICKEY, MP
The Hon. Kerry Arthur HICKEY, MP
Minister for Local Government
Level 32, Governor Macquarie Tower
1 Farrer Place
SYDNEY NSW 2000
Independent and Public Inquiry needed into Hornsby Shire Council and their $26 million purchase of a worthless, dangerous quarry site with no public access,
for which ratepayers are paying for - even though they were never legally represented during the process
Dear Sir,
This is a major issue in our shire, as it affects roughly 150,000 ratepayers, and not just a few residents. Hornsby Shire Council's report on their acquistion of the Hornsby Quarry (which is written/commissioned by themselves) serves no purpose to anyone, as it is not impartial. It's just very expensive Council PR at ratepayers' expense (again). It's embarrassingly obvious, really. (I could also write a lovely story to exonerate myself after being up to no good, especially if I hired a fancy legal writer!)
There will be no real investigation by DLG. It will be put in the bottom draw following a few friendly phone calls between old friends working in different camps. I have it on good authority (on paper) that the way the DLG Investigations and Review Branch usually operates is they call the GM first to have a chat, and if the GM can assure the DLG there's nothing to worry about (over the phone), then the case is closed on the basis of that one phone call. Maybe there'll be a few calls just to catch up properly! My guess is that they will probably wait a little while for the predicted outcome announcement though, as otherwise it will look as though no real investigation has been carried out. The only thing that Hornsby Shire Council would be worried about is an Independent and Public Inquiry, as Council would loose control over the process and be subject to truly independent and public scrutiny. But as this could open a can of worms, there are many trying to ensure this will never happen.
And is it appropriate anyway for the DLG to investigate their own involvement in this charade?
Why do we have the Local Government Act if everyone ignores it?
I strongly believe that an internal investigation by the Department of Local Government would be most inappropriate for this particular case.
Yours in good faith,
Hornsby resident and mother
Providing passive recreation and relief from residential development.
A 40ha community park, promised in Hornsby's Centenary in 2006
‹ and a lasting legacy for future generations.