It's been years of council stalling on this issue for often bizarre objections, but now it has finally happened...but wait.

There is now talk of a licensing agreement to ensure the market doesn't affect other local businesses.

Hold on, what was that?  

Even after excluding the fact the market draws people to other businesses on a Friday, this decision by some councillors is quite frankly bizarre!

Was there a similar agreement drawn up with Woolworths when its mega mall was approved, destroying several local businesses in Carp St and beyond?

Was there an agreement drawn up with Bermagui Woolworths or the Maccas franchise in Bega?

Was there a licensing agreement to protect existing hardware shops attached to the strange rezoning of land in Tura for the new Bunnings – against recommendations by council's own planning department?

No there weren't in any of these cases.

There is one stark difference for the SCPA Market proposal – it doesn't involve a large corporate or large developer, it only involves local food producers selling healthy food and enlivening Littleton Gardens once a week.

If I were a cynic I would have to presume some on our council (elected and employee) were obsessed with the corporate world and unable to appreciate any proposal that doesn't have a corporate logo, large amounts of concrete, neon lights and a slimy corporate sales pitch behind it.

This rather sad perspective is destroying community not building it. 

You have got to wonder when council calls on everyone to become involved in development of its updated Community Strategic Plan to 2040, a plan full of motherhood, polly waffle statements about visions and aspirations.

Why would anyone bother to get involved when council doesn’t listen to the community anyway?

What better example than when at its last meeting it approved the development application for the controversial water tower in Pambula – a development council staff highlighted as being in breach of planning controls and protocols everyone (with the obvious exception of some) appears obliged to observe.

It’s one thing to disagree with or ignore the views of other councillors or even professional staff, but in their haste to approve the application, Crs McBain, Seckold, Britten, Fitzpatrick and Allen didn’t even give consideration to the unprecedented community opposition to the development in the form of 327 written submissions, plus a large petition, all strenuously opposed.

For council’s Community Strategic Plan to have any standing, it needs to be informed by a comprehensive community satisfaction survey, as has been the case in previous reviews.

Such a survey would also provide very useful feedback on the community’s perception of council’s performance over the past four years, in particular ahead of the scheduled local government elections in September.

But the “biggest community consultation process ever” won’t benefit from that vital input this time, with the community satisfaction survey conveniently deferred until after the local government elections, which also means residents/ratepayers will be denied the opportunity to assess and appreciate council’s performance ahead of polling day.

September is not far away, giving us the once in four-year opportunity to oust this lot and replace them with some who are willing to genuinely listen and represent the community.