An independent inquiry into the million-dollar revamp of Lords Place is set to be considered.
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Orange City Council will debate plans for the review at its next meeting, the Central Western Daily understands.
Councillor Frances Kinghorne - who has long flagged concerns with how the $1.58 million renovation has been carried out - is behind the push.
"I just don't think you can waste that much money and not take responsibility for it," she told the CWD this week.
"Everyone makes mistakes. We all stuff things up, that's just human nature. But if we don't learn from those mistakes, then we're just destined to repeat them and I just don't want to do that.
"I don't think there's anybody in Orange that's happy with what's happened there ... that's pretty hard to do, make everybody unhappy."
If approved, the audit would likely be run through the NSW Office of Local Government and be tasked with exploring:
- Whether all relevant accurate information was officially given to councillors prior to the approval.
- Whether all required/usual planning protocols and procedures were undertaken in relation to this matter.
- Whether there were any concerns raised by staff involved in the development, especially in relation to the apparent haste in implementing the project, and, if so, how were these concerns addressed?
- Whether the immediate start on the project was consistent with regulations, especially in relation to the effective blocking of any potential rescission motion.
- Whether there was effective consultation/ communication with the business owners during the development. Did the minutes of the meetings held, accurately reflect the content of those meetings and were these minutes adopted at subsequent meetings?
- Whether the differences between the concept plans and the actual development were necessary, specifically in relation to the arrangement of the double tree pits as perpendicular to the footpath rather than angled to align better with the parking spaces
- What internal reviews have already been conducted to date, and what is the outcome of any such reviews?
The now-$1.58 million Lords Place overhaul was approved by council on October 18, 2022. Construction began the following day, with trees cut down on October 20.
Work has proven controversial since. Many business owners told the CWD at the time further consultation had been promised prior to tree removals.
We have a responsibility to understand what went wrong, and to learn any lesson from this process to help ensure that such a massive waste of money is not repeated. The purpose of this motion is not to apportion blame to any individual. It is a genuine attempt to learn from a mistake. It is to show the community we are willing to be transparent, and to demonstrate that we have the capacity to accept that sometimes we get things wrong and are willing to learn from these experiences.
- Draft motion for independent review
In September almost every business on the street signed a petition requesting an independent investigation, and exploration into the viability of demolishing the installations.
Orange City Council voted to tear out the controversial renovation on October 3, 2023 - almost exactly a year after works commenced.
"I'm really concerned at the beginning we were told this was a trial that was reversible," Cr Kinghorne said on November 7, 2023.
"Every councillor in this room should be concerned about that, irrespective of how they voted initially.
"Was it incompetence, was it deception, are we being deliberately obstructed with the reinstatement process? It's not ok.
"There are a lot of concerns about this. About how it was done ... it's not ok. We've got to get the communication better or we'll do it again. We've really buggered this up, let's face it."
Director of Technical Services Ian Greenham has said: "We certainly didn't try to deceive council. We probably put it in a more positive step, rather than a negative approach."
Orange City Council will meet from 6.30 on Tuesday.
William Davis
Covering local government and breaking news in Orange with the Central Western Daily. Got a story? Contact me at william.davis@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Covering local government and breaking news in Orange with the Central Western Daily. Got a story? Contact me at william.davis@austcommunitymedia.com.au
