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25.01.2022 VILE BUSINESS KEPT UNDER THE HAT Bowral’s much celebrated two-hatted restaurant, Biota, has gone into liquidation with little or no fanfare in comparison to its launch nearly 10 years ago. Viles Group Pty Ltd, formerly trading as Biota Dining, was officially put into liquidation on 18 March of this year. A father and son company, the restaurant was operated by gifted chef James Viles, who specialised in utilising seasonal produce, particularly of the home-grown variety. Vege...tables and herbs were cultivated on site at 18 Kangaloon Road, Bowral, which now sits forlornly empty. According to a Sydney media story on 8 June, Biota Dining had liabilities of $761,708 when it was placed into liquidation by insolvency firm SV Partners. The restaurant had only $698 in the bank when it went belly up, and according to the same Sydney media report, the company slipped into liquidation at the same time that lockdown was put into place due to Covid19. At the time of its bankruptcy, the company owed employees $288,368; trade creditors $207,283, the ATO $166,057, and related creditors $100,000. Biota Dining had just $40,698 in assets at the time of its collapse. For many years, Biota had leased the property on Kanglaoon Rd, and there were options on the lease up until 2030. That option seems unlikely now. The venue and adjoining motel rooms are now owned by Mr Matthew Duffy, who also owns the Berida Manor. In August of 2019, this entire property went to auction in Sydney under the auspices of Burgess Rawson. A spokesperson at the time said that due to the popularity of townhouses in the Highlands (and the increase of cashed up Sydney residents seeking a country lifestyle close to Sydney), there was probably more value in the site becoming residential rather than continuing with any commercial activity. Arked Up rang Biota in an attempt to speak to James Viles, but the phone call went unanswered. It turns out there are customers with gift vouchers who have also been unsuccessful in making contact. There’s speculation that even with the Viles Group in liquidation, it’s not hindering James Viles in seeking out other business ventures. There’s talk of Mr Viles setting up a new restaurant in Sydney, and just recently his name was linked to a food and wine venture in the Wingecarribee that is yet to commence trading.

21.01.2022 The Earliest Bird Catches First by Juliet Arkwright Following on from my recent piece for the Southern Highlands Express - The Worm Begins to Turn, events continue to unfold.... Mayor Duncan Gair’s initial response to Deputy Mayor Garry Turland’s call for an Extraordinary General Meeting was to say that under the Local Government Act he had a fourteen-day window in which to call it. This was anticipated to be August 5. Now Mayor Gair has decreed the EGM will take place next Wednesday, July 29. He is a clever political strategist and this indicates that he continues to take control of the situation on his own terms, rather than those of Clr Turland and his two other signatories, Clrs Halstead and Scandrett. The whole purpose of the EGM is to consider the future of General Manager, Ann Prendergast, even though the Agenda officially refers to it as a staff matter. Therefore it could be said there are two possibilities: Either Mayor Gair feels confident that he has the numbers to protect the GM’s position on council or, sensing a wind change, he is again planning on being ahead of the game and will lead the push for her exit. If it is the latter, he wouldn’t be doing it without her co-operation. He would help put in place a successful exit strategy for Ms Prendergast which would involve a very large payout all at ratepayers expense. The Mayor would also successfully stymie Garry Turland’s attempt to make himself appear the people’s champion. Politics can be a tough old game and as far as both Clrs Gair and Turland are concerned, their long established close alliance has transmogrified into increasingly bitter confrontations. Both of them are also looking to be re-elected next year. This will depend on how long, and how much, the community remember about them. There is plenty more to come with this story.

19.01.2022 Regional Media in Crisis - by Juliet Arkwright Close to 200 regional and community papers have ceased printing since March of this year.... The Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) are launching a campaign to stand up for regional stories that matter. In an attempt to bring about genuine change in the industry, the MEAA is calling on all journalists working in regional or rural areas to be part of a national meeting via Zoom. This important get together will discuss the valuable role we play in our local areas, and the challenges we face. A successful campaign will ensure a sustainable future for quality local news. When it comes to the community of the Southern Highlands, the Wingecarribee Shire Council needs as much media attention as possible. As a local, experienced and independent journalist, with first hand knowledge of this Council, I look forward to zooming in on the MEAA’s Our Stories Matter campaign launch next month. If you believe in having a functioning and vibrant regional media, please let me know in the comments.

18.01.2022 MONEY, MONEY, MONEY It’s a Rich Ann’s World She is gone. General Manager of Wingecarribee Shire Council, Ms Ann Prendergast, is officially on sick leave for three months and her contract has also been terminated. This was announced today by Mayor Duncan Gair following an Extraordinary General Meeting of Council held this morning 29 July.... Terminated’’ was not used in the official Council media release; the word ‘’resignation’’ was the order of the day. As I predicted in my previous post, Duncan Gair put himself ahead of the game and it’s safe to assume he and Ms Prendergast had the whole deal worked out well before the zoom button hit live at Council this morning. The Office of Local Government had a representative in attendance to observe and report on the process, and to presumably prevent the flow of any unnecessary blood. Arked Up sources revealed that Clr Garry Turland, supported by Clrs Halstead and Scandrett, proposed a motion that the whole matter be deferred pending a full briefing by an external legal expert, however, this was defeated. Clr Turland was in full vociferous flow and words like ‘’dog’’, countered by accusations of bullying etc, ricocheted around the zoom chamber. In the end, Council voted 6-3 to accept the General Manager’s resignation and therefore the cessation of her contract under the terms proposed by Mayor Gair. The three against were Clrs Turland, Halstead and Scandrett. The remaining six voted in favour. This included the up-til-now absent Clr Gordon Markwart, who was on extended leave due to health reasons. The baton of Acting General Manager has been passed to Deputy General Manager, Operations, Finance & Risk, Barry Paull. Mr Paull’s tenure at WSC in a variety of roles must be approaching the 20 year mark, and his career trajectory with the council makes The Cat With Nine Lives pale into insignificance. His appointment was not unanimous, and was conveniently approved by the same voting pattern of 6-3. As pointed out by the Southern Highlands Express today 29 July, under Local Government legislation, Ms Prendergast will receive 38 weeks pay in lieu of notice. She is on approximately $330,000, so this will equate to $241,153.85. This does not include any accrued long service leave and annual leave. She is effectively on sick leave complete with medical certificate, so this will entail another three months of pay on top of it all as the 38 weeks do not kick in until the end of the sick leave. All of this has occured, and she’s already left the building. As my old school house mistress used to say, ‘’Well for some ’’ I will be doing a deeper analysis of the situation and a ‘whereto from now’ in next Wednesday’s edition of the Southern Highland Express. Stay tuned.

17.01.2022 Thanks for your comment, Paul, on 7 June, 2020. Arked Up is not determined by sour grapes. I’ve set up this page as a professional journalist to bring about better awareness of the activities of the Wingecarribee Shire Council, both past and present. I appreciate you’ve got a grievance with Councillor Scandrett, having known him for some years. But Arked Up is not the platform to make serious allegations of wrongdoing without hard evidence. ... Currently, the print media in regional Australia has been in shutdown due to economic uncertainty. In the Highlands, reporting on the council has been patchy for some time now. LattéLife did its best, and one can only hope the newly launched Southern Highlands Express can also do the same. As a journalist of 25 years (and a councillor and mayor of eight), I have a unique insight to council’s recent history and current activities, which over the last three months have been completely ignored in the public domain. In order to be credible to my readers and the community in general, I will maintain professional standards at all times. I write as a columnist and as a commentator, and all opinions expressed are my own. However, as a journalist, I will always report on what I believe to be factual, and cannot allow comments that are possibly defamatory to be part of my Facebook page (without evidence in support). My record as a councillor and former mayor speaks for itself, and in both roles, I believed I’ve remained unbiased. The thrust behind my most recent post about Clr Scandrett’s plight, was to reveal a long-term pattern of bullying behaviour by certain councillors at Wingecarribee Shire Council, some of whom are still serving. I believe it’s this particular issue that needs to be revealed to the community. The details of Scandrett’s ongoing saga were recently reported in the new local paper. As a commentator, I saw this as part of a behavioural pattern that needs to be exposed, and I reported on it. And I intend to elaborate further. Thanks again for your feedback. I call upon anyone in the community who wishes to comment please ensure it’s nothing defamatory, otherwise it will be moderated. Kind regards, Juliet Arkwright Arked Up

17.01.2022 Council Budgets for Rate Rise Juliet Arkwright A reminder to all Highlanders. ... The Wingecarribee Shire Council’s budget is now on public display until the end of the month. If you're financially minded, please take the opportunity to go through this document which can be found on Council’s website. Buried amongst the columns is a projected rate rise of 2.6%. Local government authorities have been granted permission by the powers-that-be to increase the rate, but it’s galling that it will go in part to rectify sloppy financial mismanagement that characterises this Wingecarribee Shire Council. The loss of a $4.2 million grant for the Berrima Deviation is a case in point. Not to mention the blowout of the Station Street budget. Council needs to see that the community is tracking their activities and that ratepayers are prepared to hold them to account. Written submissions on the budget helps to ensure this process. What do you think of the rate rise? Please let me know in the comments.

17.01.2022 Just watched the live streaming of WSC Extraordinary General Meeting held under instruction from the Minister for Local Government. What an abysmal demonstration of undemocratic, rancid piffle. The chairmanship of the meeting by Mayor Gair was at worst disgraceful and disrespectful and at best bumbling and inadequate. He launched an all out attack on Clr Ian Scandrett from the chair which breaks with proper meeting practice. He presented a Motion which he withheld from his... fellow councillors beforehand, with the exception of Clr Andrews for some reason. He threatened to resort to his anti democratic weapon of choice, the mute button. Both Clr Gair and Clr Ken Halstead were obviously more concerned about their reputations than the wellbeing of the community. Even ‘man of the people’ Larry Whipper said it would be ‘dangerous’ for the public to have a say. Of course it would - the public will shout out the truth about their appalling bad governance. Clr MCLaughlin blamed Council’s woes on outside influences and referred darkly to a certain councillor who wants to burn the house down. How tactful of him to refer to burning houses when the shire was devastated by catastrophic fires only a matter of months ago. Clr Turland’s was bullish as usual and seemed to be conducting his Zoom participation in a motor vehicle. Stationary, one assumes. Above all else was Mayor Gair, oozing a confection of piousness and outrage while commending his own moral rectitude as a selfless servant of the people. Sanctimonious and hypocritical rubbish. This Council doesn’t give a tuppenny toss for their community. Show them the door, please Minister. See more

15.01.2022 After All, Rome Wasn’t Built in Day Wingecarribee Shire councillors might well be meeting online in a lockdown scenario, but their physical hub of power is a beehive of activity as the building undergoes a multi-million dollar renovation. The Civic Centre in Moss Vale was constructed in the 1960s, and by the 1990s it was well past its used-by-date. Numerous iterations of Council had discussed doing something about it, but politicians are always wary sometimes justifiably... so in appearing to be nurturing their own creature comforts at the expense of the public purse. On this occasion, however, the Civic Centre had reached a stage of being a complete health hazard, and although there are some who might feel that a total collapse of the building with all the councillors in situ would be karmic, at a more humble level, there are many hard working employees who do not deserve such a fate. The council chamber itself has for many years been non-compliant with fire regulations: there was only one staircase leading in-and-out of the chamber, with no fire exits. The roof of the building had become incredibly porous and the sight of buckets strategically placed in the building during rainy weather was not uncommon. As a former councillor, I distinctly recall sitting in the chamber shuffling my papers around in a vain attempt to avoid the constant drip from above (and that wasn’t taking into account some of the drips who were seated). Externally, the new look is taking shape, complete with a series of Doric columns in an alarming shade of vermilion, being reminiscent of a Romanesque archaeological site. The total cost will be over nine-million-dollars, but if it facilitates a more efficient and productive way of working, then it could be said the renovation is worth it.

14.01.2022 Just heard Richard Glover on ABC radio Sydney make reference to the late British MP, Enoch Powell, as a former ‘professor of Greek’ at Sydney University in 1937. Part true - Powell was professor of Ancient Greek and was one of the youngest professors ever appointed by the University. Glover then went into ABC PC mode and drew a parallel between Powell and Pauline Hanson. The thought of Pauline giving recitations in Ancient Greek makes the mind boggle and it was fatuous for... Glover to make such a comparison. Enoch Powell delivered the famous ‘rivers of blood speech’ which was labelled as incredibly divisive and basically cost him his career. But he always vehemently claimed that he gave the speech to warn, not to encourage such behaviour. In his mind he told it as he saw it and he always stuck to the principle of academic freedom of speech. Looking at some of the behaviour at Black Lives Matter demonstrations the right of freedom of speech is fast becoming the exclusive domain of the ‘woke’ of this world. See more

14.01.2022 GM GOVERNING BY PRIVATE TENDER At Council’s last real’’ meeting of 25 March, councillors voted in favour to suspend council meetings throughout the month of April, leaving the affairs of state in the all encompassing hands of general manager Ann Prendergast and the mayor, Duncan Gair. The mayor also put forward a motion to hand ALL delegations to Ms Prendergast up until the 20 June or until council decides otherwise. In normal circumstances, the general manager could decide ...tenders up to and including $150k which simply facilitates the efficiency of the operational process. Mayor Gair’s motion (which was passed albeit not unanimously), means the general manager can now determine tenders from $400 to $40 million by HERSELF alone without reference to the mayor or the council. How can this possibly pass muster as good governance in either the public or private sector? LIVE STREAMING COULD BE BETTER FOCUSED Wingecarribee Shire Council met via live streaming on Wednesday 27 May, but despite the advanced technology, the meeting was as long as ever. I might respectfully suggest to council’s IT people that they re-configure the format as it is fairly cumbersome at present. The bulk of the streaming is taken up with the written agenda, with only a small window at the top right hand of the screen showing the mayor (and a few of his colleagues) at a table somewhere in the council building, with intermittent head and shoulders of councillors who pop-up in the frame from time to time. It’s impossible to distinguish faces properly, let alone expressions, and as this is half the fun when it comes to watching meetings, it would be helpful to split the screen more effectively. As the meeting was such a long winded affair albeit with some interesting items I shall go into more detail in the coming days with a dedicated post. I look forward to your feedback, and if there’s anything specific you feel I should know about, please contact me on Facebook Messenger. As a professional journalist, I never reveal my sources and confidentiality is assured.

09.01.2022 The Shambles Street Upgrade - by Juliet Arkwright I’ve just stumbled upon a Southern Highland News’ letter to the editor. ... It’s great to see correspondence making accurate comments on the Station Street debacle. And I’m as equally stunned to see it’s been published. There are a number of pertinent points Mr Harwood makes in his letter that I’ve been advocating for considerable time. The upgrade of Station Street is only 800 metres long with bottle necks at either end. At peak hour, both morning and afternoon, the congestion will be horrendous. However, let’s not jump the gun and get ahead of ourselves. That’s because the time it will take to build this engineering folly will result in Bong Bong Street becoming the ultimate traffic jam for possibly 2 years. It’ll be a never ending nightmare of vehicular constipation. Another point by Mr Harwood is the elimination of Bowral as a transport hub with the removal of most of the long term parking spots at the railway station. This is something which has been continuously emphasised by the Friends of Bowral on Facebook. All train station parking will centre around Mittagong, so Bowral residents travelling to Sydney will miss out big time. What's dear to my own heart is council's failure to make clear to the community that the upgrade is no longer a bypass. Station Street could never be a by-pass for Bowral. The only way to effectively by-pass Bowral is to take traffic across the railway line. The current Council’s legacy to the people of the Highlands, should Station Street go ahead, will be to turn a beautiful and historic town into a permanent dog’s dinner.

03.01.2022 Trivial Pursuit The Hunt for Councillor Scandrett - by Juliet Arkwright The Wingecarribee Shire Council’s ongoing pursuit of Councillor Ian Scandrett is becoming a real saga....Continue reading

03.01.2022 ROYAL SUMMONS IGNORED BY COUNCIL by Juliet Arkwright Royal Commissions are, by their very nature, a rare occurrence and not to be ignored. Therefore, it’s surprising the recent NSW Royal Commission into the apocalyptic bushfires is not being attended by the Wingecarribee Shire Council.... A Royal Commission has powers and privileges not possessed by other jurisdictions. This particular commission is designed to thoroughly investigate in-depth the causes, effects and outcomes of the fires so that emergency services and local government authorities, as well as state government, can learn from any defects and ensure that strategies are put in place to prevent or manage any future occurrences. Neighbouring councils such as Wollondilly and the Shoalhaven have submitted detailed reports, but Wingecarribee remains silent. Why, one has to ask. If subpoenaed by a Royal Commission, a respondent is obliged to answer all questions and cannot refuse to do so on the grounds of self incrimination. Does that provide a clue to readers? The invitation to appear before the Commission would have been sent to the council via the general manager and/or the mayor, and yet not a squeak from either of them. Were the councillors made aware that Wngecarribee Shire could have participated? In the interests of transparency, it would have been good to have seen the general manager and deputy general manager, Barry Paull, in the witness box. Mayor Duncan Gair as well. But truth will out in the end. This is one Pandora’s Box that will not go away. The Covid19 pandemic has so overwhelmed everything else, that it is easy for the memories of the bushfires to fade somewhat. But for those who were directly affected at the time, they still remain disaffected. There is so much that needs to be disclosed and analysed that this council seems to want to brush away. Do share your thoughts.