Thank you for your reply to our urgent email to Leanne Hurst sent yesterday morning.
We disagree with what you say, in that the Council’s website for Public Notices has twice been changed with regards to notifying the closing date for representations to be received.
We previously offered to provide you with the evidence of these incorrect notifications.
You are attempting to explain these errors as (mere) clerical errors.
That is not the case.
The Council’s webpage is what is exhibited in the Customer Service Centre via the computer terminals accessible there, which Council argues complied with the legislation where it is required to exhibit the application including plans and specifications.
We repeat, it is not, as stated by Leanne Hurst in her earlier email “an additional public service not required by legislation”.
Not only has the incorrect information been exhibited at the CustomerService Centre, the actual computer terminals that Council provide to create the exhibition, have not been functioning.
Again today, when I attended the Customer Service Centre, the terminals were not functioning, and upon enquiry of Service Centre Staff, one of the four terminals provided was able to be turned on.
That sole terminal was extremely slow, and as this application comprises a very large file of around 580 pages, we estimate that it would take around an hour just to open each page.
If an enquirer were to need to refer backwards and forwards from one section or part or page of the application, and have time to read each page, it is likely to take an entire day to peruse just the Gorge Hotel application.
This is rediculous and quite inappropriate and no one seeking to avail themselves of the public exhibition of this application at the Service Centre could be expected to allocate this amount of time.
Again the staff admitted there were ongoing problems with these terminals.
Taking into account that a number of people may arrive to inspect advertised development applications at the same time, and because there are a large number of applications being exhibited at this time, we cannot understand how Council can argue that the exhibition of applications at the Customer Service Centre can in reality comply with the legislation.
And so we again repeat that to overcome these deficiencies in the advertising and exhibition of this development application, it will be necessary for fresh advertising, notifications and exhibition of at least this Development Application, to be recommenced.
Please reply to this request as a matter of urgent importance.
Regards
Lionel Morrell
for Heritage Protection Society (Tasmania) Inc.
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