Category: Behind the Byline

The Local Scandal That Proves Communities Need Their Own Watchdogs

This story is about the evolution of political narrative, the rewriting of history, and the impact on communities who live with the consequences.

All the flying kicks were in the headlines. The real fight was locals landing truth where it counted.

There are moments in your life when you discover that the people holding power are not the ones holding the line. My time as the civics reporter at our local newspaper taught me that over and over again. It gave me a front-row seat to people who were brave, stubborn, principled and sometimes exhausted, and it showed me how far federal, state and local governments can blur the lines long before anyone steps in to hold them accountable.

Writing about these issues was never simple. But it introduced me to some extraordinary individuals, including three men whose names deserve far wider recognition: former MP John Hatton, community investigator Peter Alison, and researcher Alan Burrows. For more than 16 years, they have tracked, analysed, documented and repeatedly raised the alarm about one of the most extraordinary corruption scandals in regional NSW. Their work was sitting in folders, waiting to be shared, waiting for someone to pick it up again.

If Cat Holloway had not made the decision to publish their research on Spark Shoalhaven, that story would have slipped quietly into silence. See  her first exposé and the follow-up that dug even deeper   It certainly would not have been given oxygen by people like me, or debated on local platforms, or forced into the sunlight once the Shaolin abbot’s arrest made it impossible to ignore.

And this is the point. When we start handing out state funerals to figures like Graham Richardson, we shouldn’t be surprised that so many people feel powerless. We have normalised a culture where political misbehaviour is excused, sanitised or quietly forgotten. Communities watch this pattern repeat and begin to wonder whether anything they do matters.

A group of journalists and community advocates have decided it does, and I’m proud to stand with them. Over the next 12 months we will be spotlighting the people who refuse to give up, the people who keep speaking even when they’re ignored, the people who still believe integrity matters. These are the researchers, whistleblowers, campaigners and everyday residents who know their voice can cut through.

We have had enough of corruption being normalised. Enough of governments ignoring detailed, painstaking evidence while dismissing those who gather it. Enough of communities being told to move on.

This next chapter belongs to those who didn’t.

And now, for anyone who enjoys contrast, here’s a short chapter in “Things Said Out Loud Then, and Things Said Very Carefully Now.”

Then versus now: what they said in 2007 vs what they’re saying in 2025

Matt Brown — Then (2007, Sydney Morning Herald)

As NSW Tourism Minister, he championed the Shaolin proposal:

“It will be the first time in 1500 years that another Shaolin Temple will be built and to have it built in Australia is a huge coup.”

He assured the abbot the NSW Government would “do whatever it can for the project.”
He helped connect the monks with Shoalhaven Council and began the land conversation.

Matt Brown — Now (2025, ABC Illawarra)

Eighteen years later, the tone has shifted:

“There were just some practices I felt a little uneasy with… discomfort with what was said and then not followed up.”

A huge coup in 2007.
A vague uneasiness in 2025.
This is how political memory is revised.

Greg Watson — Then (2007)

When Brown told him the monks wanted land, Watson, then Shoalhaven Mayor, replied:

“Have I got a deal for you.”

He led delegations, promoted the land, and moved the project forward with enthusiasm.

Greg Watson — Now (2025)

His current position is that criticism is:

“politically-motivated electioneering to re-write history.”

But the history is written in their own words.

What happens now

Now that the Shaolin story has burst wide open, every key figure will step forward with their carefully crafted lines. Their PR advisers will try to airbrush the past, soften their role and retreat into the language of misgiving and hindsight.

But communities are smarter than that.
They remember.
And they recognise the people who kept the truth alive when no one in power wanted to hear it.

The real warriors weren’t performing flying kicks.
They were locals landing truth where it counted.

Disclaimer:

And because public commentary in NSW seems to require a legal pre-emptive strike:
I am not accusing anyone of wrongdoing.
I am not alleging corruption, misconduct or illegal behaviour by any person named or quoted.
Everything referenced here comes from individuals’ own publicly recorded statements , from 2007 media coverage and from interviews given this week

#Shoalhaven #NSWPolitics #IntegrityMatters #DemocracyInAction #PublicInterestJournalism #CommunityPower #PlanningFailures #Accountability #LocalGovernment #TruthTellers

Respect is not selective. Accountability applies to everyone

Every community conversation reveals patterns. Some are constructive. Some are revealing. And sometimes the contrast between past behaviour and present claims becomes impossible to ignore.

Recently, on Facebook, former Kiama mayor Neil Reilly responded to one of my posts in a way that questioned my integrity. His comments were the only personal remarks made in the entire thread. All other community members stayed focused on the issue at hand, which was the impact the Akuna Street development will have on Kiama’s CBD.

What makes this notable is not the comment itself, but the context.
Several readers have reminded me of something important. In 2019, Kiama Council formally censured Councillor Neil Reilly under the Code of Conduct. This is a matter of public record. The investigation substantiated multiple allegations, including social media comments that were disparaging of Councillors and disparaging of Council staff.

The relevant report is found in the Council agenda of 22 October 2019.

It documents:

• social media comments that were disparaging of Council
• comments that were disparaging of other Councillors
• comments that were disrespectful to staff
• conduct that brought Council into disrepute

These findings make his comments to me in 2025 all the more striking.

On one hand, the public record shows he was formally censured for disparaging comments about Councillors and staff. On the other hand, years later, he is telling the community that questioning Council decisions is “disrespectful” and that raising concerns is inappropriate.

The Bugle’s December 2023 article also raised serious concerns about the way Mayor Neil Reilly publicly characterised Councillor Karen Renkema Lang’s comments to ABC Radio. The article shows he initiated the complaint that led to her censure, despite her simply raising community concerns about the Blue Haven reclassification and incomplete or unclear information provided to Councillors. His public statements criticised her personally, yet the ABC audio makes clear she neither blamed staff nor claimed to speak for Council. This pattern of misrepresenting legitimate scrutiny sits uncomfortably beside what happened next, when the Supreme Court found her censure to be invalid and Kiama Council was ordered to pay more than two hundred thousand dollars in legal costs, as reported by the ABC.

and lets not forget As reported in the Sydney Morning Herald

Source  

So a clear pattern emerges.

  • 2016 “inappropriate” text messages
  • In 2019 he was formally censured for disparaging remarks about fellow Councillors and staff.
  • In 2023 he pursued a censure of Councillor Karen Renkema Lang that was later found to be invalid, costing ratepayers more than two hundred thousand dollars in legal fees.
  • And in 2025 he chose to question my integrity rather than answer a straightforward planning question about parking and CBD disruption.

This is not about personalities.
It is not about revisiting old grievances.
It is about consistency and credibility.

When someone with a history of breaching Council’s Code of Conduct for disparaging comments, and someone whose actions have cost the community hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees, publicly accuses others of disrespect, it raises a reasonable question.

What standard is being applied, and why does it only seem to apply when the questions are directed at them?

For me, the issue remains the same as it always has been.
The community has the right to ask questions.
The community has the right to expect answers.
And the community has the right to be treated with respect by anyone who has held public office.

Accountability is not a one way street.
Respect is not selective.
And the public record matters.

Please see my blog post responding to former  Mayor Neil Reilly’s Facebook comments here

#KiamaCommunity #Accountability #PublicRecord #LeadershipMatters #CommunityFirst #AkunaStreet #KiamaCBD #RespectInPublicLife

When political mates, mystery mortgages and a billion dollar quarry collide

When old decisions cast long shadows

Every so often a story surfaces that reminds us how decisions made not so far from home can shape the lives of ordinary people for generations. The Spark Shoalhaven reporting that on the work of long-time local investigators on the ill-fated Shaolin Temple deal at Comberton Grange is one such story. It is sprawling, unnerving and at times unbelievable, yet it is built entirely on documented history.

At the heart of this saga lie two names familiar to people in our region. Kiama Councillor and former MP Matt Brown, and Shoalhaven City Council CEO and former MP Andrew Constance. Their actions sit at opposite ends of the timeline. One helped open the door that led to the sale, the other tried to slam it shut before the damage was locked in.

How it all began

Buried in the Spark chronology is the moment the Comberton land deal took its sharpest turn. Then Shoalhaven Mayor Greg Watson proudly declared he had an opportunity thanks to a conversation with Kiama MP Matt Brown, whose Chinese contacts were looking for land.

From that one exchange came a race to sell off 1200 hectares of public land for five million dollars, wrapped up in a nine-year mortgage arrangement that allowed the buyers to delay payment until 2015.

A quarry that had been identified by state and federal surveys as strategically important for road building was then swept into the deal after an obscure council resolution reversed earlier protections.

When the warnings started

This is where the story takes an important turn. The deal did not unfold in silence. It was challenged by someone with a long record of standing up to entrenched power: John Hatton AO.

A former Shoalhaven Shire Council President and independent MP for the South Coast, Hatton initiated the Woods Royal Commission and served on ICAC’s oversight committee. He recognised risk when he saw it, and he saw plenty in this deal.

Hatton produced a detailed series of videos outlining the dangers of the Comberton arrangements and the unanswered questions around the quarry sale. Former Mayor Greg Watson attempted to silence him through a defamation action, but Hatton defended the matter and won costs. His persistence helped bring years of buried documents, failed oversight and questionable decisions into the daylight.

Placed alongside Matt Brown’s early introduction of the buyers and Andrew Constance’s later attempts to intervene, Hatton’s role stands as a reminder that people did try to stop this. They were ignored.

The parliamentary alarm bell

Back in 2006, Andrew Constance, then a young state MP, took the extraordinary step of moving a formal motion in NSW Parliament. He called out Mayor Watson for a lack of community consultation, secrecy around the contract signing and the broader risks to Shoalhaven residents. He urged the Ministers for Planning and Local Government to intervene and counsel the Mayor. He wanted the sale scrutinised and the public protected.

His efforts made no difference at the time. The land was sold for a fraction of its value and the contract terms were never revisited.

The cost of getting it wrong

This is where the story becomes staggering. The quarry under Comberton Grange, once in public hands, was valued by local experts at close to a billion dollars in road building material. It could have rebuilt the entire Shoalhaven road network almost twice over. Instead, Council became dependent on lower-quality material from Tomerong, where 300,000 tonnes of potentially toxic waste, including asbestos, was dumped and mixed with road base.

The result is visible every time a tyre blows, every time a rate notice increases and every time someone asks why our infrastructure feels held together by hope.

Why this matters now

What makes this saga so pointed today is the full circle it has taken. Constance is now CEO of the same council whose financial position is shaped by a deal he once tried to challenge. Brown now sits on Kiama Council during a period when communities are demanding greater transparency and stronger safeguards around public land.

This is not about assigning personal blame. It is about understanding how decisions are made, who influences them and what happens when scrutiny falls away. The Comberton story is not only a Shoalhaven concern. It is a warning for every regional community where deals can move faster than public oversight.

Sunlight is catching up. It always does.

Read the full story here 

#Shoalhaven #Kiama #JohnHatton #AndrewConstance #MattBrown #PublicLand #ICAC #Governance #LocalPolitics #CommunityFirst

When the question is bigger than blame. Let’s invite our Kiama community to be part of the solution

If you have been following my recent blog posts, you will know how we arrived at this moment. It began with a simple and reasonable question about what will happen to Kiama’s CBD once construction begins on the Akuna Street site. The more people asked the same question, the clearer it became that this is a conversation the whole community wants and deserves to have.

So I set out to explore what good planning looks like, drawing on world leading models such as Singapore where community involvement and long term vision guide every decision.

That work was never about debating the past. It was about understanding the situation we are now facing, because hindsight alone will not solve this. Akuna Street is going ahead, and the CBD will be disrupted for years.

The real question, the one that matters now, is this.

What can we do together to learn from places that have faced similar challenges and come out stronger?

Kiama is not the first town to lose its central parking.
We are not the first community to face a long construction period in the heart of the CBD.
We are not the first to feel let down by decisions made without clear long term planning.

So instead of sitting in frustration, let us shift the conversation to the shared work in front of us. Let us ask what other towns and councils have already learned, and how we can apply that knowledge here.

If we were sitting around the table together, where would we start

If I were a local councillor facing this situation, the first thing I would do is invite the community into the problem solving. Not as a gesture, but as a genuine partnership. Kiama is full of smart, resourceful people who care deeply about this town. We do not need to wait for a single expert to hand down answers. We can build them together.

Here are a few places we could start.

Identify examples of towns that have survived CBD shutdowns
Regional centres, coastal towns and small cities have all faced similar situations. Some handled the disruption well. Others did not. We can learn from both.

Look at temporary parking solutions that actually work
Examples include park and ride systems, business priority spaces, off site options, shuttle loops and temporary decks on cleared land. These solutions already exist. We do not need to invent them from scratch.

Keep the CBD alive during construction
Other towns have protected their small businesses with coordinated activation programs, weekend events, pop up markets and targeted support. Kiama’s traders deserve the same level of care.

Advocate for staged or sequenced construction
Councils elsewhere have negotiated construction conditions that avoid full closures or allow parking to be phased. Could we secure something similar.

Design a communication plan that treats residents as partners
Timely information, plain language updates and clear explanations are not optional. They are essential for keeping frustration down and confidence up.

Build a shared, forward looking vision
Instead of reacting only to the disruption in front of us, we can also ask what Kiama will need in ten years. What will traffic look like. What will our population need. What will businesses need. We can plan for that now.

Why this matters now

The CBD disruption is coming. That is a fact. How we respond as a community is the part still within our control.

We can choose frustration or collaboration.
We can choose blame or solutions.
We can choose to repeat the mistakes of others or learn from the places that got it right.

Kiama deserves a plan that draws on global best practice and local wisdom. It deserves leaders who look outward, learn widely and plan with courage. And it deserves a community that has a genuine voice in shaping what comes next.

Your turn

So I am asking you, as neighbours, ratepayers and people who love this town.

Where would you start.
Which ideas do you want on the table.
Which towns should we study.
Which solutions could work here.

I am listening. I know you are too. And judging by the speed of recent media releases, Council is watching this page just as closely as the rest of us.

#KiamaCBD #CommunityFirst #AkunaStreet #KiamaFuture #SmartLeadership #LearningFromOthers #FuturePlanning #LocalGovernment #CommunityVoice #PublicTrust

Kiama Is Sleepwalking Into a CBD Meltdown. Here’s How We Could Stop It.

This awesome image was created by Steve Hughes in Photoshop. This is how he did it. He went in search of a 14-storey building and found the perspective he needed for Terralong Street then superimposed the two images  It shows why transparency matters. Our community cannot weigh up the future of Kiama without seeing what that future might become.

If you were handed a magic wand and told to fix Kiama Council’s parking crisis, what would you do?

I pondered that very question after raising concerns in a recent blog post that was debated on Facebook  about what will happen once the Akuna Street construction begins and our main car park disappears. The former mayor jumped into the conversation, not to answer the questions I then asked him, but to challenge me to stand for mayor. Part of the Facebook exchange is below  and you can join the conversation here 

So here is what I think.
No wand, no theatrics.
I would look beyond Kiama’s borders and learn from places that have done it properly.

An example we could do what Singapore does. Visit the website – its extraordinary

FYI I’m not suggesting Kiama should look anything like Singapore. Our landscapes, our scale and our community expectations are entirely different. I’ve referred to Singapore because I’ve seen firsthand how they communicate with residents, how they plan years ahead, and how they make complex information accessible. It’s an example of best practice in community engagement, not a blueprint for how Kiama should be built. What matters is the principle: people deserve to understand what is coming, how it will affect them, and how decisions are made in their name.

We would look outward.
We would study cities that have solved the problems we are now facing.
We would bring home the ideas that are proven to work.
And  we would start planning for the Kiama that will exist in twenty years, not the Kiama that existed twenty years ago.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The images in the slideshow in this post were taken at the Singapore City Gallery, located at The URA Centre. See footnote below

Kiama does not need leaders who claim to know everything. Kiama needs leaders who know how to learn. Leaders who read widely, ask questions, answer questions test assumptions and welcome new thinking. Leaders who see beyond the next news cycle and prepare for the people who will live here long after we are gone.

Our community deserves vision.
It deserves honesty.
It deserves leadership that looks forward, not inward.

Kiama is worth that level of care.

Footnote: About the Singapore City Gallery

The images in the slideshow in this post were taken at the Singapore City Gallery, located at The URA Centre at 45 Maxwell Road. The Gallery is created and run by Singapore’s Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), the national planning agency responsible for the long term physical development of the country.

The Gallery is one of the world’s most sophisticated urban planning exhibitions. It explains how Singapore plans for its future in a clear, structured and community focused way. Displays walk visitors through fifty years of transformation and map out the next decades of planning, covering housing, transport, green space, industrial development, heritage conservation and coastal resilience.


#KiamaFuture #LeadershipMatters #CommunityFirst #SingaporeModel #PlanningAhead #PublicTrust #CivicCourage #SmartCities #AkunaStreet #KiamaLeadership

Akuna St Development. When progress pushes people out of town

Image Illawarra Mercury 

When the Akuna Street developments go ahead, Kiama’s main car park, the one locals and shoppers rely on, will effectively vanish. In its place will come a major construction site that could choke the town centre for years.

Parking gone. Roads blocked. Dust, noise, and heavy vehicles moving through streets never built for this level of traffic.

It is hard to imagine anyone choosing to shop in Kiama under those conditions when there are easier, quieter, and more accessible options just up or down the highway. I already avoid the CBD unless I absolutely have to, and I know I am not the only one.

Kiama Council had a duty to plan for this before selling off our main parking area. They could have created alternative parking, staged the development, or at the very least communicated a clear plan to manage the disruption. None of this has happened yet.

For years, the car park served locals, shop owners, and visitors alike. It was more than a slab of asphalt, it was what made the heart of Kiama accessible. Selling it without a real plan for what comes next feels like a decision made with eyes firmly on developers, not on residents.

We were told the Akuna Street sale would help Council fix its financial mess. It was sold as the big solution, the quick cash injection that would ease the debt burden and set the books straight.

But nearly 20 percent of the 28 million dollar sale price has already disappeared in legal settlements and court costs before a single wall has gone up. That is not revitalisation, that is reaction.

This is what short term thinking looks like.
It is selling off an asset before you have a plan for what replaces it.
It is banking on one deal to fix years of mismanagement.
It is hoping that a private development will save a public balance sheet.
And it is assuming that the community will carry the cost quietly, in lost parking, lost access, and lost trust.

If Council had thought long term, it would have staged this project, planned alternative parking, and protected the town’s economic heartbeat during construction. Instead, we face years of disruption for a payoff that might never reach the people who actually live here.

This development is also  a prime example of what happens when the  leadership culture is fixated on the PIO and financial manoeuvring above all else, instead of focusing on what really matters to residents, liveability, services, and sensible planning.

Progress is not about shiny buildings or quick financial fixes. It is about protecting the fabric of a town while it grows, making sure people can still live, work, and shop here without feeling pushed out.

Right now, Kiama’s future is being built on lost parking spaces, lost patience, and almost one fifth of the sale price already gone in litigation. The question is no longer whether this project will revitalise Kiama, but whether Kiama can survive the cost of Council’s short term thinking.

You cannot build a thriving town on empty streets.

Thanks to everyone who has shared questions and comments on this issue. I have added extra detail as I received more information to help answer those and keep the community in the loop.

Read my follow up blog Kiama Is Sleepwalking Into a CBD Meltdown. Here’s How We Could Stop It.

Read previous blog posts here and here

#KiamaCouncil #AkunaStreet #KiamaPlanning #CommunityFirst #PublicTrust #LocalBusiness #RatepayerRights #ParkingCrisis #ShortTermThinking #TownCentre #CivicAccountability #Kiama

“We’ve Already Told You Once:” Kiama Council’s Bizarre Response to CCTV Questions”

You couldn’t make this up……

Last week we were talking about Council silence on the CCTV issue. This week, out comes a media release titled “CCTV in Kiama and Public Vandalism”  complete with a reminder that “we’ve already told you this once.”

Apparently, we’re all meant to have memorised the August business papers.

For those catching up, Council’s CCTV along Terralong Street has been broken since a storm. in 2024 It hasn’t been repaired, and they’re now seeking grant funding to replace it. Meanwhile, vandalism across the LGA has increased, including toilets, post boxes, and disability-access facilities, one repair alone costing $8,000.

So after a week of public chatter about missing cameras and mixed priorities, Council has spoken, by telling us off.

Maybe they’re right. Maybe we should have paid closer attention.
Or maybe, when the community has to raise an issue twice before it’s addressed, it says something about who’s actually listening.

#KiamaCouncil #CCTV #LocalGovernment #CommunityVoice #Accountability #PublicSafety #CivicEngagement #Transparency

When the Big Decisions Hit Home: Why Kiama Needs a Stronger Voice

Watch WIN News and local experts and the community’s thoughts here

Johnny Greer is a local who always has his finger on the pulse and recently brought the latest very scary development on the Akuna St Kiama proposal by Level 33 who own the land in question to the community’s attention. See cut and paste of his Facebook post above

In September I wrote a blog post about the Level 33  current ( as of September  2025)  DA proposal that was going to the Land and Environment Court in December See here to get your head around how this mess evolved

Note this dot point in the article

  • 14 August 2024: The Federal Court matter Nicolas Daoud v Kiama Municipal Council was finalised. Under a Deed of Release, Council paid Daoud a settlement of $1 million. Council also disclosed legal costs of $3.73 million (excluding settlement), bringing the total cost of the case to $4.73 million, equal to 16.9 percent of the $28 million sale price (Kiama Council, Agenda of 20 November 2024, Item 14.1 p.146 and Item 15.8 p.604).

Yes you read it right we are still in the Land and Environment Court – what is it going to cost this time.?  We cant afford to have working CCTV cameras but we can employ barrister after barrister.

Now to the big picture

After months of watching the decisions being made for Kiama and reading the growing frustration on social media, I’ve been thinking about what a strong Community-Led Democracy would actually look like here.

Many of these decisions aren’t local at all. They’re being shaped by people in Sydney working to meet targets, not by the people who live with the consequences. When planning becomes about numbers instead of neighbourhoods, it’s no wonder people feel ignored.

That’s why the idea of Community-Led Democracy matters more than ever. It’s about making sure decisions about Kiama are informed by the people who call it home, not handed down from somewhere else.

It’s easy to say we need a stronger voice in local democracy, but what would that take? Who would have the time, energy, and expertise to lead it?

Because this kind of engagement takes work. It needs people who understand that politics isn’t shouting from the sidelines; it’s the art of the possible. It means knowing where power sits, which levers matter, and which ones are simply there to wear you down.

A strong Community-Led Democracy would have residents who understand planning laws and how they shape what gets built and what doesn’t. It would have people who can connect the dots between local, state, and federal systems, who know when to push, when to partner, and when to walk away from a dead end.

It would need leaders who see consultation as the start of the process, not the box you tick at the end. It would need transparency that isn’t forced by public pressure but offered as standard practice.

And maybe most of all, it would need a council that recognises the value of the crowd, that understands the collective intelligence sitting in our community is its greatest asset, not a threat to be managed.

I’m curious. What do you think a strong Community-Led Democracy looks like in Kiama? Who are the people who could lead it, and how might the rest of us support them?

If this sparks a thought, I invite you to revisit my earlier post  “When Advocacy Turns Dangerous: The Moment You Can’t Stay Silent” because real democracy often begins with the courage to question, even when it’s inconvenient.

Please Note: I believe elected councillors are essential. What I’m advocating for is a stronger partnership between council and community, not a replacement.

#Kiama #CommunityVoice #LocalDemocracy #CivicEngagement #PlanningMatters #Accountability #AkunaStreet #Level33 #CommunityLedDemocracy

Are the CCTV Cameras Working? What Hindmarsh Park Reveals About Council Promises.

When a local parent shared their experience at Hindmarsh Park on our Community Facebook page, it inspired me to take a closer look at Kiama Council’s CCTV policy and what it says about how public spaces are meant to be protected.

The parent had gone there to celebrate their daughter’s fifth birthday, only to find both public barbecues in a shocking state. One was coated in melted plastic. The other gave off a strong smell of sewage when turned on. They ended up abandoning the facilities and using a portable BBQ from home.

Their post asked the obvious question:

“Are Council doing daily inspections of these facilities or leaving a multimillion-dollar new park to deteriorate?”

It’s a fair question, especially when Council’s policies promise proactive monitoring and deterrence through CCTV.

Kiama Council’s CCTV Policy outlines a clear set of objectives: to promote community safety and crime prevention, protect residents, visitors, and Council assets, deter vandalism and antisocial behaviour, and provide footage to NSW Police when required.

The accompanying Street Surveillance Code of Practice commits to annual audits, clear signage, and transparency about where and how cameras operate. These are good principles on paper, but they depend entirely on follow-through.

❓If CCTV is installed near Hindmarsh Park or the surrounding main street, was it operating when the vandalism occurred?

❓Has Council reviewed any footage?

❓Are inspections of new facilities being carried out daily, as they should be?

❓If the cameras weren’t working, or if the footage wasn’t checked, it raises deeper questions about accountability and maintenance, not only of the park but of the systems meant to protect it.

Hindmarsh Park is one of Kiama’s newest public investments, designed as a safe, family-friendly space. Incidents like this undermine public confidence and point to a gap between what Council says it does and what residents experience on the ground.

It’s time for Council to confirm whether the CCTV systems are operational, whether inspections are happening as promised, and how it plans to prevent future incidents. Policies don’t protect public spaces; people and accountability do.


#KiamaCouncil #HindmarshPark #CommunitySafety #CCTV #PublicAccountability #CloverHillDiaries