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Mayor criticises development board

Posted on February 18, 2009, 12:12pm

The Limestone Coast Regional Development Board is “unsuitable” to handle federal money via Regional Development Australia, according to Robe mayor William Peden.

Speaking at the South East Local Government Association (SELGA) meeting in Naracoorte recently, Mr Peden said the development board “lacked good governance”.

Development board chief executive Grant King denied the claims.

The issue arose on SELGA’s agenda when it received correspondence from the development board in response to a call from the previous meeting.

Last December councils called for:

  • Development board members and senior officers to keep public registers of interest.
  • Development board members and staff to declare any real or perceived conflicts of interest in all matters undertaken.
  • The development board to prepare and implement protocols “requiring principles of good and transparent governance”.
  • The development board to report to SELGA according to the terms in a resource agreement “including the first report received which did not conform to these requirements”.

Development board chairman Dale Baker responded with what SELGA members called “a report”, but it was not available to media.

Mr Peden said Mr Baker’s response was “not appropriate”.

He asked if changes had been made to SELGA’s funding agreement with the development board “after councils signed off on it”.

Members discussed the changes.

Mount Gambier Mayor Steve Perryman said the matter was “in a state of flux”.

“I’m of the view that we’ve written a letter and we’ve got a response, leave it at that,” Mr Perryman said.

Mr Peden said he needed to take the issue back to his council, but “it just appears to me that they are an unsuitable body to receive that money — there’s a lack of good governance”.

SELGA president Richard Vickery said the matter should rest and a report prepared for a more appropriate time.

Mr Vickery told Mr King he did not need to respond to the allegations.

But Mr King lashed out at Mr Peden and said he could not help but “pick up on that issue of the board’s relationship with governance”.

Mr King defended the board and said it did “adhere to good governance without question” and did a lot of good work.

He said he was part of a negotiating team to put together a memorandum of understanding (MoU) “ready for (Regional Development) Minister Rory McEwen to sign off on”.

The Regional Development Australia network was announced last March by Federal Regional Development Minister Anthony Albanese as a new structure for area consultative committees to work under.

Announcing the network, Mr Albanese said he hoped the RDA would work more closely with councils.

CHRIS OLDFIELD

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