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Soft plastics - council doesn't want to know

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  Breathtaking, obdurate ignorance and denial by Liberal councillors defeated a modest, sensible and very necessary and important motion at the Hills Shire Council meeting on March 26. Acting on widespread community concern, Councillor Kasby (Greens) introduced a motion requesting that council staff be asked to prepare a report on: “options available to Council to provide residents with a more regular and convenient soft plastic recycling service and the costings to do so” After the collapse of the REDcycle program in late 2022, we consumers were left with few options to dispose of our soft plastics other than hoarding them or tossing them in our red bins.  But viable options have begun to emerge and other councils have acted to provide a service to their residents. So it is eminently sensible, at little to no cost, that our council should seek a report to inform councillors on the options. … no great impost, merely calling for a report … As Councillor Kasby said In her introductory re
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No Pride, only shame in Hills Shire Council's "evil, devious motion"

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  At their ordinary council meeting of February 6, the Hills Shire Council overwhelmingly carried a motion proposed by Councillor Jerome Cox and described by a UN Human Rights Officer as an “evil devious motion”. The motion effectively rules out council hosting Drag Queen Storytime events, while seeming to designate such events as “sexualised material designed to target children”. The council motion was a response to motion 58 passed by the Local Government NSW conference last year.  Motion 58 calls for LGNSW to encourage member councils to organise inclusive events and to ensure the events can take place “at council facilities safely for performers and attendees”.  Councillor Cox seems to take issue with that. Temper tantrum? Speaking to his motion, Councillor Cox did not seem to feel it necessary to justify his objection to such events. Instead the main part of his stated argument seemed to be his chagrin that motion 58 was considered by LGNSW while “...we didn’t get to items that th
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Hills locals join coal port blockade

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  Ten coal ships and half a million tonnes of coal were stopped by the blockade (Photo: Lee Illfield) Very early on Friday, November 24, I set off from my home in Kenthurst to join a peaceful 30 hour blockade of coal exports from the port of Newcastle, organised by climate defence organisation Rising Tide. Around 3000 people of all ages, from all walks of life and from every state and territory did the same.  That Friday morning was wet and unpromising.  But some momentarily inconvenient weather was never going to stop us - because we were all driven by the urgency of climate defence. Our goal was to blockade the coal port of Newcastle for 30 hours - stopping 10 coal export ships and 500,000 tonnes of exported coal.  And we did so - peacefully but determinedly - in kayaks and canoes and other small boats - even a giant inflatable unicorn! Catherine Woolnough, 43, a scientist from Baulkham Hills was there too.  She said of her experience “It was a surreal experience to be floating betwe
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Fruit Loops ... and Hunter Biden's laptop

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  It’s not often you hear the words “Hunter Biden’s laptop” during routine proceedings of an Australian local council - let alone a Sydney urban-fringe council 15,000km from Washington or Delaware. But our Hills Shire Council is literally and figuratively on the fringe and Councillor! Jerome Cox (drop-in Liberal) is so precariously on the fringe that he is in danger of becoming nothing more than the barber shop clippings waiting to be swept up from the floor. Before the ordinary meeting of council on September 12, the Hills Shire Council held no official position on the subject of the referendum for constitutional recognition and an Indigenous Voice to Parliament. And yet Councillor! Cox felt compelled to propose an utterly pointless and unnecessary motion asserting that to be the case. His remarks on the subject made it very clear that his purpose in doing so was to broadcast his vehement opposition to the idea that we take the very modest step of permitting First Nations people to ma
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