A BERRI local is calling for council to be more transparent about delays with a major retrofit along the town’s river front, which he says has been a “major frustration” for locals.
Designs for the first stage of the retrofit, intended to fix some of the perceived problems with the controversial $1.56 million redesign of the river-front precinct completed in 2018, were received by the Berri Barmera Council in February of this year.
However, work on the project, originally slated to start in the 2019/20 financial year, is yet to begin, with council holding discussions about the project in confidence at the August meeting of the Strategy, Assets and Major Projects (SAMP) committee.
The plan has a $100,000 allocation in the council’s 2020/21 annual business plan.
Chris Page, of Berri, said the council was handling the project like it was “secret squirrel business”.
“This month they had another meeting of the SAMP committee and once again it was in the confidential items,” he said.
“It mentioned projects numbered 20 and 60… but in the agenda there’s no information provided on the current status of what needs to be done.
“All the other projects have descriptions, background and why it’s happening, objectives, and actions as of August 11.
“Projects 20 and 60 don’t appear… so you have no idea what the actual project is about.
“Why aren’t they revealing what’s happening? What is the real story?”
Mr Page said he had been asking council to provide the community with more feedback about the project for more than a year.
“I’ve been saying we want more transparency for the last 18 months,” he said.
“If it’s not happening, tell us why it’s not happening.
“Even if it’s commercial in confidence they can say that they’re still negotiating, and I’ve mentioned to them in letters before about timelines and that.
“Next month marks two years since they first opened the redesigned river front.
“Nothing takes that long, and it’s now two months since the costings were presented at the June meeting, so what’s happened as far as tendering goes? Not a thing.”
Mr Page said his views on the project were shared by others in the community.
“It’s been a major frustration, not only for me,” he said.
“I get a lot of feedback from others in the community saying that they support me, and I’m disappointed they don’t write in and show their support in the paper.
“They’re representing the people not doing secret service stuff amongst themselves.”
Mr Page also said he was concerned by the narrow s-bend along Riverview Drive and council’s plan to lower the speed limit along the road from 50km/h to 30km/h.
Berri Barmera Council declined to comment, saying the project was held in confidence “as a tender process may or may not be compromised depending on council’s further decisions”.