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Thursday, January 4, 2024

There were more local links to the AFL Draft than you expected - Shepparton News

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Hey bud: Mooroopna's Coby James with Western Australia's Clay Hall.

The 2023 AFL men’s national draft threw a handful of surprises our way.

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Wednesday, January 3, 2024

Tuesday, January 2, 2024

Are digital nomads ruining local communities? | Pursuit by The University of Melbourne - Pursuit

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Are digital nomads ruining local communities? | Pursuit by The University of Melbourne - Pursuit
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From local lobster to long lunches: The Good Food guide to Merimbula and Narooma - Sydney Morning Herald

From meat pies to steamed lobster and oysters straight off the lease, we’ve compiled the best places to eat and drink in the Sapphire Coast’s tastiest food towns.

Callan Boys and Peter Munro

Depending on who you ask, Justin Hemmes is either the best or worst thing to happen to Narooma. The chief executive of Sydney-based hospitality group Merivale (which also owns Italian-inspired Totti’s, Mr Wong and dozens of other venues) has called the South Coast town a second home for the past seven years, after buying several hectares of residential property in the area. More recently, however, Hemmes has been purchasing old Narooma hotels and motels and opening hatted restaurants.

Local Narooma lobster at Merivale’s Queen Chow inside The Whale Inn.
Local Narooma lobster at Merivale’s Queen Chow inside The Whale Inn.Nikki To

“More yuppies moving south!” one local exclaimed to us at the Narooma Hotel (a pub with a terrific view out to Wagonga Head, but not yet owned by Hemmes). “He’s done a good job on The Whale, though,” retorted his mate, who quickly went back to watching Keno. We won’t weigh into any of that, but we will say that the food at Lynch’s Hotel (the other Narooma pub, without much of a view) is certainly a lot more delicious since Hemmes picked it up in 2022. Try the local fish pie with fennel and radish salad.

If you’re staying in Narooma, Merimbula is a 90-minute drive away, but the two feel very much like sister towns, linked by world-class oysters and sapphire-blue waters. Merimbula is no slouch in the food and booze space either, with an increasing number of venues offering the opportunity to order a martini and call charcuterie dinner. One or two nights in both Narooma and Merimbula makes for an excellent weekend, with a brief stop in Bermagui for a kardemummabullar (we’ll explain later).

For breakfast

Perched at one end of Merimbula’s boardwalk trail, Sunny’s Kiosk is a welcome reward for weary travellers. Energiser bunnies can hire kayaks or paddleboards from the lakeside cafe. Others simply savour the expansive views, homely furnishings and well-balanced brews from Seven Miles Coffee Roasters. The eclectic menu caters for all tastes (or BMIs), from big old bacon and egg rolls to Japanese pancakes with pork belly. Sunny’s also opens as a wine bar over summer nights, which is a perfect way to watch the sunset over water.

68 Lakewood Drive, Merimbula; sunnyskiosk.com.au

Freshly opened oysters farmed in Merimbula.
Freshly opened oysters farmed in Merimbula.Destination NSW

For oysters

Visiting the Sapphire Coast and not eating oysters is like a kid receiving a new toy at Christmas and keeping it in the box. More than a few bivalve fanatics will tell you that Merimbula rock oysters are especially excellent for their bold mineral zing and fruity finish. Among the mangroves at The Oyster Barn, you can experience them practically straight off the lease with prawn rolls and local crayfish to boot. Or if you want to pick up a dozen oysters and take them to the beach with a bottle of BYO Bollinger, that can be facilitated too.

49 Oyster Track, Millingandi; merimbulagourmetoysters.com.au

Merivale’s tiki-inspired Quarterdeck in Narooma.
Merivale’s tiki-inspired Quarterdeck in Narooma.Supplied

For a long lunch

Arriving by seaplane is up there with cruffins and the lambada as things to experience at least once in a lifetime. If you’re going to splash out on the service, you might as well splash out at the Quarterdeck, a former boat shed on Wagonga Inlet where aircraft taxi guests to the back door. Inside is dolled up like a tiki hut, with a thatched grass bar serving slushie-style pina coladas that should come with a spoon. A Mexican-inspired menu suits the festive feel, featuring fish tacos topped with colourful pico de gallo salsa, and fried squash flowers with crumbled queso fresco and pickled onion rings. Ruby-red tuna tostadas topped with spicy salsa matcha are perfect for the setting, and cider-splashed mussels are made for warm afternoons by the open windows. When the view’s this good, who cares if the return flight is delayed?

13 Riverside Drive, Narooma; merivale.com/venues/quarterdeck-narooma

Banksia Restaurant in Pambula.
Banksia Restaurant in Pambula.Flying Parrot

For country comfort

The super-thick vault door to the wine room at Banksia Restaurant is a clue to the building’s origin as a bank, when it stored bundles of cash rather than bottles of cabernet sauvignon. Timber-panelled walls, pressed metal and an open fireplace add to the restaurant’s old-world feel in picturesque Pambula, a 10-minute drive from Merimbula. Hosts Huw and Renee Jones make the most of their intimate space with a generous three-course set menu, and the weekly changing offerings might feature cheesy ox-tail rarebit served with richly flavoured consomme, or creamy buttermilk mash topped with peppered yellowfin tuna and a bold beurre blanc sauce. Branch, a more casual dining room, has just opened at the site, too. Expect an a la carte offering of share-plates such as wagyu tri-tip with wasabi, and chorizo-stuffed olives.

22 Quondola Street, Pambula; banksiarestaurant.com.au

Local catch at Valentina.
Local catch at Valentina.Supplied

For a bells-and-whistles dinner

Among other inalienable truths, such as oysters need chablis, is that cocktails go better with confectionery. At Valentina, an old fashioned made with dark rum is served with house-made macadamia praline for a splendid blend of strong and sweet. It’s a delightful opener for a restaurant that nary puts a foot wrong. Full-length windows overlook oyster beds, but it’s what’s inside that counts (another truth). The hand-plastered walls and pastel colours are a fine reason to linger, as is a light and lovely tumble of local squid with peas and crisp shards of chicken skin, and charred octopus with punchy sobrasada oil. Pan-seared blue eye with onion rings is beautifully balanced, and parmesan-crumbed cauliflower with sage and creamy kale puts pub schnitzels to shame. Tender wagyu rump with bone marrow butter, meanwhile, shows there’s more to the Sapphire Coast than seafood. True that.

2 Market Street, Merimbula; valentinamerimbula.com

The warm interior of the newly opened Bar Superette in Merimbula.
The warm interior of the newly opened Bar Superette in Merimbula.Supplied

For wine

Ryde Pennefather spent time in Sydney and Thirroul before returning to his hometown of Merimbula four years ago. He then helped launch Valentina, before leaving to open natural wine-focused Bar Superette in September. Good Food hasn’t had a chance to visit Bar Superette yet, but it’s very high on the to-do list due to its funk and groove-heavy records and fancy tinned fish, and wines more common to bars in Surry Hills, Fitzroy and the 11th arrondissement. The short menu of more substantial items sounds terrific (hash browns with trout roe; steak frites; witlof salad with duck, peach and gruyere) and wine is also available at retail prices from Superette’s delicatessen and bottle-shop shelves. Grab a lunchtime sandwich to go while you’re shopping.

16/20 Market Street, Merimbula; superettesuperette.com

For bread and pastries

Since 2015, one of the best reasons to stay at a holiday house in Bermagui (besides the easy ocean pool access) has been the opportunity to wake up and stroll down to Honorbread for one of its excellent sourdoughs fresh from the oven. The bakery is still a very fine incentive to set your GPS for the seaside village, but now nearby Narooma has an outpost of Honorbread too. The new shop opened in December, and all the hits are accounted for including black tahini scrolls, pain au chocolat and the kardemummabullar, everyone’s favourite Swedish cardamom bun. Down Merimbula and Pambula way, Wild Rye’s Baking Co is the ticket for house-roasted coffee, assorted sourdoughs and Basque cheesecake, plus a straight-up delicious, no-funny-business steak pie.

8 Bunga Street, Bermagui and 2/114 Wagonga Street, Narooma; honorbread.com

26 Quondola Street, Pambula; wildryes.com.au

For pizza and pasta

Tracking down good pizza in regional NSW is like hunting for sushi in the desert, but it can be found. Case in point is Bar Monti, which opened in late 2022 and rocks a beautifully puffy-crusted margherita, plus a pepperoni pizza and white-sauce porchetta number with braised fennel and red onion. Fussy kids can be well-fed with spaghetti bolognese or mortadella meatballs, while parents have their choice of house-made pastas such as rigatoni with lamb ragu, peas and pecorino, or fettuccine with mushrooms and smoked speck.

Shop 6/11 Merimbula Drive, Merimbula; barmonti.com

For an old school burger

Merimbula’s best burgers and craft beer range can be found at Dulcie’s Cottage, an ancient weatherboard refurbished by the same team behind Valentina. Seats can be hard to land at peak times if you don’t have a booking, but choice cocktails and coastal bric-a-brac make Dulice’s an easy place to stand until a table can be pounced upon. Burgers are milk bar style, made with local produce such as Wild Rye’s organic buns and beef from Goodall’s Quality Meats, one block over, and the kitchen is open from noon each day. Families are also made to feel more than welcome, but should note that anyone under 18-years-old will need to vacate the cottage before 8pm. Dulcie likes to party.

60 Main Street, Merimbula; dulcies.com.au

For local lobster

Don’t be fooled by Queen Chow’s lazy susans, multicoloured carpet and placemat-size menus. Merivale’s Cantonese restaurant at The Whale Inn is not your standard small-town Chinese. Arrive around sunset at the wood-panelled bar and take in the ocean view with a red jasmine negroni in a well-cushioned cane chair. Also worth savouring are the plump seafood dumplings and kingfish sashimi with tangy orange ponzu and chilli. Special fried rice is the perfect companion to a roast meat platter loaded with char siu, spatchcock and duck, but with the sea so close, it’s hard to go past steamed local lobster in a snappy sauce of white soy, ginger and shallots.

102 Wagonga Street, Narooma; merivale.com/venues/queen-chow-narooma

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From local lobster to long lunches: The Good Food guide to Merimbula and Narooma - Sydney Morning Herald
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From local lobster to long lunches: The Good Food guide to Merimbula and Narooma - Sydney Morning Herald

From meat pies to steamed lobster and oysters straight off the lease, we’ve compiled the best places to eat and drink in the Sapphire Coast’s tastiest food towns.

Callan Boys and Peter Munro

Depending on who you ask, Justin Hemmes is either the best or worst thing to happen to Narooma. The chief executive of Sydney-based hospitality group Merivale (which also owns Italian-inspired Totti’s, Mr Wong and dozens of other venues) has called the South Coast town a second home for the past seven years, after buying several hectares of residential property in the area. More recently, however, Hemmes has been purchasing old Narooma hotels and motels and opening hatted restaurants.

Local Narooma lobster at Merivale’s Queen Chow inside The Whale Inn.
Local Narooma lobster at Merivale’s Queen Chow inside The Whale Inn.Nikki To

“More yuppies moving south!” one local exclaimed to us at the Narooma Hotel (a pub with a terrific view out to Wagonga Head, but not yet owned by Hemmes). “He’s done a good job on The Whale, though,” retorted his mate, who quickly went back to watching Keno. We won’t weigh into any of that, but we will say that the food at Lynch’s Hotel (the other Narooma pub, without much of a view) is certainly a lot more delicious since Hemmes picked it up in 2022. Try the local fish pie with fennel and radish salad.

If you’re staying in Narooma, Merimbula is a 90-minute drive away, but the two feel very much like sister towns, linked by world-class oysters and sapphire-blue waters. Merimbula is no slouch in the food and booze space either, with an increasing number of venues offering the opportunity to order a martini and call charcuterie dinner. One or two nights in both Narooma and Merimbula makes for an excellent weekend, with a brief stop in Bermagui for a kardemummabullar (we’ll explain later).

For breakfast

Perched at one end of Merimbula’s boardwalk trail, Sunny’s Kiosk is a welcome reward for weary travellers. Energiser bunnies can hire kayaks or paddleboards from the lakeside cafe. Others simply savour the expansive views, homely furnishings and well-balanced brews from Seven Miles Coffee Roasters. The eclectic menu caters for all tastes (or BMIs), from big old bacon and egg rolls to Japanese pancakes with pork belly. Sunny’s also opens as a wine bar over summer nights, which is a perfect way to watch the sunset over water.

68 Lakewood Drive, Merimbula; sunnyskiosk.com.au

Freshly opened oysters farmed in Merimbula.
Freshly opened oysters farmed in Merimbula.Destination NSW

For oysters

Visiting the Sapphire Coast and not eating oysters is like a kid receiving a new toy at Christmas and keeping it in the box. More than a few bivalve fanatics will tell you that Merimbula rock oysters are especially excellent for their bold mineral zing and fruity finish. Among the mangroves at The Oyster Barn, you can experience them practically straight off the lease with prawn rolls and local crayfish to boot. Or if you want to pick up a dozen oysters and take them to the beach with a bottle of BYO Bollinger, that can be facilitated too.

49 Oyster Track, Millingandi; merimbulagourmetoysters.com.au

Merivale’s tiki-inspired Quarterdeck in Narooma.
Merivale’s tiki-inspired Quarterdeck in Narooma.Supplied

For a long lunch

Arriving by seaplane is up there with cruffins and the lambada as things to experience at least once in a lifetime. If you’re going to splash out on the service, you might as well splash out at the Quarterdeck, a former boat shed on Wagonga Inlet where aircraft taxi guests to the back door. Inside is dolled up like a tiki hut, with a thatched grass bar serving slushie-style pina coladas that should come with a spoon. A Mexican-inspired menu suits the festive feel, featuring fish tacos topped with colourful pico de gallo salsa, and fried squash flowers with crumbled queso fresco and pickled onion rings. Ruby-red tuna tostadas topped with spicy salsa matcha are perfect for the setting, and cider-splashed mussels are made for warm afternoons by the open windows. When the view’s this good, who cares if the return flight is delayed?

13 Riverside Drive, Narooma; merivale.com/venues/quarterdeck-narooma

Banksia Restaurant in Pambula.
Banksia Restaurant in Pambula.Flying Parrot

For country comfort

The super-thick vault door to the wine room at Banksia Restaurant is a clue to the building’s origin as a bank, when it stored bundles of cash rather than bottles of cabernet sauvignon. Timber-panelled walls, pressed metal and an open fireplace add to the restaurant’s old-world feel in picturesque Pambula, a 10-minute drive from Merimbula. Hosts Huw and Renee Jones make the most of their intimate space with a generous three-course set menu, and the weekly changing offerings might feature cheesy ox-tail rarebit served with richly flavoured consomme, or creamy buttermilk mash topped with peppered yellowfin tuna and a bold beurre blanc sauce. Branch, a more casual dining room, has just opened at the site, too. Expect an a la carte offering of share-plates such as wagyu tri-tip with wasabi, and chorizo-stuffed olives.

22 Quondola Street, Pambula; banksiarestaurant.com.au

Local catch at Valentina.
Local catch at Valentina.Supplied

For a bells-and-whistles dinner

Among other inalienable truths, such as oysters need chablis, is that cocktails go better with confectionery. At Valentina, an old fashioned made with dark rum is served with house-made macadamia praline for a splendid blend of strong and sweet. It’s a delightful opener for a restaurant that nary puts a foot wrong. Full-length windows overlook oyster beds, but it’s what’s inside that counts (another truth). The hand-plastered walls and pastel colours are a fine reason to linger, as is a light and lovely tumble of local squid with peas and crisp shards of chicken skin, and charred octopus with punchy sobrasada oil. Pan-seared blue eye with onion rings is beautifully balanced, and parmesan-crumbed cauliflower with sage and creamy kale puts pub schnitzels to shame. Tender wagyu rump with bone marrow butter, meanwhile, shows there’s more to the Sapphire Coast than seafood. True that.

2 Market Street, Merimbula; valentinamerimbula.com

The warm interior of the newly opened Bar Superette in Merimbula.
The warm interior of the newly opened Bar Superette in Merimbula.Supplied

For wine

Ryde Pennefather spent time in Sydney and Thirroul before returning to his hometown of Merimbula four years ago. He then helped launch Valentina, before leaving to open natural wine-focused Bar Superette in September. Good Food hasn’t had a chance to visit Bar Superette yet, but it’s very high on the to-do list due to its funk and groove-heavy records and fancy tinned fish, and wines more common to bars in Surry Hills, Fitzroy and the 11th arrondissement. The short menu of more substantial items sounds terrific (hash browns with trout roe; steak frites; witlof salad with duck, peach and gruyere) and wine is also available at retail prices from Superette’s delicatessen and bottle-shop shelves. Grab a lunchtime sandwich to go while you’re shopping.

16/20 Market Street, Merimbula; superettesuperette.com

For bread and pastries

Since 2015, one of the best reasons to stay at a holiday house in Bermagui (besides the easy ocean pool access) has been the opportunity to wake up and stroll down to Honorbread for one of its excellent sourdoughs fresh from the oven. The bakery is still a very fine incentive to set your GPS for the seaside village, but now nearby Narooma has an outpost of Honorbread too. The new shop opened in December, and all the hits are accounted for including black tahini scrolls, pain au chocolat and the kardemummabullar, everyone’s favourite Swedish cardamom bun. Down Merimbula and Pambula way, Wild Rye’s Baking Co is the ticket for house-roasted coffee, assorted sourdoughs and Basque cheesecake, plus a straight-up delicious, no-funny-business steak pie.

8 Bunga Street, Bermagui and 2/114 Wagonga Street, Narooma; honorbread.com

26 Quondola Street, Pambula; wildryes.com.au

For pizza and pasta

Tracking down good pizza in regional NSW is like hunting for sushi in the desert, but it can be found. Case in point is Bar Monti, which opened in late 2022 and rocks a beautifully puffy-crusted margherita, plus a pepperoni pizza and white-sauce porchetta number with braised fennel and red onion. Fussy kids can be well-fed with spaghetti bolognese or mortadella meatballs, while parents have their choice of house-made pastas such as rigatoni with lamb ragu, peas and pecorino, or fettuccine with mushrooms and smoked speck.

Shop 6/11 Merimbula Drive, Merimbula; barmonti.com

For an old school burger

Merimbula’s best burgers and craft beer range can be found at Dulcie’s Cottage, an ancient weatherboard refurbished by the same team behind Valentina. Seats can be hard to land at peak times if you don’t have a booking, but choice cocktails and coastal bric-a-brac make Dulice’s an easy place to stand until a table can be pounced upon. Burgers are milk bar style, made with local produce such as Wild Rye’s organic buns and beef from Goodall’s Quality Meats, one block over, and the kitchen is open from noon each day. Families are also made to feel more than welcome, but should note that anyone under 18-years-old will need to vacate the cottage before 8pm. Dulcie likes to party.

60 Main Street, Merimbula; dulcies.com.au

For local lobster

Don’t be fooled by Queen Chow’s lazy susans, multicoloured carpet and placemat-size menus. Merivale’s Cantonese restaurant at The Whale Inn is not your standard small-town Chinese. Arrive around sunset at the wood-panelled bar and take in the ocean view with a red jasmine negroni in a well-cushioned cane chair. Also worth savouring are the plump seafood dumplings and kingfish sashimi with tangy orange ponzu and chilli. Special fried rice is the perfect companion to a roast meat platter loaded with char siu, spatchcock and duck, but with the sea so close, it’s hard to go past steamed local lobster in a snappy sauce of white soy, ginger and shallots.

102 Wagonga Street, Narooma; merivale.com/venues/queen-chow-narooma

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From local lobster to long lunches: The Good Food guide to Merimbula and Narooma - Sydney Morning Herald
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Monday, January 1, 2024

Swaggering ex-Lion signs with local club - Zero Hanger

Rhys Mathieson during the round 22 AFL match between St Kilda and Brisbane on August 12, 2022 (Photo by Cameron Grimes / Zero Digital Media)

Former Lion Rhys Mathieson has found his new footballing home, joining QAFL outfit Wilston Grang Gorillas for the 2024 season.

Mathieson began life as a Lion after being selected with the 35th pick of the 2015 AFL Draft, with the Geelong Falcons product donning Brisbane's maroon, blue and gold on 72 occasions in eight seasons in the Sunshine State.

While the 26-year-old never lacked the confidence necessary to succeed at senior level, Mathieson fell out of favour at the Gabba, failing to feature for Chris Fagan's pride in 2023.

However, after departing the Lion's den, and reuniting with fellow ex-Lion Mitch Robinson during a brief stint for the Darwin Buffaloes, Mathieson put pen to paper with the Gorillas for 2024.

Taking to their own Instagram page, Wilston Grange's social media team announced that 'The Barometer' would call Hickey Park home next season.

"In arguably the biggest signing in our clubs rich history, all Gorillas supporters will be excited to see how Rhys rips the QAFL competition apart," they wrote."

"Matho's signature has been one of the most talked about this off-season, across the nation.

"Being settled north of Brisbane and having every intention to stay local, the QAFL competition started to become a suitable destination. After meeting with the Gorillas, Matho is impressed with the program provided, excited with the trajectory of the playing group and feels the Gorillas are the perfect fit."

Wilston Grange finished the 2023 QAFL season in fifth position with an 11-7 record and eventually saw its campaign come to a close by way of a 53-point preliminary final loss to Redland Victoria Point.

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Swaggering ex-Lion signs with local club - Zero Hanger
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British politics is rotting from the bottom up: pity our crisis-hit local councils - The Guardian

Every review of Britain 2023 says the same. The country is not being well run. From policing to care homes, from postal services to sewage spills, from youth clubs to potholes, everywhere is failure. Small wonder just 20% of Britons now have any faith in their national politicians, one of the lowest figures in a western democracy.

Nowhere is this decline more evident than in local government. It is going bust. Birmingham, Nottingham, Croydon and four other councils in England have issued section 114 notices since 2020, indicating that their expenditure will exceed income. According to the Local Government Association (LGA), in the coming year, one in five councils expect to fail financially. Commissioners have already been sent to Woking and Slough, effectively suspending their local democracy.

In most of what they do, councils now act as agents of Whitehall instruction – as with children in need, care of elderly people and dispensing housing benefit. Yet the money to do this has been butchered in 13 years of austerity, with a 40% real-terms cut in central grants. Money for anything considered “discretionary” – public libraries, sports facilities, local colleges, the arts, the stuff of community life – has evaporated. The LGA estimates a cash shortfall of £4bn over the current two-year period. This is a fraction of what successive governments have spent on that white elephant, HS2. Rishi Sunak won’t give Birmingham another penny but he will happily speed Brummies to the bright lights of London.

This week, the new head of the Office for Local Government, Lord Morse, blamed much of the trouble on councils’ “failures in management or failures in governance”. Some, such as Croydon, have reportedly mishandled their assets, many in a desperate attempt to earn revenue from property. Many have become such dispiriting places to work that able councillors and staff have disappeared. But for a central quango to blame the impending crisis on local recklessness is grossly unfair. I would rather trust an average local council to handle defence procurement or transport investment than leave it to the Treasury just now. As it is, the only source of new money for many councils is traffic fines. A desperate Manchester council reveals it has raised £10m in penalties from just one bus lane in less than two years, while the City of London squeezed £8m from a single junction outside the Bank of England in one year.

Rishi Sunak, right, and Michael Gove, centre, visit a housing development in Norwich on 29 August 2023.

The instinct of central government is to “nationalise” what it sees as local failure. Since the 1980s this has happened over secondary and further education and the capping of local taxation. The latest battle has been over planning. Changes last year by the levelling up secretary, Michael Gove, to the housebuilding regime have on the whole been respectful of local discretion. But two weeks ago he turned turtle and lambasted councils that did not do as he wanted for being nimbys. If they did not plan for more houses within a year, he would overrule them and bring local planning decisions under the control of Whitehall. Since 86% of planning applications are approved locally and without delay, this kneejerk centralisation would be bureaucratic madness.

Labour is no different. Keir Starmer said in his last conference speech that he wants to “bulldoze” through local planning laws. He sees local councils as no more than Whitehall housebuilding agencies. Like Gove, he wants to see 300,000 new houses built and does not want local people or their representatives getting in the way. This centralisation of town and country planning will make Rwanda seem like a picnic. Every planning decision will become a battle in the courts. Whitehall cannot possibly ordain the fate of every acre of land in England.

At root is the future of local democracy. British politics is rotting from the bottom up. Britons used to run the majority of public services through locally elected bodies, as do most democracies in Europe. The removal of the big three – health, education and housing – has not sent British standards shooting up but on the whole into decline. Regulation, bureaucracy and targetry have gradually strangled frontline management.

Across Europe, most locally elected bodies have power, resources and the status to match. It is considered an honour to serve on them. In Germany, the Low Countries and Scandinavia, they raise their own taxes, build houses, run schools and clinics, and maintain churches and historic buildings. They do few of these things in Britain. It is a wonder people still bother to stand as councillors.

Local government contrived to keep its show on the road during David Cameron and George Osborne’s austerity blitz of the 2010s. Some councils made mistakes. But now push has come to shove. The biggest local sector, social care outside the NHS, has been savaged by cuts and is stumbling as a debilitated state agency. Chronically short of 150,000 staff, its inability to handle hospital discharges has sorely damaged Whitehall’s pet service, the NHS.

Now it is discretionary services that are for the chop. Not a week passes without a local library, swimming pool or day centre being declared unnecessary. The freedom of local people, through their votes and their taxes, to sustain the fabric of community life is curtailed by a national political culture that simply does not care. Attacking localism for the faults of centralism is a lie, one that will do nothing but further harm.

  • Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist

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British politics is rotting from the bottom up: pity our crisis-hit local councils - The Guardian
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Ti Tree Local Court list, Friday, January 26 - NT News

[unable to retrieve full-text content] Ti Tree Local Court list, Friday, January 26    NT News Ti Tree Local Court list, Friday, January 2...