Green Poles highlights wasted money under Lord Mayor Clover Moore

While the Premier and two job Clover take holidays away from Sydney's cold spell - eCouncillor has been exposing more wasted money under the left leaning big spending Clover Moore administration. Constituents have been asking and some (especially the visually impaired) have been complaining about the proliferation of brunswick green sign posts in the 'villages'. It turns out that 'green poles' have set the ratepayers back over $260,000!! This was never approved nor debated by Council. Contrary to the spin Moore puts on the issue below the approval to remove signage clutter was given by Council way after thousands of litres of green pain had been splashed across the City. In that debate where I praised initiatives to remove duplicated or excessive street signs, I had asked about the approval and cost for the green poles and also the reason for the odd power poles left on the streets in the middle of new granite paving (eg corner College and Oxford Streets). I was promised the information but it was never supplied - forcing me to place the questions on notice in the public interest. Add to this the environmental costs to paint galvanised posts with green oil paints. This is an administration that has too much cash and is wasting ratepayer's resources.

Mayor's green revolution nails its colour to the pole
Sunanda Creagh SMH

MORE than a quarter of a million dollars have been spent painting silver street poles green since Clover Moore became the Lord Mayor of Sydney. Council papers reveal that over the past three years, 5000 galvanised signposts, light poles and traffic signals have been given the forest green make-over, costing $260,500 - more than $50 a pole. The Liberal councillor Shayne Mallard called the project "an outrageous waste of money".
"The council could have used that money to initiate a program of grants to struggling rural councils or bringing people into the city for a holiday from the drought," he said. "Here we are, the state's art gallery can't afford CCTV and we're painting poles green."
Cr Moore defended the paint jobs as part of a broader effort to beautify streetscapes, which began under the council's former chief executive Peter Seamer.
"In June 2004 council unanimously adopted the recommendation of my Lord Mayoral Minute to improve the public domain by reducing signage clutter in the City of Sydney. New poles are now purchased powder coated, which is more durable and economical than painting on site," she said.