Pre Christmas Council consultants began a survey of community attitudes to a proposed bid for a nine per cent special rate hike to pay for essential works.

In our already tough rates system — that according to legend is way above the region’s average — that’s like asking the condemned man if he’d like a choice of executioner.

The amusing bit, though, is the claim that Council has already taken into consideration our ‘’ability to pay’.

For anyone in this LGA , particularly on fixed incomes, that ability was exhausted years ago.

The millions wasted on the revitalisation fiasco would have been a big help but that’s now written off to experience with only former Mayor Stephen Lesslie prepared to face reality.

Maybe it’s time for some top heavy trimming. 

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IT was a welcome move by Council in beating the heatwave blues last week when common sense finally prevailed and Lithgow’s aquatic centre remained open an extra hour over three evenings.

With daylight saving it should have been no big problem but we have to wonder why it’s not a standard procedure in unusually hot weather.

Takes us back to the early days of the then new ‘’Ólympic Pool’’ when, without the advantage of daylight saving, night swimming was popular. 

That ended when the underwater lighting that existed at the time was deemed too costly to maintain.

SOME low life has stolen the weekly collection money and poor box from St Patrick’s Church in Lithgow.

What made the opportunist theft more brazen it was believed to have occurred while Mass was under way. 

Wait for the lightning bolt.

IN the lead up to Christmas the dills with spray cans were out to spoil the season leaving ugly scrawl at several locations in Lithgow.  

Worst affected were the railway signals branch building in Railway Parade, the Miners Union offices in Eskbank Street, and again the railway viaduct at Coates Avenue. 

Graffiti vandalism soon becomes an inspiration to like minded dopes so prompt removal would be a welcome move.

WHY all the evident enthusiasm in some quarters at least for driverless vehicles and trains? 

Won’t be quite the same with three laptops on the podium at Bathurst.

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