THE usually warring factions in Canberra have commendably put away the long knives to work in the national interest during the pandemic crisis.
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It obviously won't last beyond Corona's final flutter but at other levels there are still some who find opportunities everywhere to seek to score political brownie points.
Lithgow Council is not known for warm and fuzzy relationships between elected members but even by that standard there was an extraordinary criticism of Mayor Ray Thompson in the Lithgow Mercury letters last week.
Cr Cass Coleman said the Mayor was demonstrating a lack of leadership in the crisis. Really? Wonder how she would have handled it.
The clue to all this could be in Cass's praise for the leadership of neighbouring Blue Mountains Mayor Greenhill and her quote ''...I'd like to be a Mayor like him some day'.
Overkill! Again!
RIGHT up there among the seemingly illogical restrictions that have come with social distancing is Council's closure of the Lake Wallace recreation area to ALL activities.
The sign at the gate says so.
Doesn't make much sense to those who enjoy an exercise walk around what is by far the biggest public area of wide open spaces under Council control.
You could literally accommodate thousands there without any hassle (a hypothetical figure; you rarely get thousands enjoying a therapeutic walk).
When it comes to overkill in the era of COVID that one sets the gold standard.
Sad neglect
SURELY the most disgracefully neglected item in Council's property portfolio is the sad looking Hermitage Hall.
The Council has done a lot of good works upgrading the Glanmire Park but alas the hall is not among them.
The place is a crumbling wreck, or near enough, with numerous holes punched in the walls, missing guttering, graffiti, and paintwork that long ago gave up the battle against the elements.
Salvation is still possible . . just!
Members first?
THE haste with which Westfund Health locked down its Lithgow service centre will leave a lot of unhappy members anxious about their dental and optical requirements.
Westfund's concern for its staff is commendable but other essential services requiring face to face interaction have put clients first. (You can't include Lithgow Council in the ''client first' category. They were first out of the blocks to lead the charge to the locksmith).
Seems that when a balancing act is necessary not everyone is made of sterner stuff.
Added worries
JUST when you felt concern about that virus couldn't get any worse comes the added issue of a shortage of flu vaccine.
With Winter on the way it's apparently a state-wide problem. In Lithgow our GPs are hopeful of a supply improvement by the end of April.
