DMA Posted September 19, 2011 Share Posted September 19, 2011 Press Release On Thursday 15 September 2011 lawyers, on behalf of SoCares Support Group Inc, have filed a legal challenge against Cessnock City Council for their resolution, dated Wednesday 15 June 2011, to outsource the Council’s impounding services to the RSPCA NSW. The challenge is in respect to the fact that Cessnock City Council did not call a tender, for their impounding service contract, even though members of our Association, other related groups, potential tenderers, as well as general members of the public, advised them to do so. The call for a tender is a requirement under Section 55 of the Local Government Act. We challenge Cessnock City Council’s position, wherein they claim extenuating circumstances as an exception to calling for a tender, where we assert there are no such extenuating circumstances whatsoever. Similarly we challenge Cessnock City Council’s position that there is no viable alternative tenderer to the one which they have arbitrarily chosen. The Land & Environment Court will conduct a hearing on the matter on 7 October 2011. The Court will then announce a date for the trail. We expect that to take place in about 6 to 8 months time. On Behalf of the SoCares Support Committee. Please make all enquires to: [email protected] ****************************** Source: http://www.supportgroup.socares.com.au/press_release.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westiemum Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 Wow! Good for you. Good to see someone taking on these local tinpot tyrants. Good luck. Will be interested to hear how you get on. Press Release On Thursday 15 September 2011 lawyers, on behalf of SoCares Support Group Inc, have filed a legal challenge against Cessnock City Council for their resolution, dated Wednesday 15 June 2011, to outsource the Council’s impounding services to the RSPCA NSW. The challenge is in respect to the fact that Cessnock City Council did not call a tender, for their impounding service contract, even though members of our Association, other related groups, potential tenderers, as well as general members of the public, advised them to do so. The call for a tender is a requirement under Section 55 of the Local Government Act. We challenge Cessnock City Council’s position, wherein they claim extenuating circumstances as an exception to calling for a tender, where we assert there are no such extenuating circumstances whatsoever. Similarly we challenge Cessnock City Council’s position that there is no viable alternative tenderer to the one which they have arbitrarily chosen. The Land & Environment Court will conduct a hearing on the matter on 7 October 2011. The Court will then announce a date for the trail. We expect that to take place in about 6 to 8 months time. On Behalf of the SoCares Support Committee. Please make all enquires to: [email protected] ****************************** Source: http://www.supportgroup.socares.com.au/press_release.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMA Posted September 21, 2011 Author Share Posted September 21, 2011 Wow! Good for you. Good to see someone taking on these local tinpot tyrants. Good luck. Will be interested to hear how you get on. Just a quick update... they were served with the court summons on Tuesday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Everythings Shiny Posted September 23, 2011 Share Posted September 23, 2011 Good luck guys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMA Posted October 12, 2011 Author Share Posted October 12, 2011 As mentioned, the hearing was held on Friday 7 October. The initial court hearing has cleared the way & our case is before the Land & Environment Court on 6-7 Feb 2012 from 10am. For details of anyone wishing to attend, please follow this link to the Land & Environment Court's website: http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lec Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mita Posted October 13, 2011 Share Posted October 13, 2011 Good to see people taking action. That was a weak reason they gave for not calling tenders. 'Extenuating circumstances'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMA Posted February 5, 2012 Author Share Posted February 5, 2012 I am bumping this thread as our court case starts today - in about 10 minutes in fact. I'll make updates, over the next two days, as our case progresses... paws crossed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMA Posted February 6, 2012 Author Share Posted February 6, 2012 I can't stay long as I'm on the train heading home, plus the battery is getting low, but the first day is over & we've ended on a good note. Our evidence looks solid. No promises, & please bare in mind I can't really say much given we're in the middle of the proceedings, but the good old Section 430 Report made another appearence to the surprise & annoyance of Cessnock Council. It's just like Banquo's ghost - it just won't go away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheyd Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Sounding positive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redangel Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 Well done on posting this. I am heartened to see that the policy of decision making & operations of councils can be brought up and questioned in an independant court of law. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ringo Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 So how did this pan out, any success as yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMA Posted February 9, 2012 Author Share Posted February 9, 2012 (edited) Oh I forgot to update here the second day. Sorry things have been sooooooo busy. Yes the second day. We presented compelling evidence to support our two claims that: 1) There were no extenuating circumstances &; 2) the only people Cessnock Council ever talked to was the RSPCA. So we certainly have put forward a strong case. In the afternoon they basically argued about legal tecnicalities. The Council legal team countered some of our evidence, but by concentrating on technicalities they were trying to either have much of the evidence ruled as irrelevant or tried to put a different interpretation on it. At the end of the trail I've got to admit I have no idea how we went. The judge will hand down her findings in two to three months or so I'm told. Edited February 9, 2012 by DMA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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