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WHEN the Lakes Mail recently contacted me about overgrown grass on a small area of land I don't own, my immediate thought was it must be April Fool's Day.
Who wouldn't, given the ridiculous nature of the issue and some of the participants? Alas no.
It has further been suggested that I am responsible for the small kerb area in question. Let's get a few things straight:
1. It is not my land. It is owned by Lake Macquarie City Council (LMCC).
2. It features a bus stop and a busy footpath, raising insurance and liability issues.
3. We want the Morisset ratepayers' hard-earned dollars spent in Morisset.
4. If the area was located at Warners Bay, or virtually anywhere other than Morisset, it would be maintained by its owner, LMCC.
Like many, I regularly mow and keep tidy all my own lawns, plus the council-owned areas fronting same and, on many occasions, areas fronting my neighbours' properties.
I am not lazy or indifferent but neither am I a mug.
It is easy to mow a strip of land outside a home, another thing altogether to commit to maintaining council land in a busy town centre and a high-impact position including a bus stop and a constant flow of pedestrians and traffic.
Contrary to what council has been reported saying, I received no communication whatsoever from LMCC regarding this issue.
I am well aware of my responsibilities as a citizen and business owner having devoted much time over 25 years developing the community's commercial and industrial areas, creating jobs, and helping sell homes and property.
There must be far greater and far more pressing things going on in the world - and even in Morisset - worth thinking and complaining about.
- Peter MacIntyre, Ray White Morisset