Warwick Hall (RICA President) and Vicki Trofimovs (RICA Secretary) sent their summaries of the Council's community consultation about the proposed ferrry fee increases:
Approximately 140 members of the Raymond Island community attended a council meeting on June 10th during which those wishing to make a verbal submission about the proposed increases in ferry fees were given the opportunity to do so. Councillors were accommodating, polite and attentive during the presentations. We appreciated the process and attention and acknowledged same.
Much the same points included in the many written submissions were made, but it was an opportunity for the Mayor, Councillors and Council Officers to see how passionate the residents and ratepayers of Raymond island are about the proposed changes.
The following email was sent to the Mayor and Councillors the next morning:
Dear Mayor and Councillors,
Dear Mayor and Councillors,
On behalf of the members of the Raymond Island Community Association (RICA) and no doubt other members of the Raymond Island Community, thank you for the opportunity to make verbal submissions to Council and thank you for your attention. Most of the matters raised in the verbal submissions have been covered in more detail, as have others, in the written submissions that the Mayor acknowledged and confirmed have been read by councillors. However, the opportunity afforded us yesterday enabled Councillors and council officers to appreciate how passionately members of the Raymond Island Community feel about the proposed fee changes and hopefully gain a feel for the human, personal, family and community implications.
We have been advised that “all submitters will be notified of the outcome and provided with a detailed response to their submission”.
We thank you for that and look forward to advice in due course. In the meantime, if Councillors or council officers have any questions or wish to discuss any aspect of the RICA submission or others, please do not hesitate to contact me or the author of the submission concerned.
Yours Sincerely
Warwick Hall
President – Raymond Island Community Association
Dear RICA members,
Wow! How wonderful it was to see so many Raymond Islanders at the East Gippsland Council Meeting today! I think we showed, by our presence there, approximately 150 people, how we are a force to be reckoned with! Well done everyone, 243 submissions received, let’s keep up the fight!
Victoria Trofimovs
RICA Secretary
