SDRC left in the dark

SDRC confirmed on Tuesday that it did not participate in the meeting last Thursday at which GBIP gave an update to investors, other than Council, and that nothing about the tender responses or other information provided to investors has been shared with Council.  Why was SDRC not invited to that meeting, or even given its own separate update? 

SDRC is proposing to make a 15% investment in the Granite Belt Irrigation Project.  If GBIP still has 51 irrigator investors then the average holding would be just 2%, so on that basis Council is likely one of the biggest investors.

So how can it be right for 51 other investors to be wandering around the district with more knowledge about the current status of the project than Council has?  It begs the question: how much money would you have to be investing to be entitled to the same updates as irrigators?

Given that SDRC knows that this meeting has occurred, and information has been given to other investors, why isn’t it asking GBIP for an update? 

If it were your money (oops, actually as a ratepayer it kind of IS your money!), wouldn’t you be on the phone asking for an update?  Or would you, like Council, just be sitting back and waiting for GBIP to let you know?  I certainly know what I’d be doing.

And surely, if even I’ve heard the rumours about the update at that meeting, then it shouldn’t take too long for Councillors, who are better connected with Chamber and local industry, and some of whom have been involved in this project for more than 25 years, to also hear about this.  We’ll look forward to an update from SDRC as soon as they do!

How can SDRC even consider signing the framework documents with GBIP before 1 November, as proposed in last week’s Council meeting, without ensuring it has the most up-to-date information on the dam? 

Would you sign documents when you knew you didn’t have all the relevant information?  Of course not.