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Access fee a bridge too far for bushfire survivor (charged a fee to use bridge he built)
The Australian ^ | 12th January 2015 | Pia Akerman

Posted on 01/13/2015 3:54:40 PM PST by naturalman1975

FOR many bushfire survivors, dealing with bureaucracy in the ­aftermath is just as challenging.

Anthony McMahon knows this firsthand, defiantly locked in a red-tape battle five years after the Black Saturday fires destroyed his business and a bridge leading to his Kinglake property.

The old bridge provided the only access to the bush block where he planned to build his home, but collapsed soon after the 2009 fires.

After knockbacks from government agencies, Mr McMahon ­rebuilt the bridge himself, with significant fin­ancial help from ­Rotary and a Catholic agency, at a cost of $50,000.

He has since received persistent demands from the Victorian Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning asking him to pay a $170 annual licence fee to use the bridge. “They want us to pay to use a bridge that we’ve built,” he said.

“I just think it’s obscene. Nobody was showing any interest at all (in rebuilding the bridge) and I think it’s absolutely ludicrous now that they want us to pay money.”

(Excerpt) Read more at theaustralian.com.au ...


TOPICS: Australia/New Zealand; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS:
The Black Saturday bushfires on 2009 were the worst natural disaster in the history of the state of Victoria, Australia. Over the course of one afternoon, on Saturday 7th February 2009, in the face of temperatures of 116F, less than 6% humidity, and 80MPH winds, around 2000 square miles was burnt out, several towns were destroyed, and 173 people died.

The loss of this bridge was obviously only a minor part of all that - but the idea that this man who rebuilt it (to proper professional standards) when the government refused can be charged a fee to use it, really does seem pretty absurd.

1 posted on 01/13/2015 3:54:40 PM PST by naturalman1975
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To: naturalman1975

Nice to know it’s not just American bureaucrats who can be ridiculously stupid and unreasonable.


2 posted on 01/13/2015 3:56:53 PM PST by colorado tanker
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To: naturalman1975

Elizabeth Warren, “He didn’t build that.”


3 posted on 01/13/2015 4:00:50 PM PST by Isara
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To: naturalman1975

OK, so he needs to charge them a salary for building the bridge of $340/yr for the next 50 years until the full salary is paid.


4 posted on 01/13/2015 4:09:54 PM PST by PrairieLady2
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To: naturalman1975

He should counter with a bill for the construction costs.


5 posted on 01/13/2015 4:09:54 PM PST by TheDon (The genocide in Iraq is the legacy of Barack Obama.)
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To: naturalman1975
Next they'll want to charge him rent to live in his own house.

Of course that's what property taxes are.

6 posted on 01/13/2015 4:20:41 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum (Offend a Christian and he is obliged to pray for you. Offend a Muslim and he is obliged to kill you.)
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To: naturalman1975

How can I access the article without a subscription to the website?


7 posted on 01/13/2015 4:23:30 PM PST by Hot Tabasco (I'm a man of no-color and proud of it.)
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To: naturalman1975

Do not poach the King’s deer.


8 posted on 01/13/2015 4:27:23 PM PST by Organic Panic
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To: naturalman1975

This just proves that government in various countries are basically the same.They will grub for every dollar they think they can extort.


9 posted on 01/13/2015 4:38:43 PM PST by Farmer Dean (stop worrying about what they want to do to you,start thinking about what you want to do to them)
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To: Hot Tabasco
How can I access the article without a subscription to the website?

Kind or lousy to post a link to a subscription only site, huh?

10 posted on 01/13/2015 4:41:30 PM PST by Mastador1 (I'll take a bad dog over a good politician any day!)
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To: Mastador1

Reinforces the point of the post.


11 posted on 01/13/2015 5:15:37 PM PST by Scrambler Bob (/s /s /s /s /s, my replies are "liberally" sprinkled with them behind every word and letter.!)
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To: Scrambler Bob

Well yaaaah


12 posted on 01/13/2015 5:25:29 PM PST by Mastador1 (I'll take a bad dog over a good politician any day!)
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To: Mastador1

Some of the articles are restricted to subscribers, some aren’t. As I am a subscriber, I can’t easily tell which is which, because I see them all.

The only major Australian newspapers which don’t limit at least some articles to subscribers are ones that won’t even allow links to their articles to be posted here, let alone reasonably substantial excerpts. They are also among the two most left wing sources of news in the country, so even if they did allow it, I’d be reluctant to use them here.

I’m sorry to those who can’t read everything they’d like to, but it is (fortunately) still a capitalist society, and these newspapers do want to make some money.


13 posted on 01/13/2015 5:56:18 PM PST by naturalman1975 ("America was under attack. Australia was immediately there to help." - John Winston Howard)
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To: naturalman1975

No problem, thanks for letting us know


14 posted on 01/13/2015 5:58:31 PM PST by Mastador1 (I'll take a bad dog over a good politician any day!)
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To: naturalman1975

Thanks for the content that you did post. As you probably already know, the U.S.A. and other formerly western culture countries are also over-regulated with onerous fees being taken from everyone. It’s a feeding frenzy in a shrinking economy.


15 posted on 01/13/2015 8:31:05 PM PST by familyop (We Baby Boomers are croaking in an avalanche of corruption smelled around the planet.)
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To: naturalman1975
The loss of this bridge was obviously only a minor part of all that - but the idea that this man who rebuilt it (to proper professional standards) when the government refused can be charged a fee to use it, really does seem pretty absurd.

My home was paid for by money my wife and I earned. We are charged over $1K/year taxes in order to continue to enjoy its comforts...

16 posted on 01/14/2015 3:20:23 AM PST by trebb (Where in the the hell has my country gone?)
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