Community Update - 28 December 2024
The following is a small sample of comments received from Wamboin/Bywong/Sutton residents in response to Opticomm’s announcement in December 2024 to cease plans to construct a fibre network for Wamboin and Bywong. In some cases these comments make reference to WCAG’s subsequent note providing further context on the announcement.
A copy of Opticomm’s note to residents of 20 December 2024 and WCAG’s subsequent email update to Residents of 24 December 2024 can be found at: sites.google.com/site/wamboincommunications/project-updates/project-update-24122024
Extract from an email addressed to Steve Whan ….
Whilst I and most others understand that government priorities change, due to financial constraints or emergent issues, we expect such changes will be managed and explained to the electorate in a clear manner. We also expect that commitments already entered into will be managed efficiently and completed as promised. This has certainly not been the case with the Bywong, Wamboin & Sutton fibre rollout. Opticom for starters, has strung the community along with excuses over a lengthy period and without any discernible oversight according to the NSW Government's own Audit Office. The final insult, being advised by the contractor that the project has been "descoped".
Most disappointing, has been the absence of any direct government comment about the project, and your own ambivalence to be transparent with the community, including a failure to support completion of the project.
A lack of transparency and integrity led to John Barilaro's demise, and it would be a great pity to have an otherwise exemplary career tarnished by what appears to be a lack of transparency and support by yourself, particularly on the thin margin with which the seat is held.
Please stand up and support the completion of this project, which could be an example to Labor governments in the rest of the country about the importance of keeping Labor's commitments to rural voters.
-RL
Really appreciate the efforts you and the rest of WCAG have put into this.
-TB
‘…I am disappointed (to put it mildly) and angry that the NSW Government, and in particular, Steve Whan have treated the community in such a shabby and shameful way.
-AM
In Bidges Road we have a few node heads, never used and a collection of Telstra emails telling us how they are improving the mobile network as long as we put up with the regular outages to do it. Nothing has changed though.
The copper lines are unusable as they have strategically placed all the junction boxes in culverts and ponds.
We are about 15 kilometres as the crow flys, from the Australian National Parliament House but we had to get Trump's sidekick, Elon, to help us out.
-GG
Thanks for your ongoing effort Jon and that of the WCAG. I’ll be writing to relevant ministers in the new year.
-MD
Beyond disgraceful and Opticom has significant other government contracts.
The local member needs to provide a report to the community detailing what money has been spent and exactly what tiny number of households will have something delivered.
How Opticom expected to deliver to the scope was fanciful if they now (after 3 years) tell us it is too difficult.
-JP
I am disgusted by the attitude and performance of Opticomm and NSW government in relation to the Womboin/Bywong project that we have waited several years to be achieved. It is appalling that after all that time and money has been wasted, it is seen as acceptable to deliver NOTHING to residents.
I would like to see some accountability and some concrete commitments to provide a solution.
Womboin and Bywong residents put up with so much, damaged roads, lack of weed management, rate increases, enormous delays and poor outcomes for local high school build, lack of services like rubbish collection or tip passes. the list goes on and on.
We get one promise for improvements to broadband infrastructure and just get strung along for years with empty promises.
I would like to see what the government plans to do to address this as there will be a reckoning coming at election time.
-DP
You get nothing better from Labor - Vote Liberal National Party.
-MM
It is a highly disappointing situation, and I also wasn’t aware of the Audit Report’s findings. That is revealing, particularly noting it was quite difficult to obtain updates from Opticomm.
-AF
Thanks for all your efforts. This is an extremely disappointing outcome for everyone, especially members of the WCAG that have been working on this project for so long. My ADSL internet became so slow that it was essentially unusable – even for low-end tasks.
-E&SW
I feel for all those who put so much effort into this. To me the writing was on the wall as soon as the NSW Government got involved. I also feel for the local provider who could have utterly changed our Internet landscape with that sort of money.
We have had nothing but incompetence from the bureaucrats AND especially the local member since the start.
Then we had Opticomm wheeling out the excuses - would you believe it? They found some rock? Incredible! Who’d have thunk it?
I won’t be voting for either major party at the next election but I especially won’t be voting for Whan. Time for an independent who gives a rat’s about his or her electorate.
-RA
What’s our local member doing? Only ever see him when he is standing behind the premier at a press coference. Most useless member for Monaro ever. He should be screaming about this. Whole thing has been a circus.
-SH
Pathetic
-CL