The Land Rover dispute: brigade letter, page 1

Glenhaven Volunteer Bush Fire Brigade P.O. Box No. 78, CASTLE HILL, N.S.W. 2154 13th August, 1970 [Stamp: FINANCE COMMITTEE — 8 SEP 1970 — 2] [Stamp: BAULKHAM HILLS SHIRE COUNCIL — 14 AUG 1970 — No. 6.03/61063] The Shire Clerk, Baulkham Hills Shire Council, Old Northern Road, CASTLE HILL, N.S.W. 2154 Dear Sir, I have been requested to write you in the following terms on the continuing unsatisfactory situation of essential firefighting equipment in this Brigade: In February last we advised Council of our willingness to purchase a used Land Rover from our own funds on the basis of Council contributing dollar-for-dollar, and on the understanding that these ex-Army vehicles were available for approximately $700. We have since been told by a Council spokesman that these vehicles were "a heap of rubbish" but we point out that we were not invited to inspect them and form our own opinion. As several hundred dollars of our money were involved we were entitled to that courtesy. Furthermore, as some of these Land Rovers were bought by dealers this seems to indicate that these people considered them sufficiently roadworthy for resale with some profit to themselves. We suggest the following solution to this urgent problem: That Council hand us $400 and permit us to go to auctions of suitable Land Rovers, with the same proviso dollar-for-dollar from our own funds, so that we may be able to get this vehicle more quickly than appears to be possible through Council. The bushfire season is almost upon us and we want this second vehicle NOW. On our last equipment requisition we requested a two-way radio for the projected Land Rover, in good faith that the vehicle would soon be available to us. Mr. L. Smith then told the Brigade Captain that he (Mr. Smith) would delete that item from the requisition because we did not at that stage have the Land Rover into which it could be installed, but that "we were not to worry about it, as we would soon have the vehicle and the radio too by the start of the fire season". This was in March last. On August 6 Councillor K. J. Ford informed the Brigade Captain by telephone that we "won't be getting the radio this year". This situation is completely unsatisfactory and we believe we have the right to demand urgent clarification — do we get the vehicle in time for the emergency which could be upon us, and do we get the radio simultaneously to make the unit completely efficient? We are in August and after six months we have neither the vehicle nor the radio, nor, it would seem, any likelihood of either if current Council inactivity is any guide.