Smokescreen from Councillor Taylor?

Councillor Robin Taylor has resigned from Mt Alexander Shire Council, citing the usual litany of evils such as the Walking and Cycling Strategy, the Greenhouse Action Plan and walking tracks, with no care being taken of our footpaths. Cr Taylor has always claimed he knows what the ‘majority’ of ratepayers want. Even when they’re a ‘silent majority’. But is his resignation, citing ‘frustration’, ‘town entrances’ and the School of Mines purchase (‘the straw that broke the camel’s back’) all a pre-meditated smokescreen?

You’ve got to hand it to Cr Taylor. You can read him. You know what his opinions will be. Check his website. He’s furious with a former journalist of the Castlemaine Mail. He’s furious with Greenies, newcomers to town, anyone who says the word sustainability or green, or who differs with him politically. This is well established. All that fury may not be good for you.

At CI we respect a person who does what they say they will do, who stick to their guns. (Within reason. George Bush and Kim Il Sung might be exceptions.) Someone you can read. Straight as an arrow. You know their opinions and they stick to them. You have to have a certain respect for Cr Taylor, despite the slings and arrows he has slung and shot.

However, sources close to Council allege that Cr Taylor, who has apparently had health issues, has been planning a caravan holiday for some time and was seeking around fourteen weeks’ leave from his duties as a Councillor. The sources do not reveal if this was granted or whether it would have been a bureaucratic nightmare and that Cr Taylor may have chosen to resign to avoid that nightmare.

The sources also allege that Cr Taylor bought a caravan earlier this year with a sabbatical – or a trip for his health – in mind.

Castlemaine Independent wishes Cr Taylor the best for his retirement from Council, and wishes him the very best for his health and that of his family.