Councillor Mathew Dickerson’s comments come after a Facebook page titled Bring Aldi To Dubbo published several rumours about why the German discount supermarket chain had yet to open a store in Dubbo, despite stores popping up in Mudgee, Bathurst, Young, Orange and one set to open in Parkes.
Several Facebook users who contributed to the page placed the blame squarely on Dubbo City Council.
When contacted by the Daily Liberal, Cr Dickerson said he had already tried to set the record straight on the Facebook page but it appeared his comments had been removed shortly after they were posted.
“I posted that I personally spoke with an ALDI representative on May 1, 2012 and was told by ALDI that council had not stifled ALDI progressing into Dubbo. The company said it was well aware of the potential that Dubbo offered.”
Cr Dickerson said he “got straight from the horse’s mouth” a reiteration from ALDI that its current business model was what was hindering its expansion to Dubbo, not council.
“ALDI owns all of its own trucks and logistics, and their model is such that drivers travel out and back in a single day,” he said.
“The additional distance of Dubbo from Sydney (790-kilometre round trip) as compared with a 530-kilometre round trip to Mudgee and a 708-kilometre round trip to Parkes does not work from a logistics perspective. Dubbo is ‘just over the edge’. At any rate, fatigue laws won’t let them do it.
“ALDI told me they are constantly reviewing their processes so it is not ‘no’ to Dubbo forever but it is until they modify their logistics model.
“I would love ALDI to come to Dubbo. We have said to them, ‘what can we do, legally, to help you come into Dubbo?’ They told us Dubbo hasn’t been struck off the map, but there’s nothing we can do at the moment except keep in constant communication with them in case anything changes.”
Cr Dickerson said he had also posted on the Facebook page a link to council minutes that proved he did not vote against Harris Farm moving to Dubbo, in response to an allegation made by the page’s administrator that he had done so. The mayor said that post had also disappeared.
Source: www.dailyliberal.com.au
London orchestra to mime Games opening - ABC Online
Updated
There is outrage in London about the decision by Olympic Games organisers to have the London Symphony Orchestra mime its performance at the opening ceremony.
It has emerged the world renowned orchestra will pretend to perform while a recording made six weeks ago blasts out of the stadium speakers.
Considered to be one of the best orchestras in the world, it was awarded the contract for the 2012 Games.
But when the athletes walk in to the stadium in front of a worldwide audience of 4 billion people, the orchestra will in fact be pretending.
Twitter has been abuzz with outrage.
"What a bloody joke," one person said, "The London Symphony Orchestra told to mime at games opening."
"You'll see the London Symphony Orchestra at the Olympics, but you won't hear it - how ridiculous, what a farce," another posted.
The decision was made by the London Games organising committee, which is worried about the acoustics and the uncertainties of the British weather.
"Due to the complexity of everything involved in staging the ceremonies, it's not possible for all the music in all the shows to be live," a committee spokesperson said in a statement.
"There will be live musical elements, but many of the songs will be recorded to track in advance of the shows.
"This is standard practice for an event of this scale, and the performers have no issue with it."
The music to blare out of the stadium at the opening games ceremony was recorded at the famous Abbey road studios.
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra operations director Lou Oppenheim says the decision to pre-record the music is not unreasonable.
"Performances such as the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games are incredibly complex from an operational perspective," she said.
"The inter-relationships between a whole lot of different elements, including the musical elements, the pyrotechnics, the announcements, the lighting of the cauldron - everything has to be done to split-second timing."
Ms Oppenheim says a whole lot of different things can influence what can happen with the timing which is calculated to the tenth of a second.
"The wonderful thing obviously, the audiences will be still hearing the sounds of the fabulous London Symphony Orchestra, so it's not as if they're miming to, you know, another orchestra," she said.
"But if that's what's happening I would understand that that's possibly why that might be the case."
What might come as a surprise to many is that the Sydney Symphony Orchestra mimed its performance at the opening of the Sydney Games in 2000, and the backing tape was recorded, in part, by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.
Ms Oppenheim says live outdoor performances are difficult to manage and it is important that nothing is left to chance.
"I think it's important that we hear orchestras in the best fantastic light and if they've actually had to make a call that that's the way they've got to do it for this, I think you know, some understanding around that and to make sure that all of the elements of the ceremony can come together as smoothly as possible," she said.
Topics: music, olympics-summer, england
First posted
Source: www.abc.net.au
Duke of Edinburgh taken to London hospital with a bladder infection - Stv.tv
A star-studded concert in tribute to the Queen's Diamond Jubilee has been overshadowed by news that the Duke of Edinburgh has been taken to hospital with a bladder infection.
Prince Philip, 90, was taken to the King Edward VII Hospital in London from Windsor Castle as a precautionary measure and will remain in hospital under observation for a few days, a palace spokeswoman said.
The news was released just hours before the Diamond Jubilee concert was due to begin in front of Buckingham palace.
The spokesman said the Queen would still attend the concert.
The statement on the Duke's health said: "HRH The Duke of Edinburgh was taken to King Edward VII Hospital in London this afternoon, from Windsor Castle, as a precautionary measure after developing a bladder infection, which is being assessed and treated.
"Prince Philip will remain in hospital under observation for a few days.
"He is, understandably, disappointed about missing this evening's Diamond Jubilee Concert and tomorrow's engagements."
Take That singer Robbie Williams opened the concert in front of Buckingham Palace by declaring to thousands of fans: "Let me entertain you."
Sir Paul McCartney, who closed the show with three songs, wished the Duke well, saying: "I think, you know, we all send our best wishes for a speedy recovery. I hear he's not too bad."
On Sunday, Prince Philip joined his family on the Royal Barge during the Diamond Jubilee pageant, standing for much of the day, and he did not look to be in discomfort.
The Queen was missing from the royal box at the beginning of the three-hour show but was expected to take her seat at around 9pm before lighting a ceremonial beacon at 10.30pm.
People who read this story also read
- Man who died after becoming trapped inside capsized boat is named
- Man charged with murder after 'stabbing' outside of pub
- Anarchists replace Union Flag at Bank of Scotland HQ in Edinburgh
- Six people in intensive care after outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease
- Four people in intensive care after outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease
Source: news.stv.tv
London 2012 Olympics: sprint prodigy Adam Gemili tempted to take on Games - Daily Telegraph
Enjoying his first day in the athletics spotlight today as he visited TV and radio studios, telling of how he had made the journey from being a talented young defender on Chelsea’s books to world-class sprinter for Blackheath and Bromley, Gemili could not help but admit the growing temptation offered by running at the London Games.
“The Olympics really wasn’t in my plans. I was aiming at the World Junior Championships in Barcelona in July, but I ran the Olympic qualifying time and now the Olympics has to be a possibility,” he conceded.
“There’s the World Junior Championship trials before the Olympic
trials, so to qualify for both you have to go to both and they’re only a week apart.
“So that’s a dilemma I face. Can I do one or both? But what happened at the weekend does give me the possibility of going to the Olympics. And who wouldn’t want to run for your country in front of your home fans at an Olympics?”
But he added that it was now all going to be down to serious discussions with his coach Michael Afilaka, who has made it clear that the main aim should definitely be the world juniors.
Gemili’s performance has certainly shifted the goalposts for Britain’s other leading sprinters, including Chambers.
It makes him both the fastest in the country by a tenth of a second and also the European No 2 on 2012 form while only one other UK sprinter, James Dasaolu, has the Olympic A qualifying standard of 10.18sec.
Chambers’s best since the overturning of the British Olympic Association’s lifetime ban for drugs offender was 10.28 on a chilly evening in Ostrava last month and he is counting on more favourable conditions at an international competition in Montreuil, on the outskirts of Paris on Tuesday night, when he hopes to be driven to the Olympic mark by the presence of France’s European champion Christophe Lemaitre.
Meanwhile, medal hopeful Phillips Idowu has suffered a setback, having to pull out of Thursday’s Bislett Games in Oslo after suffering a foot injury while competing at the Diamond League meeting in Eugene, Oregon, last Friday.
The untimely injury is said by his agent not to be too serious and his withdrawal only “precautionary” by his agent.
It means the 33 year-old will miss the opportunity to avenge his defeat in Eugene by American Christian Taylor, who also annexed Idowu’s world title in Daegu, South Korea, last summer.
Idowu, who had been previously unbeaten this season, had to settle for third place in Eugene when he landed awkwardly on his third-round leap and pulled out of the rest of the competition.
Taylor’s winning jump of 17.62 metres was the longest in the world this year.
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Woodbury: Aldi may fill empty Borders space at Tamarack Village - Pioneer Press
Aldi is planning to open a grocery store in Woodbury, according to a company spokeswoman.
The company hopes to open a discount grocery store in the building formerly occupied by Borders Bookstore, 8472 Tamarack Bay, in the Tamarack Village shopping area.
The store would require approval by the City Council.
Borders Bookstores declared bankruptcy last year and shut down most of its stores, including the Woodbury location.
Bob Shaw can be reached at 651-228-5433. Follow him at twitter.com/BshawPP.
Source: www.twincities.com
London 2012 Olympics: Britain's greatest badminton player Nathan Robertson retires after missing selection for the Games - Daily Telegraph
But he had no qualms in admitting that Adcock and Bankier had simply been the best mixed doubles pair over the last 12 months.
“For neutral fans, it has been entertaining to see how the rivalry played out,” he said. “We had expectations going into qualifying but we didn’t just miss out in the end, we missed out by a long way.
“They fully deserved their place and I have already offered my support to the players and coaches in the build-up to the Games.”
Adrian Christy, Badminton England’s chief executive, said: “It is a sad day for the sport as he is arguably our greatest ever player, a one-off, super-talented individual.
“He is an infectious character and a brilliant role model. Our pool of talented players now need to aspire to his heights.”
Keeping in line with Christy’s view that former players should be rewarded for their services, Robertson is now likely to take up an ambassadorial role within the sport.
Robertson competed at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 before winning silver with long-time partner Gail Emms at the Athens Games in 2004.
Two years later, the pair won Commonwealth gold in Melbourne and then the world title in Madrid. He forged a partnership with Wallwork following Emms’ retirement at the last Olympics in Beijing.
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
No comments:
Post a Comment