THEY haven’t got their turf back, but members of an Attadale group have enjoyed a small win in their battle against the poisoning of a patch of kikuyu in an Alfred Cove nature reserve (“Sedge sledge,” Herald, February 2, 2015).

Following a campaign that has dragged in premier Colin Barnett, attorney general Michael Mischin, the CCC, the ombudsman, the public sector commission, the department of local government, Melville council and just about every local politician under the sun, the Friends have won a concession: neighbours weren’t consulted properly.

As a result, a WA government environment funding agency has agreed to amend its rules to ensure it never happens again.

Last week the WA director of Natural Resources Management, John Holley, wrote to Friends convenor Gary Crawford and said while the poisoning was supported, the supervision from the council and WA’s parks and wildlife department’s supervision hadn’t been up to scratch.

Noting the “comprehensive” correspondence from the Friends, Mr Holley said guidelines would be amended to ensure anyone affected by future environmental works would be notified in future.

It’s a rare win for Mr Crawford, who’s peppered bureaucrats and politicians for months only to receive the brush-off.

His main target has been Melville council, which he says breached its own policies by allowing the volunteer group SERAG to poison the grass and replace it with native sedges.

Claiming there was an unholy alliance between the two organisations, he lodged a complaint with the CCC, but didn’t get a bite. He turned to the ombudsman’s office, but it closed the file with no action, so he dobbed the ombudsman in to public sector commission, but was told it had no authority over the ombudsman’s office.

Mr Crawford and his supporters are so infuriated by their treatment at the hands of bureaucrats they’ve formed an offshoot organisation, Melville Residents for Accountable Local Government.

Its aim is nothing less than a complete overhaul of the WA local government act, to put power back in the hands of ratepayers, Mr Crawford told the Herald.

by STEVE GRANT