The public inquiry meetings in the ‘Fit For The Future’ process, commenced in Boorowa this morning at the Ex-Services Club, at 9am. The meeting had a small turn out based on the population of Boorowa Shire, which sits at approximately 2500 people, with 68 residents attending. All attendees were asked to register to attend the meeting and asked to register to speak at the meeting. 14 residents registered to speak and the meeting was all but over by 10:15am. The delegate was bound to stay until 12, midday by the rules set out for the process.
A member of the Twin Town Times staff asked a local if they knew what was going on at the Ex-Services Club. They said “I think its a Landcare meeting or something” which highlighted the lack of public awareness for the important meeting and the lack of engagement by the State Government with their communities.
The Twin Town Times staff member then attended the local Newsagency to purchase the two previous local newspapers and found that the editions dated January 28 and February 4, had little to say about the meetings.
It was left up to Boorowa local John Snelling in his column ‘Word on the Street’ to provide the journalism needed for what is the biggest decision in Boorowa Shire’s history. An advertisement detailing when the meetings were to be held was on page 3, however there was little more information. The state government placed a 3/4 page advert on page 4 which made no mention of the meeting but provided what could be best described as propaganda paid for by the taxes of local residents. The advertisement broadly mentioned the benefit of reducing the number of councils.
The large advertisement displayed an artist’s depiction of people sitting in a field with the following text. – Stronger Councils Stronger Communities –
“New South Wales has a complicated system of 152 local councils. That’s nearly twice as many as Victoria and Queensland. Designed over 100 years ago, the system is broken. After listening to the community and councils, the NSW Government is sorting it out. It’s taking action to lock in rates, protect local jobs and create stronger councils. This means better services, better infrastructure and a brighter future for your local community.”
What the State Government has failed to do during this process is provide detailed evidence as to how this will be achieved.
Alan Jones was scathing on his 2GB breakfast show yesterday morning regarding the amalgamation process. Jones said that those in Baird’s cabinet are personally opposed to forced amalgamations. He mentioned there is talk of “Deals being done and certain councils being looked after in order to appease National Party members in the bush.” Jones went on to say that he would be naming those local members but not today. He said “Paul Toole the local Government Minister spoke against forced amalgamation prior to being elected to parliament.”
Toole is now driving the ‘Fit For The Future Process’ which is very close to achieving its goal in the region. The Hilltops merger is strongly supported by both Boorowa and Young Shires who are attempting a forced merger with Harden Shire. Harden is opposed to the merger. A town meeting held on Tuesday February 2, saw a unanimous vote of 320 residents support a vote of ‘no confidence’ in regard to their local State Member, Katrina Hodgkinson. Harden will hold their public inquiry on February 5 at the Harden Country Club from 9am – midday.
Boorowa resident, Judy Ford said “People weren’t really for amalgamation but we just know its got to happen, they didn’t really let us know what is going to happen or what representation we will get, we really aren’t keen to go to Young but we just have to do it for the numbers. We just more or less have to go along with it. A lot of people didn’t like the idea it was a 9 to 12 meeting and that is was unfair for the ones who couldn’t make it to get their point of view across.”
The majority of people who attended were Shire staff who made up three quarters of the people at the meeting according to Judy.
“We can’t really say what the positives are, there is so much unknown, we would have to wait a year or two in because we just don’t know how any of it is going to work. We have been given information but that is sketchy, it’s just buts and maybes, nothing is concrete. Who is going to get the money? Is Boorowa’s money going to cover Young’s debt? No body can give us any facts other then it is going to save money, but they haven’t got the balance sheets of each councils.”
When asked about Hardens decision to attempt a merger with Cootamundra, Judy said “Very little has been said about Harden, that is what they want to do so they can do what they want to do, they are trying to do the best for their shire so if they don’t want to come in we can understand that. We understand the animosity between Young and Harden. We don’t hold anything against Harden.”
Resident Robyn Hanns said “There is talk of representation of three, three, three. We have been told the first four years of a merged council needs that to happen, but nothing is guaranteed. There not even sure when the elections are, so who knows what will happen. There are a lot of unknowns, no body knows how it will all work, how we will be represented.”
Both ladies said they had been informed that populations needed to be big so that amalgamations didn’t continue to happen in the future.
Boorowa Mayor Wendy Tuckerman said “We had representation here today, obviously the time that the inquiry has been held has enabled a lot of people to not be able to participate in the conversation which is a little bit disappointing and recognised by all the speakers at the inquiry. One of the biggest concerns raised was in regard to representation and it was something councils high-lighted in their presentation, that representation is one of the most crucial parts of this merger proposal. It was high-lighted for the delegate. One of the things we have put forward by the council to the Minister is that for the first four years of a newly elected council, that a new council would be set up in a fair manner. Its one of the things we will be pushing in our written submission. Our biggest issue if the Minister decides to merge the council is with administrators. We need to make sure that we are sitting at the table in the first period, whether its 9 months or however long until the next election is held, it’s a crucial time that a new council is being structured in the right way. I’m saying to the minister we need to be sitting at the table designing our future, that to me is a vital point, we do not want an administrator coming in that doesn’t understand the communities and is doing that job. We need to be there and having input. ”
Tuckerman said that the 3 shires have been working together on a number of service levels and “We have a business community that has been selling the area for some time now in the form of the Hilltops. Representation is on population but it is about making sure that we have good quality candidates. I believe the community have a lot of good quality candidates that can serve the community. We don’t think wards will suit our community, its not really the way to go forward for us. The representation is such a vital part of having a successful merger. The process has been dragging on far too long and some decisions need to be made, i’m hoping going forward that whatever the decision is, we are doing the right thing by our community. If the merger proposal is accepted by the Minister we can all work together for the benefit of our region.”
The Twin Town Times will be providing coverage on the Cootamundra, Young and Gundagai meetings held today as well as the meeting in Harden tomorrow. Stay tuned
