Hilltops councillors have been in their role for just on six months. During this period, I have spent some time talking to the people who live in the smaller villages which make up Hilltops Council. Some of these include Murringo, Jugiong, Galong and Koorawatha to name just a few.
In some of the discussions, there appears to be a theme that the villages are not given the attention that the larger towns receive; an issue which needs to be looked at under the new Council. This may include mowing, garbage collection (if they get it at all) and simple curb and guttering which is nonexistent in many streets in some of the villages and some of the towns. This can often be put down unfortunately to a legacy left over from past councils. Council must make sure that the garbage continues to be picked up and that clean water comes out of the tap; the basics of local government are what rate payers and residents expect.
Councillors are also there to employ the best possible General Manager to run the organisation who can most efficiently and financially carry out Council’s business; a core aspect of their role as elected representatives. The next 12 months will be challenging in that an enormous amount of money will be spent on projects that will improve infrastructure, including play equipment, sporting fields and libraries just to name a few. Council must not lose sight of the everyday issues mentioned above, whilst hopefully completing these extra projects worth millions of dollars.
They may need to engage the private sector to assist in completing some of these projects in what is an unprecedented level of State Government funding. I welcome contact from the residents of the Hilltops Council area. Many opinions are needed so that councillors can adopt policy which best reflects the needs of their constituents.
