RURAL-REGIONAL

RURAL AND REGIONAL Cross border cooperation

Four councils have come together to provide opportunities for improved service delivery, access to high quality community infrastructure, and positive and social economic outcomes.

Mayor Libro Mustica said Moira Shire Council, Berrigan Shire Council, Federation Council, and Indigo Council had recognised, while jurisdictional lines need to exist on maps, in the day to day lives of communities they are invisible and in many cases frequently crossed.

“We all recognise that at a regional level our communities have many common experiences and interests,” Mayor Mustica said.

“In particular, there are townships along our borders that are entirely integrated and interdependent.

“Therefore the relationships of the communities within the four local government areas vary, depending on geographical and individual circumstances.

“The principles of the Memorandum of Understanding will establish the basis for the mutual commitment to and management of the agreement.”

Cr Mustica said the principles were –

·To appreciate each council’s perspective and work towards finding common ground; · · · Cooperation; Open information sharing; Maximising service delivery opportunities to

meet a common community need; · · Reducing costs and eliminate duplication; and Seek to be innovative.

“There are also five key focus areas being – issues of regional and national significance; aligning services and sharing information; community infrastructure works; local transport; and regional economic development,” he said.

“Some main objectives are to advocate to better inform decision making, attract investment, and adopt a collaborative approach to planning, funding, programs and projects.

“We already cooperate on various services to some degree including waste, tourism, emergency management planning, and events and this memorandum is formalising and expanding this process.

Federation Council Mayor Patrick Bourke, Berrigan Shire Council Mayor Matthew Hannan, Indigo Shire Council Mayor Bernard Gaffney, and Moira Shire Council Mayor Libro Mustica.

Harmony and good food assist

A celebration of cultural diversity culminated in a community recipe book inspired by Devonport residents and the lighting up of the city’s convention centre in support of Ukraine.

Devonport City Council published the recipe book online and lit up Parnaple Convention Centre in yellow and blue during Harmony Week from 21-27 March

Devonport Mayor Annette Rockliff said she hoped the fitting tribute during Harmony Week provided a visual reminder for the community to reflect and appreciate our country’s cultural diversity and freedom.

The Ukraine flag also featured on the outdoor TV screen in Market Square each evening during the week.

The Mayor said Harmony Week was a fantastic annual celebration of the diversity and coexistence of cultures in Australia.

Cr Rockliff said the recipe book contains contributions from Devonport residents who have shared a dish from their home country, a country they have lived in or simply a dish they love.

“Devonport is home for many cultures and it’s important as a community that we celebrate and support significant milestones such as Harmony Day, particularly at a time when some cultures are suffering globally,” Cr Rockliff said.

“Food is a great way to bring people from all walks of life together, so what better way to do this than to provide a community collection of recipes that reflects the different cultures in our great city.”

Devonport residents Sachet Devkota and Deepa Bhattrai have shared one of their favourite Nepalese recipes of fried goat in the Harmony Week Devonport Recipe Book.

Mr Devkota said since the couple relocated to Devonport last year from Sydney for his role as a Civil Engineer at Devonport City Council, they had enjoyed sharing their traditional Nepalese recipes with friends and work colleagues.

“Sharing food from our home country of Nepal is an honour and I hope the residents of Devonport enjoy our fried goat recipe, which is a favourite in our family,” Mr Devkota said.

“Goat is the most consumed red meat and is the preferred choice of 63% of the world’s population, it’s a delicacy in our country.”

Mr Devkota said the first time the couple had been to Tasmania was the day they relocated to Devonport for his new job, and they have loved the move.

“We love living in Devonport and exploring what Tasmania has to offer. We find the community friendly, and our jobs have helped us meet more people,” he said.

“Celebrating culture is important and we are pleased to share something from our country with the Devonport community.”

Cr Rockliff said Council also held a Citizenship Ceremony during Harmony Week.

She said seven residents from countries such as India, Taiwan and Malaysia and Taiwan will officially become Australian Citizens.

The Market Square Screen.

Devonport City Council employee Sachet Devkota with his wife Deepa Bhattrai and Council’s Eleanor McCormack with the new recipe book, which was part of this year’s Harmony Week celebrations.

Planning for farms

Armidale Council (NSW) resolved unanimously to make changes to local planning laws that make it easier for farmers to use their land in new and innovative ways.

This includes tourism activities such as farm experiences, cellar doors and farm stay accommodation. The reforms allow farmers wishing to renovate and operate old workers cottages and shearers quarters for overnight stays or let small groups camp on the property for a few days at a time obtain fast-tracked Council approval.

Councillor Paul Packham spoke strongly in support of the proposed planning reforms and requested Council make a further commitment to delivering a promotion package and planning concierge services to inform farmers of the new opportunities and assist farmers with the required approval processes. “Agri-tourism is on the rise and these reforms provide opportunities for generating another source of income and will assist the farming community to become more resilient to seasonal highs and lows,” he said.

“It bodes well for our regional aspirations for jobs and boosting the economy, but unless promoted there may be a lack of awareness and lost opportunity.”

Recognising that approval processes are often a disincentive to take up such opportunities, especially for busy farmers, Cr Packham concluded ‘Promoting the opportunities and guiding the hand of farmers through the process is a win-win outcome for our farmers and our region.’

The council will now refer the proposed reforms to the NSW Government to seek their endorsement prior to them coming into effect.

Community improvements filtering through

Capella in Queensland has received an abundance of drinking water with new ultrafi ltration system fi ltering thirty-fi ve per cent more water than the community requires.

Meeting of the mayors. From left - Murweh Shire Council Mayor Cr Shaun Radnedge, Western Downs Regional Council Deputy Mayor Cr Andrew Smith, Goondiwindi Regional Council Mayor Cr Lawrence Springborg, Southern Downs Regional Council Mayor Cr Vic Pennisi, Paroo Shire Council Mayor and meeting host Cr Suzette Beresford, Balonne Shire Council Mayor Cr Samantha O’Toole, DDSWQ Council of Mayors chair and Toowoomba Region Mayor Cr Paul Antonio and DDSWQ Council of Mayors deputy chair and Quilpie Shire Mayor Cr Stuart Mackenzie at the Cunnamulla Fella statue in Cunnamulla.

Road accord

The 10-member Darling Downs and South West Queensland (DDSWQ) Council of Mayors has agreed to proceed with a CSIRO freight analysis study which is designed to offer councils data to better inform funding applications for road infrastructure upgrades.

DDSWQ Council of Mayors chair and Toowoomba Region Mayor Cr Paul Antonio said the CSIRO proposal would provide an evidence-based analysis approach which was likely to result in greater funding success for vital road infrastructure upgrades.

“Highlighting the most important roads to consider for funding, based on freight data, will ensure local authorities and the state government avoid duplication and work collaboratively to plan upgrades for key freight routes,” Mayor Antonio said after the Cunnamulla meeting. (25 March)

“The councils agreed to proceed with a review of the freight routes, which is a step forward.

“The Mayors were pleased to hear about progress on the Ernst and Young stage three feasibility report into prospective capacity upgrades to the Western and West Moreton rail lines that feed into the planned Melbourne to Brisbane Inland Rail route.

“Consultation with the major interest groups (cattle/beef, cotton, grains and coal) about their likely use of the upgraded rail lines has been completed.

“While the beef sector indicated there could be some limits on their freight plans on rail, the other sectors were most positive about the effects of the rail line upgrades for their transport operations.

“The next steps involve finalising costings with Queensland Rail before the federal government’s consideration of any business case. The DDSWQ Mayors appreciate the federal government’s funding for the assessment.”

Mayor Antonio said strategies would be developed to address housing shortages across the council areas.

“Economic development officers from the 10 councils are working with Regional Development Australia and the Department of State Development to tackle the shortage in suitable accommodation,” he said.

Mayor Antonio said ongoing discussions with the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries and the University of Southern Queensland would devise ways to increase resources for primary producers to access more soil conservation planning.

Mayor Antonio said the meeting also heard an update on moves to establish a Designated Area Migration Agreement to streamline visa applications for skilled migrants to assist key industries across the region.

“There are various skill gaps across the local authorities, and this process, which mirrors a similar scheme that is operating successfully at Cairns, is one way to match workers to the areas in greatest need,” he said.

Representatives from Queensland Government departments, AgForce, the Queensland Farmers’ Federation, Toowoomba and Surat Basin Enterprise, the Australian Rail Track Corporation, NBN Co, the Murray Darling Association, the University of Southern Queensland, Southern Queensland Country Tourism and the Local Government Association of Queensland also delivered presentations.

Mayor Antonio said all participants were very appreciative of the hospitality provided by the Cunnamulla hosts.

“Our tour and presentation by the Indigenous leaders, in particular their work around men’s health, was most inspiring.”

The Council of Mayors (DDSWQ) represents the communities of the Bulloo, Quilpie, Paroo, Murweh, Maranoa, Balonne, Western Downs, Goondiwindi, Southern Downs and Toowoomba regions and shires, covering an area the size of Sweden.

The group represents one quarter of Queensland’s land area and carries around 25 per cent of its cattle stock and produces 75 per cent of its grain and pulse crops.

Information clicks

The NSW Information Commissioner’s visit to the Clarence Valley Council has highlighted a range of self-reporting tools now available to councils.

Mayor Ian Tiley, Acting General Manager Laura Black, councillors and senior management hosted NSW Information Commissioner Elizabeth Tydd at the Council Chambers in Grafton on Tuesday (29 March).

“It’s fantastic for Commissioner Tydd to take the time to visit Clarence Valley Council and put a face on the compliance reporting that we do,” Mayor Tiley said.

“She was able to highlight opportunities for improvement, trends in open access globally, and emerging funding streams aimed at assisting digital transformation.”

The Information Commissioner is based in the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (IPC), which is responsible for both information access and privacy in local government and other state government agencies.

Commissioner Tydd focused on the IPC’s role as a ‘Champion of Open Government’ detailing the operation of the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (‘GIPA Act)’) and Council’s reporting on this.

Commissioner Tydd highlighted a range of self-reporting tools available to Council that compare its performance to other local governments across the state; information graphics that Council can use to assist in the understanding of open access legislation; and new funding opportunities under the Digital Restart Act 2020.

“The Commissioner walked councillors and senior staff through our GIPA Dashboard and advised that in 2020/21 we performed well above average in terms of meeting the expectations in our release of information (96 per cent),” Ms Black said.

“But our timeliness in delivering outcomes (73 per cent) was impacted by the absence of a responsible officer for a number of months due to a delay in recruitment.”

Clarence Valley councillors and senior staff hosted NSW Information Commissioner Elizabeth Tydd at the Council Chambers in Grafton on Tuesday, 29 March 2022.

Seed library initiative

A new community building initiative is underway in the Snowy Monaro to bring together local gardeners to build seed libraries across the region.

Much like the popular Little Free Library project, Seed Savers seed libraries allow our community to swap seeds, with a long-term vision to see these libraries grow to share veggies, bulbs, native plants and more.

Snowy Monaro Regional Council is holding the first of these seed collecting workshop on Saturday 30 April 2022 in Bombala, in cooperation with Seed Savers Bega. This introductory session covers when and how to collect seeds, organise swaps and manage a local library.

The project aims to help the Snowy Monaro find and connect to our local plant heritage through varieties handed down through families and friends, provide access to locally grown and saved seeds adapted to our local climate and soil. The Seed Savers libraries give people access to a wider variety of plants than just those that are available commercially. Through sharing seeds, they hope they can replicate the success of Seed Savers elsewhere and help create real connections between growers in the community. By fostering cooperation and collaboration, the community can begin to reconnect after a long period of isolation following the impact of COVID-19, bushfires and floods.

The Bombala session is being run by Liz Worth from Bega Valley Seed Savers – a wellestablished seed library network that works to protect and improve heritage food seeds and plants. Liz has a wealth of technical knowledge about seed saving and is passionate about sharing the fun of seed saving and sharing.

New executive team

NSW Country Mayors Association of NSW (CMA) has unveiled it’s new executive team elected at it’s AGM held on Friday 11 March with Cr Ken Keith OAM (Mayor of Parkes Shire) returned as Chairman, and Councillor Jamie Chaffey (Mayor of Gunnedah Shire Council) elected Deputy Chair.

Eight Country Mayors were also elected to the Executive, including Cr Craig Davies (Narromine Shire Council), Cr Rick Firman OAM (Temora Shire Council), Cr Russel Fitzpatrick (Bega Valley Shire Council), Cr John Medcalf OAM (Lachlan Shire Council), Cr Phyllis Miller OAM (Forbes Shire Council), Cr Sue Moore (Singleton Council), Cr Kylie Thomas (Kyogle Council), and Cr Russell Webb, (Tamworth Regional Council).

Mr Kent Boyd PSM, General Manager Parkes Shire Council, was elected Secretary/ Public Officer.

Chairman Ken Keith OAM, paid tribute to the outgoing executive members, Cr Michael Pearce, (Uralla Shire Council), Cr Liz Campbell, (Kempsey Shire Council), Cr Peter Petty, (Tenterfield Shire Council) and Cr Kathy Sajowitz, (Oberon Shire Council).

Councillor Keith also welcomed the new and returning members, acknowledging the new executive was exceptionally well equipped to continue to drive the business of the CMA, which is so important to the constituents of Country Councils.

Priority areas for the CMA include working with the State Government to close the gap between health services in the regions compared with those of metropolitan area, ensuring towns have sustainable water supplies and to ensure the financial sustainability of local government. A whole of government approach to disaster planning, skills and education, and regional housing will also be prioritised.