This is my first column as Mayor of Upper Lachlan Shire, and I want to begin with thanks.
Thank you to my fellow Councillors for the confidence they have placed in me. The Mayor is one vote around the table, and I look forward to working with Deputy Mayor Rob Cameron, all of our Councillors, and the CEO and her team.
On Saturday I had the honour of assisting with the presentation of Rural Fire Service Medals. More than 2,000 years of combined service was recognised. That is an extraordinary contribution from our volunteers, and from the families who stand behind them.
It was also good to see the Laggan community out in force at Saturday night’s Charity Ball.
A shire of our size cannot fund everything from rates alone. I went to Parliament House last Wednesday to speak with our local member, Wendy Tuckerman MP, about the new grants methodology now under review. How Financial Assistance Grants are calculated matters a great deal to a rural council with a long road network and a small rate base. We need a model that reflects the real cost of serving communities like ours.
I want our Council to be connected with its people. Council’s Community Outreach Meetings start next month. We will commence our first outreach meeting at the Big Hill Fire Shed on Tuesday 13 October. The other outreach meetings will follow in Crookwell, Gunning and Taralga, come and tell us what matters to you. One thing we will be covering is more local jobs. Too many young people leave because the work is not here. We have very little light industrial land in the Shire. More of it would give existing businesses room to grow and give people a reason to stay. Come to the meetings and let us know what you think about that or any other issue.
I will be visiting Collector, Dalton, Binda, Laggan, Grabben Gullen, Breadalbane and Bigga over the next three months to hear directly from you. All Councillors will be invited to join us.
If you see me at the shops, at a market or at a local event, come and say hello. If something is working, tell us. If it isn’t, tell us that too. You can reach me at Gregory.Harris@upperlachlan.nsw.gov.au.
Gregory Harris
Mayor of Upper Lachlan Shire