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Welcome to the blog of Kent Morris for Maranoa Reional Council!
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Monday 30 April 2012

The wash up.

Well the Maranoa has spoken for the next 4 years and it would appear very little has changed. It looks like all of the sitting councillors, with the exception on Jeff Watson have been returned with Ree Price in a battle with Peter Keegan for the last place.
 

It would also appear that David Schefe and Peter Flynn have made a successful return to local government with the only newcomer to local government being Cameron O’Niel.
 

I must say, I have been surprised by the outcome, as throughout my travels, I have heard what I thought was an overwhelming call for change in council. This has not occurred. It seems that in spite of the rhetoric, once the voters have been faced with the cold reality of who to choose, they have elected to retain the existing council instead of choosing a new one. Better the devil you know, I guess...
 

I am disappointed that I was not successful in my campaign, but I am not about to go and throw myself off a bridge over it. I guess I didn’t do a good enough job at selling myself to the electorate. Either that or they did not like what they saw. I feel that I can hold my head up as having run a clean and honest campaign. No-one can take that away from me.
 

Am I going to try again? Well, that’s 4 years away, a lot can happen so let’s just wait and see. The immediate challenge is seeing what the mood of the new council is like and how it functions. The complete dynamic has changed as a result of 3 different councillors being elected.
 

We must ensure that we hold them to their promises. Promises for open and accountable government, promises to implement portfolios, promises to decentralise some operations and promises to better engage with the community.
 

In closing, I wish to thank those people who decided to vote for me as your candidate on council. I am humbled and grateful for every vote I received. To those who did not vote for me, I’m sorry that I did not convince you of my merits as your chosen candidate. To my fellow candidates who did not get elected, thankyou for the competition and to those new councillors elected, congratulations on your success.
 

I’ll probably wind the blog down a bit now, maybe a name change? Maybe a change in focus? Maybe I might run a commentary on council? We’ll see what the future brings.


To all my loyal blog readers over the campaign, I thank you for giving me your time and reading what I had to say.

Wednesday 25 April 2012

It’s over to you....

This may well be my final Blog post prior to the close of voting. As a candidate, I’ve done my part in introducing myself to the voters of the shire and it’s over to you all to now make the decision. Only time will tell if I have been successful or not in selling myself to you.
 

Pre-poll scrutiny starts on Friday, with candidates scrutineers being allowed to observe the checking of declaration flaps against the Electoral roll, where the flap will be removed and the envelope placed in the ballot box. Following this, the envelopes will then be opened and both ballot papers removed and put into the ballot box, this is how the votes become anonymous.
 

Scrutineering of the ballot papers can begin with the counting of the votes, which should commence around 6.00pm on Saturday evening.
 

The Mayoral Ballots will be counted on Saturday night, with the Councillor ballots commencing on Sunday morning. Counting will continue up until the 8th of May, when the last of the postal ballots must have been received by the returning officer.
 

It feels like it has been a long campaign, I started gearing up my campaign in the end of January, at that stage, the election was set for the end of March. As you would recall, the then Premier decided to postpone the elections so that we could have a state election first. Throw in the Floods, Easter and a couple of other things and it feels like it has been a long run.
 

So, I’d like to thank everyone for taking an interest in the campaign so far, my next post will most likely be dealing with the results of the election. To the residents of the Maranoa region, I await your decision.

Sunday 22 April 2012

Make your vote count (and be counted)

I haven’t updated the blog for a couple of days, Mostly because I have had a horrible cold that came on me last Tuesday night and, well, I haven’t really felt that sociable.


Last Friday, I went to Roma to attend a stud cattle sale at the saleyards, which was well attended and sold quite well. The sale was over by lunchtime, and in the afternoon, I dropped in to see the returning officer for some information on the appointment of scrutineers and the conduct of the elections. We went on to discuss a great many issues, such as the auditing of Campaign bank accounts, Advertising disclosure and the whole postal voting process.


With around 2400 votes being returned so far, we went on to talking about what constitutes a formal vote and she advised that around 5 % of the votes returned to date where declared informal, and that is even before the ballot papers had been seen. This was as a result of removing the flap from the declaration envelope or not having the declarations witnessed.


As a result of that discussion, I have decided that this Blog post should be all about how to make your vote count.
 
·         On the MAYORAL Ballot Paper, put a “1” in the box of the candidate of your choice
·         On the COUNCILLOR ballot paper, number 1 to 8 the candidates of your choice (although I do hope your number 1 vote will be for yours truly!)
·         Put BOTH ballot papers in the DECLARATION envelope
·         Sign the declaration envelope
·         Have a witness complete and sign the witness section of the declaration envelope.
·         DO NOT DETACH THE FLAP FROM THE DECLARATION ENVELOPE
·         Put the declaration envelope in the Reply Paid envelope and post it.
 

A number of votes have been received with the flap missing from the declaration envelope. These votes cannot be counted as formal votes as the returning officer is unable to identify whose vote it is.  Or the vote has not been witnessed, and therefore the vote has not been verified.


Electors have gone to a great deal of trouble attending forums, listening to candidates, reading flyers and ads and in some cases, questioning the candidates on issues that they feel important only to throw it all away by failing to complete the declarations properly. They are completely unaware that their vote will not be counted.
 

Remember, every 4 years, you get the opportunity to pass your judgement on your local council, whether it be good, bad or indifferent, please don’t throw that opportunity away.
 

Also, a reminder, if you have not received your ballot paper or have spoilt it, you can contact Alison Moore at the Roma Community Arts Centre and Library and she can organise for a replacement. It will take a little while as there is some paperwork to complete.




Wednesday 18 April 2012

Plant and Commercial activities

Today's post, If I am honest, is really 2 separate posts, but they are sort of related....

Plant and Equipment

Plant and equipment comprise a significant part of council’s asset base. It is important to maintain an efficient and effective plant fleet. Plant purchases represent a significant investment of council’s budget. We need to ensure that all plant purchases are well researched and carefully considered. Consideration should not only be given to WHAT the equipment is, but also HOW it would be deployed. Do we buy 3 smaller machines based around the shire, or do we buy 1 bigger one that does it quicker and can be moved around the shire as required?

Plant replacement must be organised to occur while a piece of equipment still holds some resale value and before it starts to incur increased maintenance costs. Sometimes this means that the best value for money machine when it is new, may not be the one that is cheapest to buy.

I would also like to see some exploration into the feasibility of purchasing a pavement stabiliser for use in rehabilitating deformed sealed shire roads and to explore the hire opportunities that may exist to other surrounding shires or for Main Roads work.
 

Commercial Enterprises

We must question, very carefully, the operation of Commercial enterprises operated by local government. They tend to have a history of being unsuccessful in the longer term for a number of reasons. Any new commercial enterprise should only be entered into afte careful and detailed consideration. Council should not be in the role of direct competition with existing or potential local businesses. Any commercial enterprise operated by council must be scrutinised carefully to ensure that they are, in fact, profitable.


Having said that, however, commercial enterprises should not be confused with private works. there is a role for council to fill the gap in a number instances, providing products and services from their day to day operation to the public that would otherwise be unavailable or unviable. An example of this is the manufacture of hydraulic hoses in the workshop or the provision of sand and garden loam.


Monday 16 April 2012

Communication...

Modern technology has opened up a whole new world of communications opportunities. There are now very few people who do not have some form of access to the internet with many of us carrying around devices in our pocket that can give us access to a world of information.


Council must embrace this technology and push to provide as much information as they can. While council currently maintains a website, it seems to be infrequently updated and missing a lot of important information. I was looking at a website for a council in South Australia recently, that allowed you to Pay your rates bill, register your dog, search the cemetery records, report a complaint and even search the library catalogue for a book.


Providing the information online removes the need for people to contact the customer service centres freeing up resources to deal with other issues. A good website is an employee that is at work 24 hours a day and 7 days per week.


I support wholeheartedly, the continued publication of the Bottle Tree Bulletin. I think that this wonderful community resource is an invaluable tool for the bringing of communities together from across the region. I do feel, however, that the council is not using this resource to its full potential. I would like to see more “operational” type information included in this publication. Information such as Planned works, such as where the road maintenance crews are working and where they are headed next, when the sewers are going to be fogged, the library opening hours and the like. Council is paying for the publication and they need to use it to its full potential.


Good communication is the key to ensuring that the public retains confidence in what council is doing. When people are unable to find out what is going on, is when the suspicion starts to creep into their minds. If there is nothing to hide, why hide it?


Sunday 15 April 2012

ULDA - My View

Most people would be aware of the Clearview Rise development being undertaken by the ULDA in Roma near the hospital. The concept is a noble one, to provide additional housing in Roma to alleviate the pressure on the property market there.

I have concerns that the development has been allowed to occur without regard to the planning scheme for Roma town. Things such as minimum lot sizes and boundary clearances under the planning scheme have been disregarded. I fear that an area of High intensity housing within the Roma town area will lead to the creation of a number of social issues. No-one likes living in someone else’s pocket.


I am also disappointed that the ULDA has disregarded local businesses in awarding the tenders for the development and construction of Clearview Rise. Awarding these contracts to outside companies only goes to increase the pressure on Roma’s housing stocks in the short term.
 

The use of Outside contractors also provides no long term benefits for local tradesmen and suppliers. The ULDA has said that they didn’t ask local suppliers and contractors as they where currently working at capacity. I think it is a slap in the face to these businesses to be overlooked in this matter. If the work was there, there may have been opportunities for local businesses to grow or to form partnerships and joint ventures with other suppliers to fill the need. For the ULDA to ignore the local businesses in Roma in this regard is shameful.


ULDA will do little to solve the housing crisis in Roma, with the real underlying issue of housing affordability in Roma being the high cost of RENTAL accommodation. We cannot retain the long term residents and staff in industries outside the oil and gas sector when we have rental prices than in some cases can equal 100% of the take home wages of some workers. In many mining towns, the growth of local business is stifled through not being able to employ staff due to the high cost of housing.


We need to be looking for ways to address the accommodation shortage, while retaining as much of the existing value in the homes of residents as possible, we do not want to implement a rental solution that strips the resale value of the existing homes. Council as custodian of land stocks around the town is able to partner with housing providers to provide innovative solutions to this problem.


Roma and some of the surrounding towns need access to fixed rental housing for people outside of the resources sector, the ULDA will do nothing to address this problem.


Wednesday 11 April 2012

Flood Mitigation

Given the recent flooding that has again affected the region, I think the time has come to progress the provision of flood monitoring and mitigation. If we had got on and installed some form of mitigation for Roma after the first flood, the savings in clean up costs would have gone a long way toward paying for it now.

Levees always cause a number of issues. Where do you put it? Who is inside and who is outside? What about the increased levels of water in homes outside the levee? These are all issues that as a community need to be worked out. Other mitigations such as channel enlargement, diversions and flood dams should also be explored.
 
Whether we install mitigation devices or not, we also need to explore the possibility of raising houses above flood level, or organising some form of land swap for land on higher ground. Perhaps some of the lower lying land could be used as public spaces such as sports fields and parks.
 
For those communities that are not subject to regular flooding, we need to have a look at the flood monitoring network and identify where “Holes” exist. For example there is only one monitoring station above Mitchell and it is 3 hours “river time” upstream. I have already expressed my desire to see the Forestvale station on the Maranoa Re-Automated, but I would like to see a complete overview with some meaningful community consultation to identify gaps across the entire Maranoa region.
 
For example, I have heard anecdotal reports of a need for better monitoring on the Coggoon River and also North of the Begonia area as well. 
 
The installation of flood monitoring is one of the issues that continually get bounced around between the 3 levels of Government with everyone wanting everyone else to do it. I think that Council must take a lead role in seeing that the Buck Passing stops and that SOMEONE just gets on and does it.


Monday 9 April 2012

Decentralisation

I am opposed to any push to centralise all of the functions of the Council in Roma for a number of reasons:

·       Real estate cost – Centralisation of all of the functions of the council in Roma would require a significant increase in the amount of office space and would necessitate the purchase, lease or construction of additional office space. Given that the council holds significant real estate in other centres that would be wasted, I can see no justification in the unnecessary expense
·         Community Access – Centralisation denies residents in outlying areas easy access to council admin services. Remembering that the Maranoa Shire Boundary to the south of Mitchell is 170km away, to add another 88km would mean that these people would have to travel over 250km just to access a customer service centre.
·         Economic opportunity – Given that there is already limitations on the growth potential in the town of Roma without significant cost to developers, high rental prices and expensive housing, It makes sense to spread the functions of council across the region to help equalise the population across the region and to spread the jobs around.


I would not support any proposal to centralise the functions of council in any one location.


Furthermore, I prefer a policy of active decentralisation, I would like to see some activities of council, particularly works (Roads, Parks and Gardens etc) operate under a “Branch model” where the works manager be located in outlying areas and that person is responsible for setting their budget and prioritising their maintenance and capital works. Obviously, the budgeting process would be conducted in consultation with the works director, but once the budget was set, when and how works where conducted would be up to the manager to organise. Plant logistics and programmes would be worked out with the other managers to ensure optimal utilisation of the plant pool and technical services would still be shared across regions, but the works manager for an area would be in control of ensuring that the works where done on time and on cost.


The benefit of such a model is that the person in the area would be contactable and able to make decisions with regard to their budget and works programme.


If you give people responsibility in their work, you give them job satisfaction and, by default, you help retain your workforce. A Win-Win for everyone!


Saturday 7 April 2012

Urban Planning and Development

Urban planning and development is one of those issues where the amalgamation of planning schemes from across the 5 shires has commenced, but is still not complete, some people may see this as council dragging their feet, but there is a good reason for this.

Planning schemes define our community. They identify who we are and what we want to be. Development of a planning scheme has a direct and tangible relationship to the social wellbeing of any community, which is why it cannot be rushed.

Planning schemes not only define things like minimum lot sizes and boundary clearances, but how different types of land use relate to each other. They often are the only tool available to the public that gives them a say about what goes where, and what it will look like.

Having said all that, a review of the planning schemes is now due and we must start to think about what we want our communities of the future to look like. Where do we want to see our housing, commercial and industrial land, what directions our towns should grow and how we are going to service them?

We need to be thinking about the relationship between floods and future development. Things like minimum floor heights in flood prone areas, whether or not we allow subdivision in flood prone areas, stormwater management and the impact of headworks.

We also need to consider the ratios of commercial space to residential space. As a community grows, the need for additional shops and offices also grows. Where are we going to source our water from and where are we going to dispose of our waste to.

There has been some criticism of council for failing to prepare for the affects of the resources boom, but I would counter that by saying there was a failure of the resource companies to inform council of their intentions in the area. The resource industry seem unwilling to  share some information on what they have planned for the region as they seem to treat their plans as “It’s commercial in confidence” this kind of secrecy makes any form of planning difficult and some of the growing pains that our community is experiencing now must be laid at their feet.

I have a number of views on what I feel our community should look like into the future, many of them I have expressed elsewhere but for the record here are some of the key points:
·         I do not support further subdivision in flood prone areas
·         I do not support a reduction in minimum lot sizes
·         I support the expansion of the area currently zoned commercial land in Roma (where that extension would be is up for debate)
·         I do not support developments such as the ULDA (Clearview Rise)
·         We must mitigate the impact of flooding
·         Retaining current block width to depth ratios


While council endeavours to process planning approvals as quickly as possible, I for one would hate to see the process rushed as once the approval is given, there is no going back. Figures must be checked and design must be scrutinised. A little bit of time for a thorough examination is fine by me.


Wednesday 4 April 2012

The Maranoa Retirement Village - An exercise in poor community consultation...

The Maranoa Retirement Village is a prime example of where council got a decision completely and utterly wrong. While the final outcome from the exercise may be desirable, the process by which the end result was reached was nothing short of a disaster.


Council failed to adequately consult the community, they failed to interpret community sentiment and they wasted vast sums of money. Given that they claim to be losing $400,000 per year, and that they started the review process in excess of 18 months ago and that they are still quite some time away from the establishment of a new facility, one must ask why the council didn’t just get on and build the Multi Purpose Health Facility 2 years ago. We would now be 2 years closer to the new facility and thus $800,000 better off as well as not having alienated the community in the process. It should be noted that we are still losing money and construction still has not commenced. It would be fair to deduce that the funds spent keeping the old facility open all this time would have more than paid for the MPHS at the hospital.


Community Consultation is something the current council has not done well. They have paid lip service to it, but when push comes to shove, there has been some poor decisions made that have cost a lot to fix (if they have been fixed) or cannot be fixed.

Community consultation is the background of good democratic decision making. Even if the outcome is an unpalatable one, it is more likely to be accepted if the community has been part of the decision making process. There is no denying that community consultation is hard, people often do not seem willing to attend meetings to discuss decisions or complete surveys and the like, but it is important that people be given the opportunity.

It is better to say, “we had a survey, held some meetings and did a street walk and the issue you have identified didn’t come up, why didn’t you tell us then?” than to say “We didn’t think of that but we didn’t think you’d mind”

You are never going to make everyone happy even with community consultation, but it is better to have some of the people happy than none of the people happy. You have to do Community Consultation until you are blue in the face.... And then do it some more.





Tuesday 3 April 2012

Tourism.....

Tourism is one of the 4 pillars of industry in the Maranoa region (The other three being the resources industry, Agriculture and commerce) however, I have concerns that a lot of our tourist promotion is about looking to the past. With the exception of some attractions such as the Saleyards, Carnarvon Gorge and the Great artesian spa, the majority of our tourism promotion is about “look at what we had” more than “Look at what we have”

I’m not suggesting for one minute that we should not be celebrating our past, on the contrary, if we do not acknowledge our past, we devalue our future. The operation of tourism enterprises such as the Big Rig is an invaluable asset to our community and must be fostered and supported.

We should be celebrating what makes the Maranoa the pace it is now as well. Its Oil and Gas industry, its agricultural production, its biodiversity and its lifestyle.

Studies have shown, that for every dollar we bring in to a community from outside, its worth $3 already going around in the community. Tourism is one of those industries that has a bright future and should form part of the mix of any healthy local economy.

As the population gets older, there will continue to be great numbers of retirees doing “the grand tour” of the nation before they settle down to finally retire. Lots of these tourists are looking for “doing” opportunities in their travels, not just “seeing” opportunities. This is a challenge for us to actively seek out tourism experiences more so that tourist attractions. Farmstays, ecotourism, prospecting and bushwalking are some experiences that spring to mind.

In 20 years when the resources bubble has burst, we will need to return to the other industries in the region to maintain our towns. We need to be doing the background work now to make the transition as smooth as possible.

The SERVANT of the people...

I attended a meeting of the Yuleba Progress Association yesterday and was given an opportunity to present to the members, the reasons why I felt that I would make a good choice of Councillor. There were 6 other candidates for councillor positions and 2 mayoral candidates in attendance. A little disappointing, given the proximity of Yuleba to Roma, But that’s another story.

During the meeting of the Progress association, the issue of the speed limit on the highway through Yuleba was raised and correspondence with Main Roads in this regard was discussed. Some of you may know, that the current speed limit on the highway trough Yuleba is 80km/hr. The people of Yuleba are trying to get this reduced to 60km/hr.

It is a very laudable and worthwhile request. There is volumes of data showing the direct correlation between speed and accidents. There is not one person reading this who hasn’t been bombarded with “Speed kills” or “Slow down, Stupid” messages. So why then, is Main Roads so dead against it?

It seems that their letter to Main Roads not only went unanswered for months and months, but when a response was received after much prompting, the suggestion was that perhaps the speed limit should be RAISED to 100km/hr!

I really have difficulty with this, I fail to see how an increase in the speed limit in any part of a built up area is anything but a dumb idea. There has been a great push to reduce the speed limit in urban areas to 50km/hr, but somehow Main Roads think it would be acceptable to INCREASE the speed through Yuleba!

Yuleba’s only Pub and Take-away is located on this section of road. Venues that attract pedestrian traffic. Imagine a hotel or cafe with a 100km speed limit out the front!

It seems that, the needs of someone zipping through to the west or in a mad rush to get to Toowoomba before the shops close are of more importance than the safety and livelihood of the people of Yuleba. Studies have shown that the travelling public are more likely to stop in an area where the speed limit is reduced to 60km or less. The current speed limit is denying the people of Yuleba an economic opportunity and impacting on their future prosperity.

It is fair to expect that Main Roads primary focus is on road users and road safety, but this must be coupled to the social responsibility that they, as a department of Government, have to the communities they impact upon.

The people of Yuleba have not given up their fight, and nor should they. Only last week we saw what effective lobbying can achieve in Roma where Main Roads wanted to close the turning lane into the Mandalay Motel. People power has won out in the end, with the proposal to close off the turning lane abandoned (For now)

The speed limit in Yuleba should be reduced, by one means or another. Council needs to take up the cause and lobby main roads on behalf of the Yuleba community. Should Main Roads continue to resist the desires of the community, there are other things that council can do to slow down the traffic, Lobby for the installation of a turning lane into the Yuleba town, installing plantings that make the space appear more “Urban” and closed in thus giving the illusion of a 60km zone, and the installation of speed advisory (Yellow) signs, Children crossing, and the like.

The council placemaking strategy is looking toward creating town entry signage and beautification works, this is a perfect opportunity to calm the traffic down and draw the travelling public into the town of Yuleba.

All levels of Government must remember, government exists to serve all people and that the needs of the person living in a town should always outweigh the needs of those people “Blowing through”.