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!

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.

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.

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”.

The fundamentals

I’ve been waiting for this subject to “come up in conversation” for some time... Anyway, here are my thoughts on the fundamentals....

Rubbish, Water and Sewerage

Rubbish, water and sewerage are some of the important “back room” functions that council controls that we often take for granted. They are a bit like Oxygen, We don’t realise how much we need it until it is not there.

 Often water and sewerage infrastructure is installed and maintained in an ad-hoc manner as issues arise. We need to ensure that water and sewerage infrastructure is managed and programmed replacement can occur as necessary. We don’t want to wake up one morning to realise that the whole thing is worn out and needs replacing NOW. The cost would be astronomical.

 Waste disposal is an issue that is going to become more and more of a problem as time goes by. As communities grow, there is more demand for waste disposal, but it gets harder and harder to construct and maintain these kinds of facilities. We are already seeing this with the recent decision by DERM to disallow the construction of a new refuse pit at Mitchell. Council will need to look for new and novel ways to manage their waste.

Roads.....

After my trip to Roma today, I got to thinking about roads again, so I have decided that the “Issue of the day” is roads.

Town Streets

I believe that in this day and age, it is unacceptable for our urban areas to have town streets that are unsealed and without kerbing and channelling. Council should set a plan in place to seal the remaining unsealed streets in urban areas. Council should also look to install kerbing and channelling in town streets where block sizes are 2 acres or less.

Rural Roads

I would propose that a program of upgrading the more heavily used local roads within the shire. Roads such as the Bollon Road, The Redford road, the Mount Moffatt road, The Maranoa road and many more besides should have a plan in place to bring the formed earth sections of road up to a gravel sheeting standard with a view to sealing these roads as finances allow. Any works being undertaken now should be done in such a way to allow for the further improvement of the road without significant reworking. For example, when gravel sheeting these roads, the material used and the amount used should be such that, if required, the road could be sealed at a later date without significant further work.

A study must also be undertaken to identify the weak links in the council road infrastructure network, for example, there is a pressing need for the installation of a raised crossing on the Womalilla creek on the Middle road.

Main Roads and Highways

In the last 10 years, we have seen a continual decline in the condition of the State and federal roads across the shire. A continued neglect and lack of funding has become evident as the state government becomes more centralised in their focus narrowing to the South East corner.

The Warrego highway from one end to the other is mediocre in the good bits and downright disgraceful in the rest. Council must take on a lobbying role to get some works done.

The Warrego Highway has the highest ratio of Heavy vehicles as a proportion of total daily traffic, yet we continue to see minimal standards of design and no bonus for rideability in road construction contracts.

Main Roads needs to be actively working on a plan to get all state controlled roads up to at least a 6m bitumen seal. We still have State roads with single lane timber bridges on main roads within the shire! The time has come to drag the condition of state and national controlled roads in the shire into the 20^th century, let alone the 21^st century.