Mayor’s Column: Longreach Leader - 12 February 2021
It’s been a busy two weeks in our region since my last column, and the pace seems to be picking up as we suddenly find ourselves in mid February!
It has been good to be able to present a couple of our Australia Day Awards belatedly for people who weren’t available on Australia Day. I presented Tanya Morton her Longreach Citizen of the Year award in a short ceremony at the January Council Meeting in Longreach. Cr Dale Bignell was able to officially recognise Young Achiever Award recipient Clementine Cochrane at the School Assembly in Isisford last week. Congratulations again to everyone who received an Australia Day award this year, and a big thank you to everyone who took the time to nominate someone.
I had the pleasure of attending the School Leaders Investiture Ceremony at Longreach State High School this week. It’s always a pleasure to recognise our young leaders, and I thank the High School for inviting me to take part.
Design consultancy Urbis is getting ready to release the draft Thomson River Master Plan for public comment soon. They’ll be visiting the region next week for a Community Information Session to launch the public comment period. Please join us at 8:30am on Saturday 20 February, in the cottage at the Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame, to hear direct from Urbis about how community feedback has determined what is in the draft plan.
The community will again be able to offer feedback from 20 February, when the draft is released, to 15 March when the comment period closes. The feedback will be collated and considered, and the relevant changes will be integrated into a final draft for adoption at Council’s April meeting. It’s important we hear from as many people as possible. We want the plan to reflect the community’s long term vision for the future of the river precinct here at Longreach.
Locals will be familiar with the tree planted by Her Majesty The Queen out the front of the Longreach Civic Centre. Unfortunately the tree suffered some damage recently and it has picked up a fungal infection that is going around at the moment. Our parks and gardens team have done a great job trimming back some branches and undertaking works that will extend the trees life. This is in addition to our already successful tree replacement program in the main street – you may recall we installed mature trees there and I’m pleased to say they’re performing very well.
Council has its February meeting in Ilfracombe next week. The full agenda, including our monthly financials, is always made available on our website prior to the meeting. As always, our meetings are open to the public, and I encourage anyone who is interested in how we make decisions to come along and see us in action.
Before I go, I just want to draw attention to some exciting roles at Council being advertised at the moment. A career with Council offers an unrivalled chance to make a difference, because it involves working toward the future of our communities. We’re looking for a Building & Maintenance Projects Officer, a Senior Procurement Officer, a Plant Operator, a Plumber and more. Visit longreach.qld.gov.au/careers for more information.
Until next time, if you want to know anything, contact Council directly on (07) 4658 4111 (24hrs), or email assist@longreach.qld.gov.au. You can also find email and direct phone numbers for me and each of my fellow Councillors on our website at longreach.qld.gov.au/elected-members.