Mayor's Column - Longreach Leader 9 April 2021

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This edition of the Mayor's Column appeared in the Longreach Leader on Friday 9 April 2021.

Good to be back with you for another fortnightly update and I trust everyone had a good Easter. We’re certainly seeing plenty of visitors coming to the region which is always good to see. A big congratulations also to everyone in Isisford, who had a packed schedule for the return of the popular ‘Back to Isisford’ weekend over Easter. By all accounts a good time was had by all – well done to all involved.

It’s been an eventful fortnight, with the Brisbane three day lockdown, and new restrictions in place state-wide. I’d like to commend everyone in our community on their response. It’s encouraging to see you all adapting so quickly and wearing your masks. Council is keeping track of the supply of facemasks in the region and it looks like they’ll be sufficient for the whole 14 days.

We even reconvened our Covid reference group, which was a major assistance last year, and received a briefing from the District Disaster Coordinator, Inspector Julia Cook. We also had a briefing from the Central West Hospital and Health Service (CWHHS) on the progress of their vaccination clinics.

The Longreach rollout commenced on Monday 29 March with over 250 immunisations administered a day. The CWHHS anticipate up to 80% of the region to be vaccinated by the 16 April. The RFDS has also been assisting with the administration of the vaccines in Yaraka, Jundah, Stonehenge, Windorah and Birdsville.

We’re fortunate here that because of our size, vaccinations are being made available to the whole community at once, rather than in stages. I commend everyone involved in the Vaccination Clinics on what is an amazing logistical feat. The whole operation has been working like clockwork and I’m very grateful to everyone who is making the vaccine rollout possible on behalf of the community.

Council has decided to bring the Thomson River Master Plan back for adoption a month later than expected, to the May meeting instead of the April one. It was not an easy decision but I think it will be worth taking the extra time. The turnaround between the close of the comment period and the cut-off for agenda items in April was just too tight.

Between our stakeholder sessions and the public comment period we received a lot of good feedback, which we are currently considering. Most feedback has been broadly supportive of the plan – about 71% of it. The most common concerns the submissions have raised are about flooding and maintenance issues.

This is no surprise, we share those concerns too, which is why we’ve had those issues in scope from the very beginning of the project. We see plenty of ways to address them going forward. We’re also considering the best ways to make sure we rehabilitate the vegetation in the precinct in the most appropriate way.

Our planners have a lot of expertise in all these matters and will bring back a final draft to be put forward for adoption at the Council meeting in May. I thank everyone who took the time to submit their comments. The engagement with the community on this project has been second to none. It will continue to be important at every stage of the project over the coming decades.

There will be even more opportunity for people to engage with Council directly on other matters at our Community Forums later this month. We proudly hold these twice a year in each of our four communities. As your elected members, the forums are a vital chance not only for you to engage with us, but for us to engage with you. I urge you to come along, particularly if you’ve never been to one before. They’ll take place from 27-29 April, and further details will be released next week.

Of course, as we always say, you don’t have to wait for the forums to engage with Council. We’re here any time you need. If you want to know anything at all, 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.