Community members have their say

3 Nov 2015 3:42 PM -

Forbes Shire Council hosted a public meeting last night at the Forbes Town Hall to inform the community about the NSW Government’s reform agenda for Local Government and the recently released IPART Report from the Fit for the Future proposals.

Mayor Phyllis Miller OAM and General Manager Brian Steffen presented information to the community about the history of Fit for the Future and the findings of the report.

Almost 100 people attended the meeting and they also had the opportunity to ask questions and provide feedback.

State Local Member Andrew Gee was also in attendance to answer questions and said if Council decides to submit their response to stand alone, he will support that decision.

Mayor Miller said it was pleasing to see so many people in attendance at the meeting.

“It was an opportunity for Council to bring everyone up to speed on what has happened and where we are placed at the moment,” she said.

“There were many varied views from the community members in attendance and Council will be considering all of the feedback received.”

While Forbes Shire Council met all of the financial criteria of the Fit for the Future requirements, the IPART Report deemed Forbes not fit solely because the population is below 10,000 and is forecast to decline over the next 20 years.

Council now has until November 18 to reply to the report and a special meeting will be held on November 16 for councillors to formalise the response.

The option suggested in the report was that Forbes merge with Weddin, however the majority of community members in attendance last night voted to stand alone.

Council also engaged independent research company Micromex to conduct a telephone survey to 300 residents and the initial results show 72 per cent of residents would prefer Council to stand alone.

"At the meeting the majority of those in attendance also voted to stand alone but there were also quite a few who were in favour of a merger,” Mayor Miller said.

“We will now use the feedback received from the community when we consider our response back to the State Government."

“I am also hoping to have another meeting with the Mid Lachlan Alliance so we can discuss the options we are all putting forward.”