We have recently held community economic and development planning meetings in the 4 main towns within our shire. These meetings are designed to gather ideas from the community for future planning and development in our towns and shire as a whole. I attended all 4 meetings and was impressed with the vision and wide range of ideas that our communities put forward and we look forward to collating all of the information and put it up for consideration in our next council plan and also the individual town plans. There will also be further community consultations next month for submissions towards the budget.
Obviously, volunteering is a major part of any rural community and I know I speak on behalf of all Councillors and Council staff in thanking you for your ongoing support. Given this, nominations are nearly due for positions on your town advisory committees, and I would like everybody to consider a role on one of these as a steppingstone to council in advocating for projects and services within their towns. It is also worth noting that town committee meetings are free to all and not just solely for the committee members.
Congratulations to all businesses and community groups who were awarded grants through the shire in our latest round of funding. We are happy to support our businesses for minor upgrades through this funding and urge all businesses to keep an eye out for the next round.
At our council meeting yesterday, we conditionally approved a permit for a new house to be built in Jeparit. In my 10 years living here, it is the first new build to my knowledge, so that was very pleasing. Unfortunately, our shire is desperately short of workers in many sectors and without increased housing we cannot fill these jobs and certainly can't increase our population figures within the towns. The exception of late is Nhill who have experienced some population growth due to the various development of housing and units. Employment, growth and population are all linked to available housing, and this is an area that is becoming increasingly vital to the sustainability of towns within our shire. Tourism plays an important role to keep money flowing into our town but important services such as hospitals, schools, sporting clubs etc rely heavily on and are driven by a sustainable population.
I wish everybody a very happy Easter whatever you may be doing and hope you have a relaxing break.
“Never believe a thing you hear and only half of what you see...”