Mayor Impressed With Performance Of New Council

Taking A Look At The First Six Months

Despite being thrown into a “baptism of fire”, Cowra Mayor Bill West says he is impressed with the performance of the new Cowra Shire Council in its first six months in office, amid some early challenges.

After the local government elections in December last year the new Council was proclaimed in late December, and broke immediately for the Christmas holidays before meeting for the first time in January.

It immediately had to adopt Council’s Operational and Strategic Plans, as well as its budget, with state law requiring it to do so in such a short time frame.

With around half of the Council being brand new to the job, it proved busy and challenging, but Mr West said the Council had worked very well together.

“It’s a great group, and there’s a lot of good harmony and good humour in the chamber, as well as people who are working hard to understand and contribute,” he said.

“It’s a good Council and a happy Council and I think we in the community look forward to a good Council that makes good decisions.”

Mr West touched on issues within the retail sector and the CBD in Cowra at the moment, saying that while there is not a lot Council can do directly to assist in those issues, it was acutely aware of them and doing what it could.

“We’re working to encourage new businesses where we possibly can, but also in the same vein, understanding that there is a lot of activity in Cowra in other sectors outside of the CBD,” he said. “The agricultural sector, the retail sector and the small business sector outside of the CBD is booming.”

“There are a lot of jobs available and there is a shortage of houses which means the economy is booming here, and the community is growing.” “We’ve got issues in the CBD that we’re working with but the community needs to ensure that it supports local businesses as well, and help them to expand.” Mr West also addressed the recent clearance for Councils to raise their rates by the CPI, saying that it was necessary for Council to do so to continue providing its services to the community.

“Council has a $39 million annual budget, but there’s not much left in that despite that figure,” he said.

“Council has to provide a lot of services such as roads, parks, gardens, sewerage, water, sanitation, saleyard and airport, amongst a myriad of other things.” “Twenty five percent of local assets and infrastructure is controlled by local government but only 4 percent of taxes across the nation are collected by local government.”

“It’d be nice to say that we don’t need to increase rates but not doing so doesn’t help the community in the long run because if you don’t raise the revenue you can’t afford to provide the services.”

• Topics:
• Local Council