Members of the Dubbo community have made the most of an opportunity to meet with and talk to their elected officials at Saturday's Community Leaders Breakfast.
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There was a strong turnout of people who were looking to have their say to Dubbo Mayor Mathew Dickerson, state MP for Dubbo Troy Grant and federal MP for Parkes Mark Coulton.
The trio were kept busy for two hours by people who wanted to take the opportunity to talk to their leaders. The Dubbo Men's Shed provided the breakfast.
Mr Coulton said people were often happy to talk generally on a number of issues, rather than approaching with a particular question or issue.
"There was a bit of concern about security and the issue with the siege in Sydney, people are concerned about what is happening in the Middle East and with ISIL. Others wanted to talk about telecommunications and there were some people who wanted to chew the fat and find out what the story was in Canberra," he said.
Mr Grant said there were no major topics or issues that had arisen in his electorate that he was asked about. He said in previous years people had a topic such as crime or the issue of Australia Post delivery in West Dubbo but said with those issues dealt with, conversations had been more general.
The Dubbo MP said the state of the greyhounds industry was a popular discussion with plenty of support for his decision to remove the Greyhound Racing NSW board.
Councillor Dickerson people came to him with a handful of concerns including the visibility of zebra crossings in the main street, ways to utilise Tracker Riley Cycleway and make Dubbo more appealing for tourists.
The trio reaffirmed their support for the concept, which Cr Dickerson said was a unique level of cooperation. He said Saturday's breakfast was the lowest attendance so far but he believes it is a positive sign.
"At first I was disappointed but when I thought about it again, the profile of this event has grown since we began it and people know they can come and raise any issue with us. If people aren't coming, that means those issues aren't there.
Mr Coulton said people should always feel they can approach their elected officials with concerns but said for some the community breakfast is an ideal way to break the ice.
"There are some people who are daunted by coming into an office so they can come to the breakfast, maybe have someone introduce us to them and once they have done that, they realise that we are approachable," he said.
Cr Dickerson said Wednesday night's Mayoral Developers' Forum had become a similar opportunity for developers to interact with council staff. He said like the community breakfast for residents, it had become a way for developers to improve their relationship with council.
The Mayoral Developers' Forum will be held on Wednesday night at the Commercial Hotel starting at 5.30pm.