With the formation of the Western Plains Regional Council, there has been a lot of interest in the community around the newly formed entity and feedback from the community is as important as ever and is most welcome.
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There are plenty of opportunities to have your say, and I encourage people to take advantage of these when they arise.
For example, after last week’s ordinary meeting of Council, two draft documents were adopted and placed on public exhibition and submissions are invited.
The first one is the draft Local Purchasing Policy.
Prior to the creation of Western Plains Regional Council, both former Council’s had adopted differing Local Purchasing Policies.
This draft policy provides a consistent policy for the new Western Plains Regional Council to apply to approved Local Suppliers.
The policy states that approved Local Suppliers will receive a 2 percent comparative price advantage whenever the resultant comparative price does not exceed $1,000,000.
No Local Purchasing advantage exists when the resultant comparative price exceeds $1,000,000.
The second is the Draft Route Plans of proposed pipeline from Burrendong Dam to Dubbo.
It outlines the route plans of a proposed future pipeline from Burrendong Dam to the John Gilbert Water Treatment Plant at Dubbo, via the Wellington Water Treatment Plant and Geurie, along the Macquarie River Valley.
During 2015 the former Dubbo City Council and the NSW Government cooperated in the preparation of plans that show possible routes of a future pipeline.
Such a pipeline would significantly improve the drought security of Dubbo, Wellington and Geurie and can be included in the development of a new Integrated Water Cycle Management (IYCM) strategy for these localities.
Keep an eye out on the website (westernplains.nsw.gov.au), or pop into your local branch to view items that are on public exhibition, as it is a great opportunity to have your say on the decisions being made in your local government area.
Another hot topic in the community has been the naming of the merged area.
Many people have strong feelings about the name Western Plains Regional Council and if there is a chance that it could be changed.
Member for Dubbo and Deputy Premier Troy Grant has distributed a survey to residents of Dubbo and Wellington, asking for opinion on this very issue, as well as input regarding the Western Plains Regional Council and Stronger Communities fund.
Mr Grant said surveys only hit letter boxes last week and the number of responses received to date show that the residents of Dubbo and Wellington are passionate about the region.
I encourage everyone to consider the issues raised and return the survey by the due date.
If you did not receive a survey, please give Mr Grant’s office a call on 6882 3577 and they will post one out to you.
The deadline for responses is 5pm on the 15th of July, so don’t miss your chance to let the State Government know your views and provide valuable feedback.
And finally, there will be an extraordinary meeting of Council today at noon in the Wellington chambers with the adoption of the draft 2016/2017 Operational Plan and Budget on the agenda.
This will enable the budget to kick off on 1st July with the new financial year.
- Michael Kneipp is the administrator of the recently formed Western Plains Regional Council, which was formed when Dubbo City Council and Wellington Council were amalgamated in May of this year. Mr Kneipp has lived in Wellington for more than 30 years, has spent a good portion of his working life in Dubbo and knows the area well.