Mayor Column 4 March 2020

Last week, I joined Council’s Chief Executive Officer Peter Bascomb for the latest meeting of the Canberra Region Joint Organisation (CRJO).

We heard from a number of Federal Ministers, including Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese and Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack

Discussions focussed on the bush fire emergency and the ongoing recovery process for the south-east region.

CRJO members raised the need for greater local government funding to meet the increasing costs of running local government and the ever-mounting additional tasks handed to councils. I encourage residents who are yet to attend a Snowy 2.0 community information session to attend this week’s briefing at Polo Flat, Cooma.

The session will provide information on Snowy 2.0 traffic movements, the segments factory at Polo Flat and the roundabout being constructed at Polo Flat Road and Monaro Highway.

The sessions have been well attended. Snowy 2.0 will have an impact on our towns. We should expect some inconvenience in the coming months and years, however the benefits to our region and the state will be positive and ongoing.

The road to bush fire recovery continues to progress. Council will a hold an Extraordinary Council Meeting this week to consider disaster recovery funding arrangements to assist bush fire affected residents and business operators.

The Extraordinary Council Meeting will be held in the Cooma office council chambers on Thursday 5 March, from 5pm. This meeting will be live-streamed on Council’s website.

A community recovery assistance point will be held in Adaminaby on Thursday 5 March from 10am - 2pm in the Adaminaby Memorial Hall.

At each assistance point, multiple government agencies and non-government organisations are present to discuss, in detail, what assistance is available for bush fire affected residents and business owners.

Representatives from Council, Disaster Welfare Services, the Red Cross and Service NSW will be available to answer questions and help with grant applications.

There is still time to nominate a young person for a 2020 Snowy Monaro Youth Award. Drop by a Council office or visit Council’s website for a nomination form.

Councillor Peter Beer Mayor of Snowy Monaro Regional Council