Mayoral Column - 26 August 2020

At our Ordinary Council Meeting last week, Councillors voted in favour of placing on public exhibition a proposal to support the accreditation of the Bombala Medical Centre with a one-off donation of $19,000.

Ensuring the medical centre is able to meet its accreditation is vital to maintaining ongoing medical services for residents in Bombala, Delegate and the wider district.

The provision of medical services within smaller regional areas, such as Bombala, is important to helping the wellbeing of the community and attracting families to live in town.

The community can have their say on the proposal by writing to the Chief Executive Officer or completing a feedback form online at Your Say Snowy Monaro.

Council will harmonise our commercial waste charges from 1 January 2021. This will see an alignment of commercial waste, recycling, food and garden organic collection fees and charges.

There is currently a range of different charging methods used across the region. To ensure a uniformed and consistent approach, Council has decided to simplify the charging method. It is not compulsory for businesses to use Council’s commercial collection service.

Our region is fortunate to be hosting the 2020 Bush Summit. The Summit will highlight the challenges our region is facing and through coverage in some of the country’s largest media outlets, these issues will be placed on the national agenda.

With the current COVID-19 restrictions resulting in a downturn in our economy and forecasts predicting a further economic decline, this promotion will go a long way to assisting our communities through increased visitation and exposure at a national level.

The Summit will feature discussions on bushfire recovery, dealing with the ongoing drought, building resilience in bush communities and recovery from COVID-19.

Congratulations to the hard-working Cooma-Monaro State Emergency Service volunteers who received a new truck to increase their capabilities during emergencies. Thank you to our local member and Deputy Premier John Barilaro, and the NSW Government, for funding the new truck.

Councillor Peter Beer Mayor of Snowy Monaro Regional Council