Mareeba Shire Council Keeps Community Safety Top Priority

Mareeba Shire Council has pledged to ensure community safety and crime prevention remains top priority during its first meeting for 2022 held today. Mayor Angela Toppin thanked the local residents who recently met to discuss strategies and ideas on how to best tackle this major challenge. “As a Council, we welcome respectful and constructive feedback from locals and will continue to listen,” Mayor Toppin said. “We are doing everything in our power to address crime related issues and we share concerns raised by community members.”

Council was presented with a report outlining the ongoing measures Mareeba Shire Council has done and is committed to continue doing. This includes extensive lobbying to the State Government, Queensland Police Service and the Department of Children, Youth Justice and Multicultural Affairs. Mareeba Shire Council also recently presented a successful motion to the Local Government Association of Queensland to lobby the State Government on these matters, as the peak body for Queensland local councils. Mayor Toppin expressed concerns about compounding the anxiety and frustration throughout the community, particularly when many are already feeling vulnerable for a variety of reasons.

“With everything going on not just locally, but globally, this is a time for unity and realistic, achievable goals within our range of powers” Mayor Toppin said. “Our community is facing a third year of the COVID-19 pandemic and, not just as Mayor, but as a wife, mother, grandmother and former school principal, I’m concerned about the mental health of locals. The impact of the pandemic, and the impact of focussing on the negative impacts of crime, are not lost on me.” “This is our town too. Council has done and will continue to do everything in its power to protect our homes, livelihoods and lifestyle we all love” she said.