Services to be reviewed by council

Overwhelming opposition to the proposed hike left Tamworth’s councillors with no choice but to scrap the plan.

A staggering 90 per cent of the 2644 respondents voted against paying less than $2 a week extra in 2015-16.

Councillors have resolved to find $2.6 million in savings to fully fund the maintenance and replacement costs of its assets.

The sting in the tail is that these “savings will be found by reviewing a range of community services and facilities”.

A recommendation passed on Tuesday night specifically identifies Tamworth’s “pools and their operations” as being in the firing line.

Councillors have not given up on convincing ratepayers of the need to pay more in their rates to build an infrastructure war chest.

The next 12 months will be used to conduct “further community consultation and engagement”.

Deputy mayor Russell Webb said the council had learnt from the last few weeks and would continue its work to improve the region’s infrastructure.

“The infrastructure strategy that we’ve got before us is a very sound document and it is a good pathway for our region into the future,” he said.

“There’s a quote from John F Kennedy: ‘There are risks and costs to every action, but they are far less than the risk from comfortable inaction’.”

Mayor Col Murray conceded the community’s harsh response to the rate rise proposal had left the council “feeling a little unloved at the moment”.

However, he said general manager Paul Bennett and his senior staff had done a remarkable job to guide the council into an enviable financial position.

“It would be remiss of us not to acknowledge the pain that the organisation has gone through to find ourselves certainly in the top two or three councils in NSW,” he said.

“We need to move doggedly forward to ensure our community is well positioned by the decisions of this council.”