TAMWORTH Regional Council will spend $1 million on installing four new bulk water filling stations and upgrading about 100 cattle grids on the region’s roads.
It is unclear when the council will begin work on the projects, which are funded by the federal government’s drought assistance program pouring $1 million into 81 affected councils.
The council didn’t put the projects to a vote or any specific community consultation.
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Mayor Col Murray said the the projects were formulated in “council workshops” and based on feedback received through earlier community strategic and annual operation plan submissions.
“It’s only $1 million; there’s a bit of a limit to what you can deliver across 10,500 square kilometres,” Cr Murray said.
“A lot of councils made a big thing of it. I don’t know if it gives you better result.”
The bulk water fill-up points will be installed at Manilla, Nundle, Barraba and Bendemeer; and more than 100 cattle grids on public roads will have the road sealed for 10 metres on either side.
A number of councils had their proposals shot down by the Department of Regional Development, but Cr Murray said the guidelines were pretty clear.
“We were in Canberra a few weeks ago since the funding was announced and we talked to Barnaby Joyce, Mark Coulton; and we had people looking after the funding in the room who told us what projects were eligible,” he said.
“It wasn’t that hard to stay in the guidelines.”
Minister for Regional Services and Local Government Bridget McKenzie was contacted for comment.
Jacob McArthur
Jacob McArthur is opinions editor for The Canberra Times and Australian Community Media. As part of the Canberra Times' production team, he helps the people of Canberra and beyond get the stories they need, when they need them across a range of platforms, while helping maintain a high editorial standard. Before moving to Canberra in 2020, he started with Australian Community Media in 2015 as a journalist for The Northern Daily Leader in Tamworth where he kept a close eye on Tamworth Regional Council. Jacob was also the co-host of ACM's Water Pressure podcast where he and Jamieson Murphy took a deep dive on issues and key decisions arising during one of the region's worst droughts on record.
Jacob McArthur is opinions editor for The Canberra Times and Australian Community Media. As part of the Canberra Times' production team, he helps the people of Canberra and beyond get the stories they need, when they need them across a range of platforms, while helping maintain a high editorial standard. Before moving to Canberra in 2020, he started with Australian Community Media in 2015 as a journalist for The Northern Daily Leader in Tamworth where he kept a close eye on Tamworth Regional Council. Jacob was also the co-host of ACM's Water Pressure podcast where he and Jamieson Murphy took a deep dive on issues and key decisions arising during one of the region's worst droughts on record.
