From the Mayor's Desk - 13 October 2020

Two weeks ago, my fellow councillors and I drove to Inglewood for Council’s September Ordinary Meeting. That may seem to be a statement of little significance, except for the fact that it marked the first time an Ordinary Meeting of Goondiwindi Regional Council was held outside of Goondiwindi itself since 2009. This meeting follows the commitment that I made before I became Mayor to host regular Council meetings in both Inglewood and Texas, and is strongly supported by Councillors and staff and appreciated by the community.

Going forward, Council will hold an Ordinary Meeting in Inglewood and Texas every six months on rotation, with the next such meeting scheduled for March 2021 in Texas. More information on this will be announced closer to the time, I strongly encourage all local residents to try to attend if they can.

During my visit to Inglewood, I was pleased to be able to announce that Council will soon be upgrading the irrigation system at the Memorial Park to be more water-efficient. This $30,000 project is just one of a suite of irrigation upgrades in the pipeline for our local parks, garden beds and traffic islands. This work will greatly improve Council’s own water-efficiency going forward and ensure that the way we manage our region’s green spaces is more sustainable.

While Council is working towards greater long-term water security for the region, it is timely to consider the challenges that we will once again face in the short-term as the warmer months approach. At the time of writing, Inglewood’s Coolmunda Dam sits at 29%. While this is a stark difference from the record low of 1.66% last December, we are by no means out of the woods. Glenlyon Dam is at just 15%. With no further environmental releases available, we will not be able to access our significant allocation of urban water in that dam, unless we get major inflows. We must therefore prepare for a summer of further water conservation. The current water restrictions (Goondiwindi and Texas – medium, Yelarbon – low) will remain in place until we receive sufficient, much-needed rain. We can all only cross our fingers that La Niña will deliver as the BOM has suggested.

With new bores now in Goondiwindi, Texas and Yelarbon, we are fortunate to have much greater water security this year - but we all must continue to do our bit to conserve water. The rest of the region is, for now, free from water restrictions - but Council is continuing to work with our state and federal counterparts to monitor our supplies and ensure sufficient supply for all residents on town water. For more information about restrictions, call or visit one of our friendly customer service centres. You can also still collect a free shower timer or handy poster guide for your fridge if you haven’t picked one up yet.

Finally, I think I made my views on the situation at Casa Mia in Inglewood very clear last week. However, I will take this opportunity to extend my condolences once again to those affected. The closure will be a huge loss to the community and I am hugely disappointed in how the situation was handled, and that no alternate solution was found. I wish the very best to all the local staff, residents and their families.

Hon. Lawrence Springborg AM
Mayor
Goondiwindi Regional Council