From The Mayor's Desk - First Border Crime Prevention Committee meeting works towards long-term change

I’m extremely pleased to be able to say that the first meeting of the newly-established Border Crime Prevention Committee was held in the Council Chambers in Goondiwindi last week. Representatives from Moree Plains Shire Council, the New South Wales Police Force, the Queensland Police Service, the Goondiwindi Chamber of Commerce and the Queensland Government’s Department of the Premier and Cabinet were all in attendance, and the NSW Cross-Border Commissioner James McTavish linked in via Zoom.

It was a very positive meeting, with a keen collective of stakeholders willing to work towards solutions for change. It reaffirmed that the overwhelming majority of property crime experienced by our community is due to a small number of youth offenders. While the group has identified some immediate actions for some stakeholders, the focus remains on long-term solutions for the town and alleviating the cross-border challenges facing each organisation.   

As you may also be aware, I’m extremely pleased that the Queensland Police Service has re-instated additional police resources to our border area. Once again, as a result of this extra resourcing, our local police have quickly been able to get the recent spike in opportunistic and juvenile crime back under control. Council will now advocate that these additional resources become a permanent fixture in our community as one part of the long-term solution, as their positive impact is clear.

Over in Inglewood, the Inglewood Aged Care Steering Committee will be meeting today (Monday 19th) with expert aged care consultant and the Managing Director of Aged Care Management Australia, Peter Vincent. We will be discussing what kinds of needs exist for aged care in the Inglewood community, and seeking Peter’s expert appraisal on how we can best meet those needs. Council has also engaged Peter on behalf of the community to provide a report on how this facility could be viably structured to meet these needs. The committee has also begun work to set up a not-for-profit incorporated body that would allow the community, through the incorporated body, to either operate itself, or engage an external operator to manage the former ‘Casa Mia’ aged care facility.

The next public meeting will be Monday, 9 August at 5 pm in the Inglewood Customer Service Office boardroom. As always, everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend. (Please RSVP to Debbie at delliott@grc.qld.gov.au or 07 4652 0216 in the first instance so we can manage numbers with COVID-19 restrictions.)

I must also remind all residents that it is now mandatory to use the ‘Check In Qld’ app to check in to venues in Queensland when requested. This includes pubs, restaurants and cafés, retail shops and supermarkets, health and beauty services, and any events (indoor or outdoor) that attract large crowds. It is also mandatory in all public-facing Council services: residents must now check in when visiting Council customer service centres, libraries, the Goondiwindi Cinema, and community centres across the Goondiwindi Region.

Checking in takes just a few seconds of extra time, but goes a long way to keeping customers and staff safe by assisting public health officers to contain and respond to any potential spread of COVID-19 within our community. For those residents who don’t have a phone capable of scanning the required QR code, please ask the relevant venue to register your attendance on your behalf (they can do this through their business profile). Let’s try to help each other out so we can all do the right thing by our community. I like everyone else, looks forward to the day when we don’t have to talk about Covid and it is well and truly behind us. But in the meantime, we must all strive to keep abreast of the advice and do our best to comply with it. For help with using the Check In Qld app, visit: www.covid19.qld.gov.au/check-in-qld

Finally, the Goondiwindi Library Book Lovers’ Group will undertake their first outreach visit to Texas on Tuesday, 3 August. The trip will include a visit to the Rabbit Works and is a great example of our local libraries working together to extend services across the region - I understand a similar outreach will take place in Inglewood at the end of the year. Everyone is welcome, but RSVPs are essentials – please contact either the Goondiwindi or Texas library to book your place on 07 4671 7470 or 07 4653 2611.