From the Mayor's Desk - 1 March 2022

As wet weather abounds, flood recovery and preparation remain the priority

With intense rainfall pelting much of southeast Queensland over the past few days, it’s been a busy period of continuing flood recovery and disaster preparedness across the Goondiwindi Region.

On Thursday, Council was pleased to facilitate a free flood recovery day hosted by AgForce SEQ in Inglewood, with representatives from multiple recovery agencies there to assist residents in-person. Council advocated hard for recovery funding for our residents, so it’s wonderful to see such a strong local uptake of the Special Disaster Assistance Recovery Grants available now through QRIDA. This kind of funding not only helps the affected individual or business, but if spent locally, will also help our region more broadly by supporting local suppliers and businesses. For more info, visit: https://www.qrida.qld.gov.au/program/special-disaster-assistance-recovery-grants-central-southern-and-western-qld-producers

Earlier this fortnight, Queensland’s Inspector-General of Emergency Management Alistair Dawson visited the region to meet with Council and discuss local disaster management and review the region’s plans and preparedness for the future. It was an opportunity for him to visit Texas, Inglewood, Yelarbon and Goondiwindi, and to take a look at the Goondiwindi levee and new temporary evacuation point at the Inglewood waste management facility. The Inspector-General was very impressed by our region’s preparedness, and paid compliment to all the work our community has done to prepare itself for natural disasters.

The CEO of the Queensland Reconstruction Authority, Brendan Moon, also visited our region to facilitate ongoing discussions with Council about the kinds of investments our community needs to be able to rebuild and better prepare for floods. One key area around which we had extensive discussions is the need to invest in improving problem areas in the local road network – Council is advocating for our region to be at the forefront of consideration for funding opportunities. As we have seen once again this weekend, we need to upgrade and better engineer vulnerable sections of flood-prone roads – not just rely on patch-job repairs.

To Texas now, where this week I look forward to welcoming Her Excellency the Honourable Dr Jeannette Young PSM in her role as the new Governor of Queensland. Dr Young will undertake a tour of the town, and will also meet with representatives of several local Texas community groups during her visit.

Consistent with my commitment to residents to annually hold a meeting of Council in both Texas and Inglewood, I’d like to give a reminder that our next Ordinary Meeting (OM) to be held outside of Goondiwindi is scheduled for this month, 23 March 2022 in Texas. I’d like to invite all interested residents to attend, if they can. I can also confirm that Council has extended an invitation to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology to attend the OM, after a scheduled meeting in November was postponed due to the potential flooding. Council has advocated to the BOM for a review of, and a discussion with landholders about, flood modelling and gauges upstream of Texas, following the flood of March last year. Council is hopeful that this will go ahead soon.

Finally, a further reminder that I regularly work from the Inglewood Civic Centre on the fourth Friday of the month, and from the Texas Cultural Centre on the second Tuesday of the month. Additional appointments are often available in line with visits to these towns - please call 07 4671 7437 to make an appointment.