From the Mayor's Desk - 28 March 2022

It’s been another busy few weeks of advocacy and action in our small towns. To Talwood, first: although I was disappointed not to be able to attend last week’s Community Consultative Committee (CCC) meeting, five of my fellow councillors were able to make the trip across to Talwood and, I understand, had some very productive conversations with the community.

It will come as no surprise that one of the key issues raised by residents during the meeting was the condition of many of our region’s roads - especially after the most recent flood events. Some Talwood residents have reported being cut off for more than 40 days of the last four months, due firstly to the flood itself, and then the ensuing damage.

The region’s flood damage bill for our council, state and national roads may approach $100 million, with final repairs likely to take more than 12 months to complete.

Accessibility is absolutely vital – particularly in such an agriculturally productive region as ours. This is why Council is continuing to advocate on behalf of residents, especially those in our rural towns, to the state and federal governments for funding for our vulnerable roads. We want more preventative works like the recently-announced Wyaga Creek project to engineer our roads to a higher standard – not just constant patch-job repairs.

Council will also continue to work with the Department of Transport and Main Roads around future planning and how we can best work to improve our regional assets.

Over to Texas now, where I was very pleased to be able to catch up with residents following Council’s Ordinary Meeting at the Texas Sports Complex last Wednesday. The morning marked the third time in the past 12 months that Council has held its Ordinary Meeting outside of Goondiwindi, with the next such occasion scheduled to be in Inglewood in September.

After the meeting in Texas, my fellow Councillors and I went on to have a very constructive conversation with the Queensland Treasury Corporation (QTC). The QTC is the Queensland Government's central financing authority, providing financial resources and services to local governments. Our conversation was around ensuring our Council can continue to remain financially sustainable not only today or for this Council term, but for many years to come.

The discussion was a very stark reminder that Council, like every other regional local government, needs to focus on its core responsibilities such as the maintenance and renewal of its core assets and infrastructure, and must be extremely diligent when approaching any new projects that will incur costs to future generations.

We are fortunate here in the Goondiwindi Region to have a very stable Council, with a good mix of new and established councillors and staff with corporate knowledge and experience. But we are not immune from the economic climate of today.

This is extremely pertinent to my next topic, which is an update on the aged care situation in Inglewood. The committee has been continuing to explore different options for models of care to be provided at the former ‘Casa Mia’ facility – but is now beginning to narrow down on the concept of ‘independent living’ or supported accommodation for elderly residents, rather than the high-care model previously offered at the site with live-in nurses, etc.

There are several reasons for this: firstly, it is becoming increasingly evident that the high level of care that was previously offered at the site is simply not viable as a community-operated facility. The cost of a model that provides round-the-clock care is simply not sustainable in the long term for such a small number of residents.

Secondly, the context of locally-available aged care has changed since the original Casa Mia facility was first established. Before, there were limited or no other local aged care providers in our eastern towns. Since then, Darling Downs Health has stepped up to provide additional aged care services, and there are now around 30 aged care beds available across Inglewood and Texas – that’s a very different landscape now that those additional services and facilities are in place, and the committee are now exploring an accommodation model to complement services already available to the community.

The provision of quality aged care will always be an issue of utmost importance to our region. The committee will continue to assess the community’s needs and strive to find a balance between available resources and the ongoing financial commitment any decision will incur. I will provide further updates on this shortly.

Finally, I was delighted to attend the Goondiwindi Region Agribusiness Summit dinner last Wednesday night, with well in excess of 100 guests from near and far in Goondiwindi for the evening. Council was proud to support this two-day event through its Mental Health and Wellbeing package (in partnership with the Queensland Government), to provide an opportunity for rural residents to connect, and especially to prepare for – and be able to look beyond – future drought events. Our region is known for its agricultural excellence, and it was wonderful to see a strong contingent from the city out for the event to experience some of our local expertise. Congratulations to Macintyre Ag Alliance on a fantastic achievement for the region.