Roads, rates, rubbish & communication

I trust you are enjoying this cold weather presently upon us. The COVID-19 restrictions are slowly being lifted and we are now seeing a few more people travelling.

The next Blackall Tambo Regional Council Meeting will be held in Blackall on Wednesday, 17th June.

I am quickly learning a few things on the run as your Councillor. The basic services of Rates, Roads and Rubbish are the cornerstone of any Council. If these services are provided well, we are on the road to having a community well served. However, I believe there is more that can be done.

As I travel throughout our region, I have been approached by community members on several matters lately and I have taken your requests on board and will ask Council to action them.

These are:

• Water drainage from one town block to the neighbour’s, causing issues
• Requests for more curb and channelling in Walter Street (Blackall)
• The need for additional gravel to be placed on some black soil roads, to make them all-weather
• Council policy on additional bitumen on local rural roads
• Sewerage overflow on a residential block

Thank you to everyone who filled out the Blackall-Tambo Regional Council’s survey. These results will give us a good idea on where Council funding needs to be heading in the next 5 to 10 years in order for us to have a vibrant and sustainable community.

The new Blackall Hospital development looks to be progressing well. The development has attracted a various number of contractors and workers staying in Blackall. I would like to welcome these people to our town. Plus, they have provided additional support to our business houses.

Lastly, when I put my hand up to be your Councillor, I pledged that I would implement better communication so that our community would be more informed about local issues. After all, this was the main concern that people brought to me during the campaign – people want transparency and as ratepayers, my stance is that they should be given it.

Through my website news posts, social media and e-newsletters, I am able to let you know about the work I have been doing as your representative but I also encourage you to follow my Facebook page and that of the Blackall-Tambo Regional Council.

Under the new media policy implemented by Council, Councillors are encouraged to communicate with the public however, only the Mayor and CEO can provide “official” Council statements, unless delegated to someone else.

As recently reported in the Barcoo Independent, there has been talk in council about the use of social media and according to the Council CEO, Councillors sharing BTRC social media posts must be careful in doing so, as to not have it recorded as “misconduct,” even if posts are “absent (of) evil intent.” That certainly was interesting to learn and I will be doing my own research into how I may communicate with you as to not break any policy or laws. The Mayor has also said that communications are “fraught with danger and bloody dangerous.”

There has been some confusion regarding how Councillors may communicate with their constituents but according to the Blackall-Tambo Regional Council’s new media policy, “Councillors may redistribute public information provided by Council in newsletters or social media posts” and the policy “does not purport to restrict Councillors from making statements, or from responding to media enquiries, in their capacity as a Councillor about their personal opinion regarding a Council matter.”

As you know, I have communicated with our residents through social media and these newsletters because it is the most effective way of informing you about what is going on. Disappointingly, I have received multiple raps over the knuckles for doing so, even though the information I provided to you was already public knowledge and marked as being my own opinion. I therefore believe that more discussion regarding how Council and Councillors communicate must be had to clarify the true intent of the policy, in order to have effective communication without our community; too many people are still approaching me and are uninformed of Council’s plans for their local area or street. I believe that I have abided by Council’s media policy and therefore will be seeking further clarification from the Council’s CEO and other relevant bodies.

I have acquaintances who have been elected to Councils across QLD and they are all using social media and emails very effectively to keep their communities in the loop. Digital networking is here to stay and and one thing that I do want to achieve as your Councillor, during my term, is to develop some of these measures that other Councils do so well, such as live streaming of Council meetings. Now that would be transparent!

You can rest assured that I will continue to speak with you and inform you, until the law states that I cannot. I will respect your vote and deliver to you my promise of openness and transparency.

Best Regards,
Cr David Hardie

PS. Council’s media policy also states that my communications to you must be my own personal opinion and not that of Blackall-Tambo Regional Council so…