April 6, 2016
The South Burnett’s freshly minted councillors will take their places officially in the Warren Truss Council Chambers for the first time on Thursday at 9:00am for the mandatory post-election meeting.
But that doesn’t mean they haven’t been adjusting their chairs and learning how to work their microphones in the meantime …
Most of the councillors only learned at the weekend that they had been elected but they went straight to work on Monday, learning Council and meeting procedures under the guidance of SBRC CEO Gary Wall.
Mayor-elect Keith Campbell and long-serving councillor Kathy Duff (Division 5) have also been showing the “newbies” the ropes.
Thursday’s morning meeting is mandatory under the Local Government Act.
The position of Deputy Mayor will be confirmed at this meeting, as well as the Councillors’ new portfolios, and upcoming meeting dates.
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Cr Campbell told southburnett.com.au his first priority for the new Council would be to address the issues that were aired during the campaign by so many people – roads and communication – before Council embarked on any new projects.
“I want my new Council to honestly reflect on the commitments that were made by those who were elected, and those who were were not elected,” Cr Campbell said.
“I want to let people know that I have listened to what was said during the campaign.
“I am not saying that we can implement everything that was said, but I want us as a group to address, as we can, the commitments that have been made.”
On Thursday afternoon, councillors will be back in the Chamber for a Special Meeting called to vote on whether to accept the proposal put forward by an independent operator to run Lady Bjelke-Petersen Private Hospital in Kingaroy.
“The hospital project is one of the uncompleted projects from the previous administration which needs to be attended to,” Cr Campbell said.
“The Blackbutt Hall is another one of our priorities.”
- Related article: Special Meeting To Vote On Hospital
