April 30, 2015
Toowoomba mayor Paul Antonio met today with a group lobbying for the creation of a new “Darling Downs Shire”, split off from the current Toowoomba Regional Council area.
Mayor Antonio said he met with the Darling Downs Shire Steering Committee, at their request, to discuss the group’s push to create a new shire comprising all of the former Clifton, Millmerran and Pittsworth shires, and rural parts of the former Cambooya and Jondaryan shires.
The mayor said that while Council has provided support to the group by enabling access to relevant financial information, he and TRC councillors had indicated the decision was “very clearly in the hands of the State Government”.
“This Council has been elected to govern the whole Toowoomba Regional Council area and, therefore, will remain neutral throughout the process,” Mayor Antonio said.
The Mayor has agreed to seek a meeting with Deputy Premier and Local Government Minister Jackie Trad on the group’s behalf.
“As the Minister considers this issue we will be getting on with the job which we were elected to do; working for our communities to make our region a better place to live,” Mayor Antonio said.
