{"id":368242,"date":"2026-01-19T11:40:39","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T01:40:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=368242"},"modified":"2026-01-19T11:40:39","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T01:40:39","slug":"councillors-swap-zone-roles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2026\/01\/19\/councillors-swap-zone-roles\/","title":{"rendered":"Councillors Swap Zone Roles"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Cr Edwina Farquhar … one of the three councillors assigned to the North Zone for 2026 (Photo: TRC)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

January 19, 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

Toowoomba Regional Council has named the three councillors assigned to Council’s “North Zone” – which includes Yarraman and Cooyar – for 2026.<\/p>\n

They are\u00a0Cr Edwina Farquhar, Cr Tim McMahon and Cr Gary Gardner.<\/strong><\/p>\n

They replace Cr Kerry Shine, Cr James O\u2019Shea and Cr Carol Taylor who represented the zone in 2025.<\/p>\n

The other\u00a0North Zone communities are Jondaryan, Oakey, Goombungee, Hampton, Crows Nest and Maclagan.<\/p>\n

The TRC adopted the \u201czone\u201d model at the beginning of last year to help improve the way councillors engage with the community.<\/p>\n

It divides the 13,000sq km of the region into three zones: North, South and Emerging.<\/p>\n

Three councillors are allocated to each region and rotate into a new area after 12 months.<\/p>\n

Mayor Geoff McDonald said genuine, face-to-face connection was very powerful.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“At the start of this term, we committed to doing things differently for better and the community has backed us every step of the way. People wanted to see more of us, and this model has delivered exactly that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n