{"id":55792,"date":"2014-01-30T22:44:52","date_gmt":"2014-01-30T12:44:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=55792"},"modified":"2020-12-07T11:56:31","modified_gmt":"2020-12-07T01:56:31","slug":"advantages-in-boundary-change-mayor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2014\/01\/30\/advantages-in-boundary-change-mayor\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Advantages’ In Boundary Change: Mayor"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Toowoomba Mayor Paul Antonio with recently elected Yarraman Community Council president Murray McGee and treasurer Di McGee<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

January 30, 2014<\/strong><\/p>\n

Toowoomba Mayor Paul Antonio can see advantages in having Blackbutt and Yarraman in the same council area but his feelings are officially neutral on a push by some Blackbutt residents to leave the South Burnett Regional Council area.<\/p>\n

Speaking to southburnett.com.au<\/strong> during an Australia Day weekend visit to Yarraman, Mayor Antonio said he believed a petition currently being taken up in Blackbutt by residents requesting a boundary change had 900 signatures on it.<\/p>\n

“I can see the benefits of Yarraman and Blackbutt being in the one area,” he said.<\/p>\n

“They are only 12km apart. They have a lot of commonality.<\/p>\n

“But there’s a lot to discuss about it.”<\/p>\n

He said representatives from the group which are organising the petition had met with him.<\/p>\n

“All I can do officially and practically is to make sure that they understand the process exactly on border realignment,” he said.<\/p>\n

Mayor Antonio suggested opportunities had been lost when the State Government forced council amalgamations in 2008.<\/p>\n

“When they did the amalgamations they worked on the boundaries from 100 years ago. If someone had had courage, they would have looked at (combining) communities of interest,” he said.<\/p>\n

Mayor Antonio met with members of the new-look Yarraman Community Council during his visit.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Community Council has a whole new executive following its recent annual general meeting.<\/p>\n

He said the TRC was hoping to build stronger lines of communication with Yarraman.<\/p>\n

“Councillors will be visiting here monthly,” he said.<\/p>\n

He said the TRC was proud of what it had done in regards to holding community consultation sessions around the region.<\/p>\n

The first of these was held in Yarraman just over a year ago.<\/p>\n

Mayor Antonio said it was very important that Yarraman had a group like the Community Council which could raise issues on behalf of the community.<\/p>\n

He identified tourism opportunities as something that could be improved in Yarraman, including the Rail Trail.<\/p>\n

“We are also hoping we can put some effort into the ‘community level’ of economic development.”<\/p>\n

Related articles:<\/strong><\/p>\n