The community wants Armidale Regional Council to improve the local economy and create more jobs.
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Now council wants to know if it has written up your wishes correctly into its 10-year community strategic plan.
“Did we get your aspirations right?’’ senior governance officer Peter Wilson wants to know.
“It is the community’s plan – our challenge will be to balance our funding with the desires of the community..
“What’s new is the commitment to deliver and engage with our community.
“It is not lip service – the desire by the new organisation to have that robust engagement with our community on localised issues and projects,’’ he said.
“We are getting out there and meeting with the community, with stakeholders and with government.
“We started listening tours last year with visits to places such as Ebor, Tingha, Black Mountain and they will start again this year.’’
Mr Wilson said there were eight key community themes and issues that emerged from the consultation process.
The community wanted improved support for business, tourism and the economy; ongoing improvements to infrastructure, especially roads and public transport; improved community facilities and a sense of community; protection for the environment and reduced pollution, and activities for young people, including improved recreational facilities.
The community also identified the importance of the farming and agriculture sector and the need for local representation, unified planning and community engagement. Council is already responding.
Mr WIlson said advisory committees to council had been expanded to reflect a broader stakeholder representation. An example of that was the new 16-member regional growth advisory board.
“One of their big projects is to develop an economic development strategy,’’ he said.
The strategy will dovetail into the ten year vision with two four-year action plans starting with 2017 to 2021 and then 2021 to 2025.
On the infrastructure front, the council engineers have gone out to small communities to discuss the service delivery around grading unsealed roads.
It had identified traffic volumes and bus routes to establish three service levels of grading once, twice or three times a year. It has taken the proposal to the people affected and asked for feedback.
Your draft strategic plan is awaiting your responses until Friday, February 24. Go to: yoursay.armidale.nsw.gov.au or email council@armidale.nsw.gov.au.
After February 24, the council will review your comments and spend the next two to three months developing delivery programs to match the vision.
The community will again be asked to comment on the programs before the council starts to implement them from July 1.
- Tell us too. The Armidale Express invites your comments here on our website. What do you think of council’s vision? Scroll down to the comments section and let us know. You sign in once only using your social media profile. You can then comment any time on any story we publish – forever.
