From the Mayor's Desk - 4 March 2025

Published on 04 March 2025

Traprock landholders work together to minimise risks, maximise community benefits of local renewable developments 

Cr Kelly and I attended the Traprock Group Meeting last weekend, where landholders came together to discuss how to maximise the community benefits - while minimising the risks - of the numerous large-scale wind power generators coming to the Traprock area.

Meetings like this are extremely important to enable landholders to become better informed and more involved in the community consultation process.

As the Traprock area includes the Goondiwindi Region but also Southern Downs, I was joined by the Mayor of the Southern Downs, Melissa Hamilton. We presented on the importance of early community consultation to negotiate a better and more equitable benefit sharing outcome from renewable companies.

From the perspective of local government, we are always in support of industry investment in the Goondiwindi Region. However - and I want to make it very, very clear - we also want to ensure that renewable energy projects are subject to exactly the same community consultation requirements, impact assessments and conditions as any other industry. Local impacts on housing and employment, for example, must be better managed.

This means that when the state/federal government approve these projects, planning requirements should be in place to ensure that the very communities impacted by these projects are the ones able to benefit from the power they produce, so they can build opportunities and a positive legacy.

Queensland Country tourism strategy

I was pleased to join numerous other local government Mayor’s from across the Darling Downs to participate in Queensland Country Tourism’s strategy meeting in Toowoomba, with the Minister for Tourism, the Hon Andrew Powell MP in attendance.

Council is eager to support the growth of this industry, with numerous investments in recent years from support of the free camping sites in Inglewood and Texas, to the region’s extensive public art trail including the Yelarbon silos and Goondiwindi’s Lanescape projects.

Follow-up childcare forum

The childcare forum this fortnight was another example of our community working collaboratively to solve local issues. There were excellent discussion and progress on resolving issues in our community. It was positive to have potential investors in the discussion, along with industry representatives, the Goondiwindi Chamber of Commerce and government agencies.

Council’s role in relation to childcare, is as an enabler, for example assisting where we can with progressing development applications, and an advocate on behalf of the local community and businesses.  There was significant discussion at the forum about the need to remove red tape to make it easier to complete training and access funding and Council will continue to advocate on these issues.

Childcare availability is not a challenge unique to our region, but it is a very important factor that can impact our region’s capacity to attract and retain people.  Along with housing it is one of the biggest issues facing employers and families in the region.

Casa Mia opening

This fortnight saw the long-awaited re-opening of Casa Mia in Inglewood, and with the Honourable Sam O’Connor MP, I was delighted to officially open the five newly refurbished independent living units at the site. This milestone is the culmination of more than four years of work and commitment to this project. It has been a long road, but now we can celebrate a facility that truly supports the independence and dignity of our elderly residents.

I’m pleased to report that the open day was a resounding success, with more than a hundred joining us for the ceremony and tour of the facility.

The dedication and commitment of the Inglewood Aged Care Steering Committee members was absolutely essential to getting where we are today. I am also immensely grateful to the Queensland Government for its support of this project, and to Queensland Minister for Housing the Honourable Sam O'Connor MP, who joined us on the day to open the building.

Border Rivers Christian College and Weengallon Catholic Church celebrations

It was a pleasure to attend the Border Rivers Christian College 10-year celebration, along with Cr’s Kelly, Skinner and Watts.

I had the pleasure of attending the inaugural opening ceremony 10 years ago when they opened with just 4 teachers and 36 students.  The school has nearly tripled in size in that time and has become a valued part of the educational opportunities in the region.  It is a credit to the Border Rivers Christian College community for what they have achieved.

I also want to pass on my congratulations to the Weengallon Catholic Church community on celebrating 70 years of service in the region. Council was represented by Cr Susie Kelly, who congratulated the current committee on bringing together such a large group of past and present members. It was a real success and a wonderful example of the strong community spirit and connectedness in our region