15 AUGUST, 2022 - COMMUNITY PRIORITIES GUIDE ADVOCACY FOR THE REGION

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Published
15th August 2022

Seven motions will be put forward by Cassowary Coast Regional Council for consideration at the upcoming 126th Annual Local Government of Queensland (LGAQ) Conference.

Held in Cairns in October, feedback provided by the Cassowary Coast community in the recent Community Scorecard guided Council’s decisions on what priorities should be highlighted at the Conference.

Councillor Jeff Baines said the motions listed by Council for inclusion in the 2022 LGAQ Conference align with key priorities identified in the Scorecard, including advocating for affordable housing along with an incentive scheme to encourage GP’s to relocate to the area.

“Each year LGAQ develop an advocacy action plan, designed to highlight the top policy positions and funding priorities which Council’s believe are critical to ensuring Queensland flourishes and communities thrive. Cr Baines said.

Council endorsed seven motions to be considered by LGAQ which include:

  • Feral Pigs – National Feral Pig Action Plan – 2031
    • Reef 2050 – Hot Spot and Sewerage Upgrades – Reef Trust
    • Housing – Key Worker Housing - Funding
    • Water Security – Building our Regions funding continued
    • Rural GP’s - 2019 Stronger Rural Health Strategy
    • Grow Our own – Continued and increased Funding for Apprenticeships
    • Coastal Hazard Adaptation Strategy – Fund Actions from Strategy

“We’ve heard from the community that they expect stronger leadership from Council in the advocacy for our region,

“Although the hard work happens on the ground, these forums present a great opportunity to advocate and connect with Council’s facing similar issues to our own region. Said Cr Baines.

Earlier this month Cr Baines also met with local Council leaders and representatives at the FNQROC (Far North Queensland Regional Organisation of Councils) delegation in Canberra.

Cr Baines said discussions focussed on regional road and water investment, strategic social housing, climate change initiatives, health and aged care in rural in regional areas.

“These discussions are timely given the results of our recent community scorecard which demonstrate the community consider local roads the number one priority for our region.

“Health and Community Services as well as Seniors’ Care, Services and Facilities also ranked highly as key areas the community wants Council to prioritise. Said Cr Baines.

Council has also joined a research project to protect the Great Barrier Reef from silt washed from thousands of kilometres of unsealed country roads.

Councillor Baines recently travelled to Gladstone to attend the combined LGAQ Coastal Leaders and QCoast2100 Forums where the announcement was made regarding expansion of the program.

“Council currently manages 518km of unsealed roads and 1,204km of sealed and unsealed combined. This equates to approximately $1.6M in annual maintenance and $2.8M in resheeting.

Cr Baines said as part of Council’s application to join the project three local roads were submitted as potential study sites;

  • Jubilee Road – 3.6km unsealed road
  • Ranch Road (Tully River Catchment) -7.45km unsealed road
  • Granadilla Road -  9km unsealed road

This research will give councils critical information to help advocate for funding to create cleaner road runoff to protect the Reef and create better roads for communities.

“I look forward to bringing these discussions and solutions back to Council.” Cr Baines said.