24 August, 2022
Toowoomba Regional Council meetings could return to Clifton
As was the case for a short time after amalgamation, Toowoomba Regional Council (TRC) will investigate the feasibility of holding its Ordinary Meeting of Council once a quarter in regional towns such as Clifton.
Cr Megan O’Hara Sullivan proposed a motion at the August Ordinary Meeting of Council that a meeting be held once a quarter in regional townships on a rotational basis, with residents encouraged to make deputations at the meeting and to have the opportunity to talk with councillors informally.
The motion was voted down 5-6, with Councillors O’Hara Sullivan, O’Shea, Vonhoff, Shine and Melissa Taylor voting for it.
An alternate motion proposed by Cr Geoff McDonald, seconded by Cr Bill Cahill, will see a report outline a variety of options and officer recommendations for additional engagement of Councillors into regional communities, to be presented in October.
This motion passed unanimously.
Although the towns where the meetings could be held were not specifically mentioned, the eight areas that amalgamated to form the Toowoomba Region were: Toowoomba, Clifton, Greenmount (Cambooya Shire), Pittsworth, Oakey (Jondaryan Shire), Millmerran, Goombungee (Rosalie Shire) and Crows Nest.
There were/are council meeting chambers in each of the centres.
In her motion, Cr O’Hara Sullivan noted this idea was trialled after amalgamation but she believed it was very costly due to the number of staff having to travel to the regions in order to speak to their items.
With modern video conference technology, the cost and time would be greatly reduced.
Cr O’Hara Sullivan said councillors were looking for more ways to engage with all residents throughout the Region.
“We all get feedback about not being accessible enough so we need to look at ways we can change this as we genuinely want to hear from each community member in the Toowoomba Region,” she said.
“The effects of COVID have been felt right across our Region and the impacts of the pandemic have restricted some of our planned community engagement.”
Cr O’Hara Sullivan said the meetings will send a clear message Council is invested in regional areas and wants to hear the issues which are most important to residents in those communities.
“Having meetings in the smaller communities would provide an opportunity for school groups and residents to interact with us more and it would allow for individuals in those areas to give delegations to Council,” she said.
Answering a question from Cr Sommerfield about the logistics of holding the meetings across the region, CEO Brian Pidgeon said in some places connectivity is fine while in other places Council will need to investigate to see if it is possible to do so.
Mr Pidgeon, who worked for TRC when meetings in regional towns were previously held, said hardly anyone had actually attended from the communities.
He said a decision on how to proceed with hosting meetings in regional townships would need to choose between either equipment that is moved to each venue or permanently setting up equipment in every venue.
Cr Sommerfield said she wondered if towns on the edge of the region, such as Yarraman, would be too far from Toowoomba to travel.
Cr Cahill questioned the intent of the motion, whether it focused on statutory meetings or engagement.
He said long meetings leave little time for engagement and are a very structured environment, so perhaps a restructuring of councillor visits would better improve engagement.
He served as a councillor when regional meetings were previously held.
“I didn’t see them as very successful at all, other than a great expense to a ratepayer to facilitate the meeting,” he said.
Cr McDonald said Council would be selling itself short to have an Ordinary Meeting of Council without being able to engage in a considerable fashion with the community.
“This is not going to bring people to our meetings,” he said.
Cr Carol Taylor was critical of the original proposal, believing the best way to know what is happening in the region is to talk to people at events, having “ordinary conversations with ordinary people.”
She said the only people who will attend are those strongly against or for an issue.
Cr Tim McMahon suggested it would be a good idea to host special meetings of council in regional towns when a development application pertaining to the local area is the topic of the meeting.
Mayor Paul Antonio, who was Deputy Mayor during the previous regional meetings, said he did not think the meetings held at the smaller towns were any success at all.
He said he had hoped to host more town meetings this term, which began in early 2020, but COVID-19 made it impossible to do so.
Cr Sommerfield said general town hall meetings turn into “yell-at-us fests” and a more structured approach would be better.
After hearing all the concerns her colleagues had, Cr O’Hara Sullivan suggested to look for reasons why the regional meetings might work rather not work.
She said the State Government has been able to govern from the regions and can find centres where the technology is right.
“What we’re doing now is not working, so let’s try something else,” she said.
