Six of Cobar Shire Council’s current crop of councillors have indicated their intention to run for re-election at the 2024 Local Government elections.
Mayor Jarrod Marsden along with Cr Bob Sinclair, Cr Lillian Simpson, Cr Tony Chaplain, Cr Harley Toomey and Cr Kate Winders have all advised they will be seeking re-election in September.
Deputy mayor Michael Prince said he is undecided, Cr Julie Payne said she will not be re-standing and Cr Janine Lea-Barrett had not given us a response at the time of going to print yesterday.
Mayor Marsden, who has served on council for 18 years said he originally ran for council as he had a desire to be part of the process that takes ideas to reality making Cobar a better place.
“I absolutely enjoy what we are doing,” Cr Marsden said.
He said council had achieved a great deal over the past term of office.
“We had the opening of the water treatment plant, the turnaround of the council’s financial position, the Ward Oval upgrade and the new child care centre.”
He said the priorities for council in the next term of office would be to work towards an improved situation with power and water, to build new mixed use housing subdivisions and source more aged care funding.
“We have a very good forward thinking and positive council at the moment, so I would welcome people with a positive attitude who genuinely want to work hard to represent all ratepayers and grow the shire as a whole to join council,” Cr Marsden said.
“The next four years presents a significant challenge for Cobar Shire Council, but with those challenges comes the opportunity for councillors to work together to make a real difference.
“Prospective councillors need to understand that this is a really rewarding position but governance as a whole does not work quickly, so don’t expect to be able to change things overnight or you will quickly become frustrated,” Cr Marsden warned.
Long standing councillor Cr Bob Sinclair, who was first elected in 2008, will run again.
“The initial reason I stood for council was a concern regarding the financial position of council at the time and, having children attending school in Cobar, who commuted between Cobar and our property, I was concerned about the condition of our rural roads.”
Cr Sinclair said over the past 16 years council has achieved vast improvements to the many roads within the shire.
“With the availability of funding council has initiated projects such as the upgrade of the Museum, Youth Centre, Ward Oval, new child care centre, Drummond Park and the skate park, just to name a few, which I believe has made Cobar a better place for the community to live in.
“Many of these projects are nearing completion. I believe seeing these projects to completion is an obvious priority of the new council.
“Cobar has seen an unprecedented surge in tourism with tourists using Cobar as a stopover.
“Council has worked hard to provide facilities to accommodate tourists and it is pleasing to receive compliments from these people about Cobar. These tourists provide a much needed injection of capital into the business houses in Cobar.
“I would like to see long term funding for the maintenance and upkeep of the projects about to be completed and the development of new housing to attract long term medical and professional staff to alleviate the shortage that now exists.
“To achieve this level of funding on a permanent basis, the NSW Government must reintroduce ‘Royalties for Regions’ funding for mining communities.
“The main priority for Cobar is the completion of the Nyngan to Cobar water pipeline.
“The replacement of the Albert Priest Channel with a pipeline will ensure less evaporation and a cleaner water delivery from Warren to Nyngan,” Cr Sinclair said.
Cr Lillian Simpson said she’s enjoyed her first term as a councillor and will be standing again as she feels she still has a lot to contribute to the running of the community.
“I would like to see some younger community minded people putting up their hands to be councillors,” Cr Simpson said.
“The next term is going to be challenging as we navigate our way through the maze that grant funding has become, to maintain the standard of roads etc, throughout our shire.
“My main focus for being on council is to try and improve the level of healthcare in our town, and I feel there is still a long way to go to achieve that. Also, I am an advocate for tourism and culture within our community, and feel that we still have room for improvement in those fields as well.”
Cr Tony Chaplain has served two terms on council totalling just over five years.
“I originally stood as I wanted to see improvements made in the town,” he said.
Cr Chaplain said the past term has been difficult for council with the COVID pandemic, and the passing of the mayor.
“I’m proud to see the beautification of the town and of our local musuem, which is only one of a small number of profitable museums out there.
“There’s a lot of work that yet needs to be done with our water allocation—the government is out of touch with what we need out here.
“There’s been a lot of work done on our rural roads, they’ve been a quiet achiever.”
Cr Chaplain said he believed council’s main priority is the continued unification of councillors who will work towards an overall plan.
“We need to be proactive instead of reactive regarding the long term planning of our facilities.”
He said while health and aged care services are the State Government’s responsibility, they are essential services and council does need to play a hand in their provision.
“And it’s good that council is still pushing on the child care front, as ultimately in these economic times, there’s a lot of pressure and we see two family incomes are needed.”
Cr Harley Toomey has served for more than 20 years and also plans to run again.
“The town’s been good to me and by being a councillor, I feel like I’m giving something back to the community,” Cr Toomey said.
“I’ve enjoyed being on various committees and working with the GM.
“I’m proud of our parks, the Youthie and our ovals and believe that tourism should be a priority of the next council.
“I want to see the town prosper and encourage other people who are committed to the town and who want to get things done, to run for council.”
A Cobar resident for 42 years, Cr Kate Winders was elected to council in a by-election in 2018 and said she likes being involved in the community.
She believes council’s priority for the next term is to listen to what the community wants and to see their current projects through to completion.
Cr Julie Payne said while she doesn’t plan to run again, she has very much enjoyed her time as a councillor.
“I am proud to have supported most decisions of council and hope they have a lasting positive outcome for the Cobar community.
“I am most proud of the upgrades to the museum and the Youthie, the Ward Oval project, the attention and upkeep of our large road system, the beautifying of the town with tree planting, murals and Cobar signage, to name a few,” Cr Payne said.
