Council is giving residents more opportunities to have a say

Cobar Shire Council’s general manager Peter Vlatko with projects support officer Bethany Smith looking at some of the features of council’s new website

Cobar Shire Council is in the process of reviewing its 10 year Community Strategic Plan and is calling for input and feedback from residents.
Council’s general manager Peter Vlatko said having a Community Strategic Plan is a re-quirement of the Local Government Act, and with a number of new councillors on board, this is an appropriate time for the new council and the community, to revisit the vision of where Cobar Shire is going.
Mr Vlatko said in addition to holding a se-ries of public meetings over the coming month in Cobar, Euabalong and Nymagee, any resi-dent who cannot attend a meeting is able to provide feedback through Council’s online survey on their newly re-vamped council web-site.
Printed (hard copies) of the survey will also be available for residents to collect at the council administration office and at the Cobar Shire Library.
“We’re trying to make it as easy as possible for anyone who wants to have a say on where they think our community should be in 10 years time, to be able to do that,” Mr Vlatko said.
“Council will use your feedback and input to help shape the future of our shire, and it will help assist council to identify where we are now, where we would like to be in the future and how we plan to get there.”
Mr Vlatko said one area they are hoping to receive more feedback from is the design op-tions for the Cobar Memorial Swimming Pool.
“With the pool upgrade, it’s important for residents to know that they have the oppor-tunity to comment, and to be part of the deci-sion making,” Mr Vlatko said.
At last week’s Ordinary Council Meeting, councillors voted that Option 1 (upgrade entry, kiosk, amenities and staff facilities at a cost of $2.29million) was their preferred option based on the expected ongoing running and mainte-nance costs.
Mr Vlatko said if however the community comes back and argues strongly they prefer Option 2 (which includes an indoor pool at a cost of $9.29Million), then the decision will need to go back to council for further consid-eration.
He encouraged anyone with an interest in the pool to view the updated draft plan (which includes changes made from feedback re-ceived from community consultation sessions in February) and have their say.
Information about the Community Strategic Plan, the upgraded draft designs for the pool along with council’s photo competition can all be found at council’s new website (which is currently still under construction).