suggestion to make Cobar one of the recipients of their Christmas Drought Fundraiser.
One of the most affluent councils in Australia, Lane Cove Council in Sydney, has decided to “adopt” Cobar.
The council recently voted to make Cobar and their sister city council, Gunnedah, the recipients of their Christmas Drought Fundraiser.
The idea to support Cobar was floated at an Extraordinary Meeting of Council last month by Cr Scott Bennison, who was born and raised in Wellington NSW before moving to Sydney to work as a Chartered Accountant.
“The impact of the drought is impacting not only our farms, but also regional towns who rely on income from the farms to purchase goods and services,” Cr Bennison told his fellow Lane Cove councillors.
“We hear stories daily about how farmers are having to destroy their breeding livestock, sell their farms, increase borrowings, having their farms repossessed by banks, and sadly taking their own lives.”
He called for both the Cobar and Gunnedah communities to be supported by a Christmas Drought Fundraiser.
“Most of us in the city are very fortunate and our community, Lane Cove, would be one of the most affluent in Australia.
“I also believe that our community has demonstrated how extremely generous they can be when asked,” Cr Bennison said.
His fellow councillors unanimously supported the Notice of Motion for assistance to support the two regional councils.
“I also wanted to support local business so I developed the idea that we ask residents to purchase IGA and/or VISA debit cards that would be used by your community to support local shops,” Cr Bennison told The Cobar Weekly.
“The plan is that prior to Christmas our council would send your council a bundle of gift cards that would in turn be distributed to local community groups in time for Christmas.
“I have spoken with your Mayor Lilliane Brady about our idea and our council will be speaking with your council regarding the logistics of getting the gift cards delivered in time for Christmas.
“I cannot make it rain but I know that with the support of our community we can make Christmas a little better,” Cr Bennison said.
