Dear editor,
The motion to reduce councillor numbers
from 12 to nine was defeated at the Cobar
Shire September Ordinary Council
Meeting.
This motion was to go to a referendum at the
next election to ask the rate payers of Cobar
what they wanted.
Only three councillors were in favour of
reducing the number to nine.
Whatever their opinion is shouldn’t matter,
they should be willing to put the question to
the ratepayers and let them make the decision.
The ideal time to run the referendum is now,
as a by-election is to be held to fill a recent
vacancy.
I watched this Council meeting via live
stream, and I can understand why some have
voted against it (self-interest).
The debate of whether the rural and village
areas would be fairly represented, the size of
Cobar shire and the number of meetings
councillors need to attend, has been around
for years.
If an elected councillor is doing their job,
they will represent all of Cobar Shire, not just
rural, or town and, certainly not just their selfinterest.
I noted that some councillors were unaware
that Cobar no longer had ridings within the
shire. (This has been gone for many years.)
I urge ratepayers to talk to the councillors
and petition for ratepayers to be given the
opportunity to vote yes or no at a referendum
and then abide by what the voters want.
I think it is better to have nine engaged and
productive councillors actively working
towards improving our shire, rather than
retaining 12 positions simply for the sake of
having a larger number around the table.
I think the level of participation and
contribution from individual councillors can
readily be observed by ratepayers by
attending or watching any live stream council
meeting which you can access from council’s
website.
Linda Carter, Cobar
