Divestment on the table at council meeting

Relocation of a large metallic bull and the sale of council assets are just a few of the issues that caused discussion at last week's council meeting.

DECISIONS: Councillors Jan Chambers, Cameron O'Neil, David Schefe, Janelle Stanford, Puddy Chandler, Geoff McMullen, Tyson Golder, Peter Flynn, Wendy Newman after the Wednesday meeting. Picture: Alexia Austin

RELOCATION of a large metallic bull and the sale of council assets are just a few of the issues that caused discussion at last week's council meeting.

Councillors voted unanimously to move the almost life-sized Mitchell sculpture from the back of the Mitchell library to a more prominent position in front of it, after receiving a number of requests.

"I think this is a step in the right direction for the council to be listening to something the Mitchell community is quite passionate about,” CrCameron O'Neil said.

"When we held a mobile office in Mitchell a few weeks ago, this was one of the big issues raised with us.

"I had never seen the metallic bull until that day.

"And when I saw it, I knew it was something visitors would remember when they come through the town.”

However the council was split on a number of other decisions, including the sale of surplus council-owned properties.

Vacant houses

Cr Puddy Chandler put forward a motion to sell four council-owned houses at Wallumbilla, Mitchell and Yuleba.

"These properties have been put up for tender and they were not taken up, so the next logical step is to sell, as they are surplus to council's needs,” Cr Chandler said.

Mayor Tyson Golder opposed the motion.

"I certainly don't believe in the divesting of houses as, in the future when council would like to grow business and opportunities for new businesses to help grow our regions, the more housing stock we have, the better it is,” Cr Golder said.

"While we don't have any (tenants) currently, I believe if they come along in the future, it would be a lot easier to have stock and do it up than to reacquire it.”

Cr Chandler rebutted.

"Unless we have a 500 per cent increase in population in the Maranoa, I don't believe we are going to be short of houses,” she said.

"There is still plenty of council-owned real estate available. These houses are probably no longer viewed as an asset, they are moving into a liability stage where they require upkeep - so this is a sensible financial decision.”

The council voted 8-1 in favour of the sales, with Cr Golder voting against.