‘Don’t forget us’: Election on the mind ahead of meeting

“Now we’ve had time to see the true workings of this council I think the questions will become a lot more specific”.

Dalveen will come together on February 20 to discuss local government election issues. Pictured is community member Chris Weckert.

ONE of the region’s most active little communities is putting itself on the front foot to ensure they “aren’t forgotten” ahead of the local government elections.

The village of Dalveen will host a community meeting on Thursday, February 20, where the election and election issues will be the prime topic of discussion.

The gathering is for Dalveen residents and Dalveen residents only.

“We don’t really want any reporters or politicians. We want people to be able to speak as they want to speak,” editor of the Dalveen community newsletter, Chris Weckert said.

“The idea is to come up with the issues. We did this before last election.”

Another Dalveen resident, president of the Dalveen Sports Club Phil Zikan, said queries have shifted somewhat from last election.

“I think the questions put to candidates in 2016 were largely aspirational.

“Now we’ve had time to see the true workings of this council I think the questions will become a lot more specific.

“To my mind, this time it’ll revolve a lot around transparency and governance and consultation,” Mr Zikan said.

Broader issues such as the invasive pest scheme, development and water will be at the top of the agenda according to Mr Zikan.

“I suspect there will a lot of marks given and taken over the vote for de-amalgamation too,” he said.

Ms Weckert said council’s vote on Cherrabah water extraction could also factor into discussion.

But simply, Dalveen as a whole, don’t want to be an afterthought.

“We consider ourselves the northern end of the Granite Belt … not the southern end of Warwick.

“I don’t know that’s ever fully been recognised.

“I think people see local government as the one that is closest to them and the one there to look after their local interests and I think that’s not the feeling people have at the moment.

“There is a lot of feeling that Warwick gets a lot of the attention.

“The whole idea is to say yes we’re here and don’t forget about us,” Ms Weckert said.

Whether they’ll put out a questionnaire to all council candidates before the election, they’ve yet to decide.

The meeting will be held at the Dalveen Hall from 7pm.

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