Top 5 key debates from this week’s Southern Downs Regional Council meeting
What the next budget review could mean for you, plans for long-term water security, and more:
Warwick
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Southern Down Regional Council will hold its general meeting on Wednesday, with a host of regional issues set to be debated.
From new plans to tackle the Southern Downs’ long-term water security concerns to an innovative youth event soon to hit the region, these are the most noteworthy agenda items.
Check out the list below:
BUDGETARY REVIEW
The council’s third quarter budget review will be tabled this week, ahead of the release of the draft 2021-22 budget in coming months.
SDRC reported an estimated budget surplus of $72,000 at its second quarter budget review in early February in a major upswing from the first quarter’s suggested $700,000 deficit.
Mayor Vic Pennisi credited the 1.9 per cent rates increase in June last year for much of the financial success.
SOUTHERN WATER ALLIANCE
Councillors will vote at Wednesday’s meeting on whether to join the new Southern Inland Queensland and Northern NSW Border Regional Water Alliance Limited.
The current alliance includes the Southern Downs, Goondiwindi, Toowoomba, Western Downs, Lockyer Valley, and Tenterfield Regional Councils.
Based on discussions at the group’s second meeting in February, it was decided the best way to achieve tangible long-term water security and infrastructure was to form a company limited by guarantee.
SDRC will this week vote on becoming a member of the company and appointing the Mayor as a director.
It is understood the alliance would not have budgetary implications until the 2021-22 financial year.
YOUTH EVENTS FIRE UP
Minutes from the first meeting of the 2021 Southern Downs Youth Council will also be discussed at the SDRC meeting on Wednesday.
Alongside the new junior council’s swearing in and badge presentation ceremonies, one of the key topics of discussion at the inaugural meeting was the introduction of youth events to the region.
A 2019 proposal for a Granite Belt Beats, Bites, and Bounce event combining music, fun, and outdoor activities has been revived and scheduled for November this year.
A school survey run by a group of Warwick High students also highlighted a Teenage Great Australian Bites event as another possible favourite for 2021.
SHOW SOCIETY GUNS FOR $38K+ FUNDING
SDRC will also consider whether to allocate more than $38,000 in the upcoming 2021-22 budget to upgrade internal roads at the Warwick Showgrounds.
The meeting agenda stated the Warwick Show and Rodeo Society requested the council undertake works on two roads, as well as drainage improvements and a new contour bank.
The SDRC-funded upgrades would total an estimated $38,450.
The project is not currently funded by the 2020-21 budget and there are currently no funding grants available.
WARWICK BUILDING TO FACE HERITAGE DELISTING
Southern Downs councillors will also debate whether to keep a building in the Warwick CBD on the Local Heritage Register.
The owner has requested to have the commercial building at 34 Albion St removed from the Local Heritage Register, claiming the original listing was done without their permission.
It was first listed on the former Warwick Shire Council Register of Cultural Heritage Places in 1999, before its official registry as a Local Heritage site in 2012.
The council’s current recommendation is to keep the building on the Local Heritage Register due to its “architectural significance”.
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