Council urges public to ‘be part of the solution’ by engaging with staff

Statement comes with challenge to ‘be part of the solution’ on Council’s direction as staff prepare to face the public.

Jerry Dawes from Workforce Road Services controls traffic flow as construction take place for the Clarence Valley's first traffic lights at the intersection of Pound and Clarence streets as part of the new Grafton bridge build.

Council has thrown down the gauntlet to keyboard warriors across the region to “be part of the solution” ahead of a series of community meetings.

Billed as an opportunity for the public to meet senior staff and ask questions in person, a promotion for Clarence Valley Council’s Community Information Days caught the eye for its tongue-in-cheek opening line.

“Do you feel an insatiable urge to comment on Council’s social pages about the state of our roads? Or do you have questions for Clarence Valley Council about how your rates are spent?” Council’s press release read.

“If so, make your way to one of Council’s Community Information Days to find out more about what Council is doing for our community. Come and be part of the solution, meet the executive and management teams and ask your questions in person.”

The Clarence Valley has more than 1000km of unsealed roads to maintain.

Councils copping flak for the state of roads (among other things) is nothing new, however, criticism has intensified over the years as more people take to social media to vent their frustrations.

Last week Councillors gave the green light to road policy changes and released a priority list of roads which were in need of attention in the next decade.

Jamie Fleeting, Director of Civil and Works said roads are one of Councils “greatest challenges” with 1,500km of sealed and 1000km of unsealed roads to maintain, adding that they know it will be a “hot topic” at the meetings.

“We understand that everyone wants their road fixed immediately but we need to prioritise road works in consideration of a number of factors including the severity of the damage, type of road (volume of traffic and speed) and the overall risk to motorists,” he said.

“Recent flooding and prolonged heavy rains over the past 18 months have compounded the impacts to our road network, and we have received considerable of feedback about damaged and dangerous sections of road.

“This feedback is essential to us, it means we can better understand where the problems are, and it helps us to schedule all repairs on a risk-based approach.

“Come and see us at one of the Information Days to learn more about your roads, water, and other services. We’ll explain some of the plans we have in place to be more strategic with our works program.”

Laura Black, Acting General Manager said they would like to offer the community the opportunity to connect directly with Council’s management so they can “tell us about what is important to you, what do you want the Clarence Valley of the future to look like and how do you think we can contribute to this vision?”

“This feedback guides the Community Strategic Plan, which is our overarching organisational strategy, it guides what we do and we review it every few years,” Ms Black said.

“In the past, we’ve heard that the Clarence Valley should be a thriving community that has good services, well maintain roads, opportunities for employment and business, parks, playgrounds and leisure facilities alongside a beautiful and healthy natural environment and while we think this is still true, we want to hear if we are making progress and whether there is anything we have missed.”

“Come along to one of the Information Days and you will also see what projects we are working on and the challenges we face.”