Dear Residents and Ratepayers of Urana Shire and extended readers of our newsletter—welcome to our October Newsletter.
Our October meeting was held on 2nd October in order to fulfil legal requirements regarding the election of Mayor within 3 weeks of the Council elections.
I would like to again thank my fellow Councillors for entrusting me to the position of Mayor for the following year.
Congratulations are extended to Councillor Barry McFarlane who was elected to the position as Deputy Mayor.
Comments on the weather are again very pessimistic for our Shire.
We have all been desperate for that big spring rain to finish our crops, but have not had any luck at all!
Whilst there are a few reasonable crops on fallow, or some that have fluked a little extra rain, generally speaking the vast majority of crops are really showing the affects of the terribly dry conditions.
Three years in a row is quite unbelievable and equally unsustainable!
Late last month Councillors and staff inspected Council owned blocks of land at Oaklands, with the purpose of valuing them for future sale. Fortunately this job was concluded by lunch time, as the afternoon saw one of the biggest dust storms ever seen for this time of year.
The following day we attended, again at Oaklands, the exploratory drilling for coal, and to again meet the principals of Coalworks, the company involved in this venture.
Also in the group attending were geologists, investors, members of the stock exchange, landholders and a film crew that will be producing a CD on this venture.
Principals of Coalworks seem very confident with the amount of coal available in the area, so the following year or two will be a very interesting time, to see how this venture progresses.
Coupled with the coal, we have a company “Shale Search” who are interested in mining the kaolin and mineral sands that lay above the coal reserves.
Again at Oaklands, the public meeting held to discuss the local SES Branch, and its future, was well attended.
Mr Peter Jhonston, Murray Region Controller, and his staff, discussed the future of this local group and how more members were needed to be able to continue this voluntary service to the area.
This meeting also gave the community their opportunity to discuss the way they feel the unit could be improved and sustained for the future.
The SES staff are hoping to have a promotional tent present on Sunday November 2nd at the Oaklands Truck Show to discuss the opportunity for new members to join the SES.
The Truck Show is being held as a fundraiser for Para Olympians and is expected to be a big day, with new and old vehicles, entertainment, car boot sales, bric a brac stalls, kid’s rides and food stalls. A day not to be missed—Sunday 2nd November from 10am.
At the “top end” of our Shire, a very successful Quilt and Craft Exhibition was held at the Boree Creek Memorial Hall on the weekend of 11th & 12th October.
The hard working ladies were all very pleased with the amount of visitors who supported this event, and $2,990 was raised for the maintenance of the local hall.
Last weekend again proved to be a very busy one in Urana. Friday evening saw the opening of the 10th Annual Art Exhibition at the old Courthouse.
Mr John Williams, our State Member for Murray-Darling flew his plane from his base in Broken Hill to attend and officially open the evening and we all appreciate and thank him for his effort.
Congratulations to the hardworking committee who again excelled with this event—with a record 190 exhibits and 34 paintings sold, they were thrilled with the support received.
Saturday and Sunday saw the Annual Vintage Tractor Rally and Tractor Pull.
With Mr Slim Connors and Grant Luhrs providing country style music and jokes, Saturday night proved to be a great success.
Sunday saw the continuation of events and the Annual Hospital Fete, which all contributed to a big weekend.
President Kevin Elphick advises us that next year will be the 10th Anniversary of the Urana Tractor Pull and Vintage Rally, so every attempt will be made to make this a top event.
Our two new Councillors, Rhodes and Bourke, have settled into their roles during the October meeting, and have received their share of the workload with the various committees we all share responsibility for.
Prior to our meeting we were fortunate to have arranged a visit from Mr Bob May, Assistant Commissioner of Police, to discuss new housing for our Urana Police Officer.
Agreement has been reached, with the Police Properties Division, that the old Police house will be replaced with a new house, of similar “style” to the Oaklands residence recently installed.
Put simply, we are not prepared to have another doll’s house delivered from Gosford to frustrate us all again and so we are on the front foot to see that the best result will be guaranteed before any building is put on site.
Council has discussed the possibility and has agreed to make available for purchase the Council residence currently occupied by our Police Officer. This offer is now being considered by the Police Department.
Mr Anthony Newland also attended our October meeting and we received his report on all Crown lands in our Shire. Council discussed each parcel of land individually and will be finally deciding on which portions Council may endeavour to purchase in the future.
Council also finalised arrangements for a farewell function for our retiring Councillors, Denis Smith and Kevin McNuff.
Both gentlemen have requested a small evening with Councillors, senior staff and their partners.
This will be held on the evening of the 7th November at the Council Chambers.
Councillors and senior staff have attended information seminar workshops conducted by the Department of Local Government to bring us up to date on the various roles and responsibilities of a Councillor.
These seminars were planned by the Minister for Local Government prior to Council elections and were deemed to be compulsory to attend, by both new and established Councillors.
We have received an invitation for the Mayor to attend the inaugural meeting of the Australian Council of Local Government in Canberra on 18th November, 2008.
This day will give communities a chance to voice issues of local and national interest, and to examine a process for recognition of Local Government in the Australian Constitution. Hopefully by attending, I might learn a little!
You will find a page in this month’s newsletter with all your Councillors details and phone numbers.
Please put it in a safe place for a quick referral if you need to contact us for any reason.
Finally as the football boots and netball uniforms are packed away for another year, it is pleasing to note that the Billabong Crows performed well in the newer, enlarged and tougher Hume League this year.
With the under 14’s making the finals and the senior side just missing the finals, they can be well pleased with their efforts.
Whilst it was reported in our last month’s newsletter I cannot help to again admire and congratulate Hayden Dalitz, on winning the Under 14’s League’s Best and Fairest Award with the perfect 18 best on ground votes for the 18 matches—can anyone recall such an effort anywhere in any league? Well done!