There is no doubt that grants and favourable policy decisions by the other spheres of government will hinge increasingly on Councils demonstrating three key things. These include Councils using long term strategic planning to ensure they remain financially sustainable, that they are sharing their best practice initiatives and wherever possible implementing successful projects tried and tested by other Councils, and they are genuinely consulting and engaging with their community and other stakeholders.
In recent editions we have run a number of articles on how Councils are engaging their communities and working in partnership with other local stakeholders to stretch their resources, make use of local talent and ensure the best possible decisions are made. This is the very essence of what Local Government is there to provide – strong, vibrant and inclusive communities.
With the recent 50th anniversary of the worst flood in living memory for communities along the Murray River, old footage of how these communities came together to try to protect their towns from the rising waters and the devastation to buildings and farmland where the waters broke through their makeshift levies and sandbagging, followed by their recovery and rebuilding, was inspiring.
Working from the reverse impact of this vital resource – prolonged drought – Toowoomba City Council undertook extensive community consultation to look at alternatives for addressing its protracted and worsening, severe water shortage. Although the majority of its residents were not yet ready to include recycling wastewater into their drinking water, Toowoomba’s recent referendum certainly put the issue of the need to conserve water, and the reuse of waste water, firmly on the national agenda.
With most of South East Queensland a drought area, a poll commissioned by the Brisbane Courier Mail just days after the Toowoomba referendum found the two thirds of the 400 South East Queensland residents surveyed said they supported adding recycled wastewater to their drinking water. Some 36 per cent said they “strongly supported”, and a further 30 per cent “supported” this. Eighteen per cent “strongly opposed” to the idea.
Queensland Premier, Peter Beattie, is proposing a wider referendum on the issue in the future, while the Mayor of Goulburn Mulwaree in New South Wales, Councillor Paul Stephenson, has similarly stated that the time has come for some tough decisions centred around the community being fully informed and aware of the diversity of issues at stake.
Referenda will always be a difficult avenue as it is much easier for people to vote “no” and stay with the status quo than take the plunge (no pun intended) and vote “yes” for change. It would be interesting to see how many of the Federal and State Governments’ major policy changes would stand up to the rigours of referenda.
