Members of the outgoing Yass Valley Council at the sod-turning ceremony for the Crago Mill site in June this year: Kim Turner, Mike Reid, Mayor Allan McGrath, Kristin Butler, Jasmin Jones, Cayla Pothan and Jim Abbey. Photos: Sally Hopman.
Whoever is elected to the Yass Valley Council (YVC) after the 14 September local government elections will face a slew of issues head-on, ranging from “concern” shown by the NSW Office of Local Government about the council’s financial status to a $50 million development housing new council chambers.
The town’s long-running water saga, where residents often find brown, smelly water coming from their taps, is also tipped to be high on the electoral agenda along with the current pace of development in the historic Southern Tablelands community.
Communities within the Yass Valley, about 50 km from the nation’s capital, include Yass township, Binalong, Bowning, Gundaroo, Murrumbateman, Sutton and Wallaroo. All are major tourist regions, many boasting award-winning vineyards and restaurants that attract people from the ACT and beyond.
More Canberrans opting for a tree change and moving to the Yass Valley has put a strain on the town’s infrastructure and services, which the YVC is finding difficult to maintain.
The town’s water supply, for example, has been the subject of complaints for more than a decade with residents reporting, at times, putrid water coming from their taps. The problem has been blamed on an ageing water-filtration system infrastructure, compounded by a rapid increase in population.
Although significant funding has been spent trying to rectify the problem, only partial success has been reported, with the situation so bad earlier this year that the YVC advised residents to boil town water before use. This advice was in place for about two weeks.
More than $17 million has already been spent on the filtration system, but experts agree that nothing short of a total replacement will rectify the situation – at a cost of about $35 million.
Voter disquiet has also been expressed at the YVC decision to borrow $50 million to build a new council administration centre along with a library and other community facilities adjacent to the historic Crago Mill in the centre of town.
Concern was raised that money borrowed for the new council precinct would be better spent on new water-treatment works for the town. Some residents went further, threatening to boycott their water bills until the situation improved.
Yass Valley residents were advised to boil their water back in February.
It is understood that the Office of Local Government (OLG), which has been working with the YVC to create a long-term sustainable financial plan, had a degree of concern with the council – it was “alert” but not “alarmed”.
The OLG was reported as saying it expected the new council to deliver what its counterpart had planned, rather than take on new projects.
Twelve candidates are vying for seats on the council in the upcoming local government elections.
Two have nominated in Group A as members of the Greens: Adrian Cameron (Yass) and Tanya Cullen (Binalong).
Ten have nominated as independents, including former councillor and mayor Allan McGrath (Yass), former deputy mayor Cayla Pothan (Yass), former councillor Cecil Burgess OAM (Gundaroo), former councillor Jasmin Jones (Yass), David Rothwell (Good Hope), Matthew Stadtmiller (Murrumbateman), David Carter (Yass), Alvaro Cherry (Murrumbateman), Kristin Butler (Yass) and Fleur Flanery (Yass).
Former Yass councillors Jim Abbey, Kim Turner and Mike Reid are not seeking re-election.
Loading ...
