Crown land, the future of rail, waste management and state grants were high on the agenda when the Local Government NSW Conference was held in Albury this week.
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Lithgow City Council supported a motion on the future funding of maintenance for Crown Lands and Roads, which will see the Association lobby the State Government for more support.
The concern was that Crown Lands and roads could be turned over to council for upkeep, as had occurred in the case of Hughes Lane in Marrangaroo, with insufficient financial support for their upkeep.
The motion asked for the State government to address the inadequate funding provided to comply with new Crown Land management planning requirements and the impact of further cost shifting.
The motion was wholeheartedly endorsed by the conference delegates.
The Local Government NSW Conference is the annual policy making event for NSW Councils.
“The annual Local Government conference gives councillors the opportunity to learn and bring back ideas that could potentially improve our own Lithgow Local Government Area well into the future,” Cr Coleman said.
Lithgow deputy mayor Wayne McAndrew said he would like to see lobbying on key motions begin very quickly “seeing as we’ve got two elections coming in 2019”.
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While Cr McAndrew said he was generally satisfied with the areas covered by the meeting, he would have liked to see more discussion on job creation for rural NSW.
Cr Steve Ring and Lithgow City Council’s chief finance officer Ross Gurney met with Small Business Commissioner Robyn Hobbs OAM to discuss ways in which the Commission team could work with council and directly with business owners and operators in coming months to advise and assist small businesses in the Lithgow LGA to thrive and grow.
Cr McAndrew spoke against a motion for councils to take on a “policing” role in local clubs regarding poker machines.
He said, in light of the fact that so much gambling was now carried out online, it required a broader approach than simply looking at the role of clubs.
“From a regional point of view, clubs do a lot of good work in our local communities,” he said.
