A CROSS-border meeting of local governments, councillors and politicians has taken place in Wallangarra to discuss strategic ties between the Southern Downs and Tenterfield Shire.
Among those in attendance were mayors, councillors and staff of the Southern Downs Regional Council and Tenterfield Shire Council. Also in attendance were Opposition Leader Lawrence Springborg, Lismore MP Thomas George and other local heads of government.
Southern Downs Regional Council mayor Peter Blundell said the meeting was an opportunity to strengthen the relationship between the two districts.
“I think the meeting provided a great opportunity for both local government areas to put in front of our respective State Members, and the government advisors, the issues that are pertinent to our shared region,” he said.
“We were able to highlight the need for, and encourage the Queensland Government representatives to consider a Cross Border Commissioner position in Queensland, and the Hon. Thomas George MP, Member for Lismore, certainly highlighted the fact that NSW didn’t gain much traction in these cross-border areas until a commissioner was appointed.
“It was pleasing to note comments from the NSW Cross Border Commissioner James McTavish that the MOU and strategic alliance between Southern Downs and Tenterfield is the most progressive and formalised partnership he’s seen.”
Tenterfield mayor Peter Petty said the relationship with SDRC would only get stronger.
“We have a unique agreement with Southern Downs Regional Council that can only get stronger the more we work together and also through our involvement with our respective state governments. In the end, this work is all for our communities which we all serve,” he said.
A joint Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the two councils in September 2013.
Among the topics of discussion were problems with employment and transportation of products to the Port of Brisbane, the challenges of recruiting and retaining a diversified workforce, daylight savings, the reduction of red tape across all levels of government, education and the effectiveness of government funding.
There were also a number of current problems identified including the cross-border relationship of rural emergency websites, disaster apps and increasing the effective flow of information to the community during disasters, tourism, employment and higher education opportunities.
