The Slade community group (Slade Lives Again – Development for Everyone) would like to make the following comments.
Investment in heritage, in the story of a shared experience, in the ideal of community, in a sense of belonging and identity, in ownership and connectedness, are valid, especially as we endeavour to manage the amalgamation process and form closer bonds across greater distances.
Healthy, vibrant communities are developed by and for people, supported by appropriate administrative and financial processes. Such processes are not an end in themselves.
Our vision for Slade addresses the human objectives without neglecting the realities of economic need that underpin it. Indeed, some ratepayers clearly feel they are already getting a return on their investment through their regular use of the campus facilities. Of course we recognise the need for good roads without potholes, but we would also like to be clear about where they are leading us.
We therefore aim to be part of the development of a long-term inspirational vision for the shire, which includes the Slade Campus as an integral component of our educational, cultural, social and economic future. The issue is not a choice between either Slade or roads, but acknowledging that both have an important place in the life of our community.
Ian Perkins,
Slade Lives Again – Development
for Everyone president
