Pitt says Govt won't backtrack on council mergers
Posted
Queensland Local Government Minister Warren Pitt says the Government's policy on council amalgamations is not going to change.
About 500 angry residents held a meeting at Mossman, in the state's far north on Tuesday night, calling for the former Douglas Shire to break away from its forced merger with Cairns.
It was suggested a community advisory board be set up to improve communication between the Cairns Regional Council and the community.
Mr Pitt says he welcomes the idea, but is warning residents that there will not be any changes to the council's structure.
"I'm all in favour of any democratic process that involves ratepayers and to have a community advisory board or committee is a good idea," he said.
"But I would caution that if the sole purpose of this advisory board is to embark on a process of de-amalgamation, it's just not going to happen and people basically are wasting their time because they're missing the opportunity to influence how the council operates."
The former Douglas Shire is now part of the newly formed Cairns Regional Council and Mossman residents say they are facing higher rates, water charges and other fees.
The Minister warned residents that they should not force their local councillor into a corner.
Mr Pitt says he has a lot of respect for Division 10 councillor Julia Leu.
"I think she's been placed between a rock and a hard place in this whole process," he said.
"She has a responsibility as a regional councillor to think of the whole region, but she's also got responsibilities to her division.
"But for people to put her in a position where they're expecting her to champion something that's just not going to occur - de-amalgamation - that's actually distracting her from the main job that she's been elected to do."
