Mount Gambier residents will regain their voice with the re-establishment of the Mount Gambier Resident and Ratepayers Association.
The re-establishment of the association was driven by former deputy mayor and long serving councillor Penny Richardson.
A meeting was held on Monday at the Mount Gambier RSL, which Ms Richardson said was a small but very productive meeting.
“It gave the space for people to talk about what their issues were and how they would like to see an association go forward and how they would like to see it operate,” Ms Richardson said.
“There was a great desire for a ratepayers and residents association to move forward in a conciliatory manner, building bridges with council and other levels of government and with the community.”
Ms Richardson said a variety of issues were raised at the meeting.
“There was a thread going through the discussion, and that talked about that council could communicate more with the community in a way that engages the community,” she said.
“There was discussion around that decisions are made at council before we even really know about the issues they are considering.
“So that thread was through everybody’s input, and a lack of understanding on behalf of the community of the confidentiality clauses that council uses on assumingly many, many occasions,” she said.
Ms Richardson said specific issues raised included public transport, the state of some gardens, and late rubbish bin collection, however people were aware council had encountered issues with the trucks breaking down.
“There was (also) a great fear about the future for ratepayers and the humongous debt that Wulanda seems to have created,” Ms Richardson said.
“There is a fear that rates will be put up, there is a fear that we are not going to be able to fund other activities because of the crippling debt and there was discussion around the transparency regarding decisions made with Wulanda.”
Ms Richardson said a Mount Gambier Resident and Ratepayers Association Annual General Meeting would be held in a few weeks.
“We have the public officer from the previous ratepayers association and he will be able to call that meeting,” she said.
“I have been in touch with the Office of Business and Consumer Affairs and they will assist us to get it re-established.”
Ms Richardson said there was also discussion there seemed to be apathy in both council and the community.
“This will be a way to build bridges and to communicate to both parties in ways they understand,” she said.
“It will be trying to create more interest in what is happening at council within the community, build networks so we have good channels of communication to and from the ratepayer’s association.
“We also talked about that nearby towns seem to have a better community spirit, and I do not know whether that is because Mount Gambier is so much bigger than the other community towns, and there was a lot of talk about a disconnect between council and they are talking about the elected members and the staff and the general community.
“They also talked about the local politicians who they believe have a great connection with the community.”
Ms Richardson said she was passionate about re-establishing the association because she observed what she believed was a deterioration of communication between the council and the community.
“And because of the rumours that circulate within the community that are sometimes not based on fact and they create fear and a negative attitude in the community,” she said.
“Having the ratepayers association is going to give us a vehicle to inform more people in the community of what is actually correct and to get a wider range of community opinion to present to council to state and local and federal government.
“It is not just about council; it is about building a better community for the whole of Mount Gambier.
“We really want to have a team approach, so it is not one or two people pushing their own barrows for the group, that it is a genuine representative of community aspirations and concerns.”
