Plenty of hot topics at Wee Waa community barbecue

Narrabri Shire Council hosted a community barbecue in Wee Waa on Tuesday, providing a free and informal event for residents to meet council staff, discuss local issues and plans for the area.

“It’s a great turnout,” NSC mayor Ron Campbell told The Courier.

“They’re always eager to talk council business.”

Cr Campbell said the hot topics of conversation were “roads, rubbish and rates”.

“There’s a great roll-up of people and we’ve got our directors here; we’ve got all the managers.

“So, plenty of opportunity to talk to people if you’ve got an issue around town.”

Representatives from several council departments attended the Dangar Park event including, water, waste, compliance, roads, planning, customer service, and parks and gardens.

Crs John Clements, Darrell Tiemens and Brett Dickinson were also at the community barbecue.

As recently reported by The Courier, NSC has secured a grant of $2,554,705 for the proposed Wee Waa Community and Business Hub, through the Resources for Regions fund, with a consultation process set to take place about the future utilisation of the town’s old National Australian Bank building and War Memorial area.

Cr Campbell said different ideas regarding the hub were raised at the barbecue, but residents also wanted to chat to council staff about a range of other issues.

“We’ve got our planning people here, so if you’ve got a planning problem or if you’re building a new house or if you’ve got a boundary issue or any sort of planning issue.

“There’s a new school being built in Wee Waa, there’s many issues in and around that from residents, not that that’s our issue but we can facilitate conversations.

“Obviously there are road issues and we’re announcing a few circumstances in and around roads and heavy vehicle movements.

“So, there’s a lot of conversation about a lot of different things.

“Curb and guttering and your normal things that people want to talk about, and our shared pathways and things like that, that we’ve got more coming to Wee Waa as well.”

Cr Campbell said engaging with residents was a priority for council.

“It’s something we’ve been driving hard: communication.

“Whether that be with these community consultation barbecues or whether that be when we’re grading a road – talk to the farmers and get some inside information from them.

“Let them know what we’re up to.

“Anything we do, communication is key, and communication can solve a lot of problems.

“If we go all in with machinery everywhere and we haven’t communicated with people, it’s a bad look for council.

“And again, it helps ratepayers to be able to put their two bobs worth in with whatever we are doing.

“So, I’m just a big one on communicating before we do anything – communicate with people.

“I’m driving it and driving it and driving it, and we’re slowly getting better and better at it.”

A board on display at the event stated planned projects for Wee Waa 2023/24 including: investigate and complete the upgrade of the splash park, cemetery amenities block, street tree strategy and program; Wee Waa SR29 Yarrie Lake Road to SR127 Pilliga Road upgrade freight route and Doreen Lane rehabilitation; upgrade pool facilities, investigate keyless entry into aquatic centre, investigate opportunities for sport and recreation activities and aquatic centre; sewer mains – replacement, sewer treatment plant – works augmentation and hydrology study; community and business hub workshops (old NAB building) and concept plan for War Memorial and surrounding area; upgrades to transfer station including new fence, electric gate system and cameras.

As well as chatting with council staff, attendees were treated to a delicious free barbecue thanks to Rotary and scrumptious slices and drinks provided by the Wee Waa Public School P and C committee.

Member for Barwon Roy Butler also attended the barbecue ahead of this weekend’s state election.

“Oh look, it’s incredible the amount of support that we’re getting across the electorate,” Mr Butler said when asked how he was feeling ahead of Saturday’s poll.

“A lot of volunteers, a lot of people who have volunteered their vehicles, their houses, their businesses, their bodies to help promote, which is fantastic. It’s a huge electorate.

“I think that my opposition probably thought not having a branch structure would mean that we wouldn’t have the support we need but I’ve probably got more support from volunteers and other assistants in 2023 than I had in 2019 when I was with a party.”

Mr Butler resigned from the Shooters, Farmers and Fishers party in December 2022 after a fallout in relation to a comment made by the party’s leader, and he announced he would stand as an independent candidate at the state election.

In the NSW Legislative Council, SFF party leader Robert Borsak said former party member Helen Dalton, the Member for Murray, should have been “clocked”.

Barwon is the largest electorate in NSW, covering almost 44 per cent of the state. Before Mr Butler’s victory in 2019, the electorate was considered a safe National Party seat.

Candidates contesting the seat of Barwon at the state election on March 25 are, in drawn ballot order, Joshua Roberts-Garnsey (Australian Labor Party), Roy Butler (independent), Annette Turner (The Nationals), Paul Britton (Shooters, Farmers and Fishers), Thomas McBride (Public Education Party), Stuart Howe (independent), Pat Schultz (The Greens) and Ben Hartley (Legalise Cannabis Party).

When asked by The Courier if he was feeling confident about his chances on election day, Mr Butler responded: “Oh look, I don’t think you can ever be confident. I think you’ve got to drive every kilometre, and knock every door, and show up at everything you can. And that’s what we’ll do, right through until election day. And then, on election day, I’ll stand out at pre-poll.

And I think that level of effort and commitment is what people want to see.”

Mr Butler said he had a good relationship with the major political parties.

“The electorate is getting the attention,” he said.

“I want to see that continue.”

Mr Butler said crime was currently the most common issue raised by Wee Waa residents.

“So, in Wee Waa at the moment the hot topic is crime,” he said.

“People are not feeling safe in their homes, and that’s not acceptable, obviously.

“And that’s why I’ve spoken to both Superintendent Bruce Grassick and also the Region Commander Brett Greentree about some additional resources coming into Wee Waa.

“I’ve worked with both those men over the last, well, 10 years when I was with the police, so they know me.

“They’re more than happy to work in and help – and that’s good.

“They want to do the right thing by the community, but we’ve also got to try and get those other agencies, like Department of Communities and Justice, doing the preventative things so that we don’t end up needing the police to respond to a break and enter.”

Oxley Police District Superintendent Bruce Grassick and Sergeant Tracey Freeman attended the Wee Waa and District Chamber of Commerce meeting last week.

A large number of chamber members were in attendance at the meeting, and they were able to take part in an open question and answer session with the police officers, who listened to the serious community concerns raised during the session.

Superintendent Grassick said there were plans underway for a PCYC (Police Citizens Youth Club) outreach in Wee Waa, with the program set to be run out of an existing location that’s yet to be decided.

Through police and community partnerships, PCYC NSW aims to engage with, and positively influence youth members through mainstream sport, recreation, education,
leadership and cultural programs.

In addition, the PCYC team works with at-risk youth to break the cycle of disadvantage through crime prevention, vocational education, youth capacity building and social responsibility programs.

“I spoke to Bruce about that, I also spoke to Bruce about getting some RES out here,” said Mr Butler.

“RES, Region Enforcement Squad.

“So it’s a combination of things – it’s about enforcement and enforcing law but also about prevention, and making sure that there’s social programs for kids that try and get them on a different path, basically.”

Regarding plans for a PCYC outreach program in Wee Waa, Cr Campbell said: “There is a great facility at Walgett, but it’s probably a great place to put a PCYC here in Wee Waa.

“And I’d support it a hundred percent if that’s what they wanted to do.

“So, I think that’s a positive thing. “