Next Tuesday evening, the spotlight will be back on Wee Waa as our community comes together once again to push for proper hospital services. The town meeting will be held at Wee Waa Public School at 5.15pm, and I strongly encourage everyone to attend.
Bring your friends, your neighbours, your questions, and your appetite with the Lions Club of Wee Waa, with the support of the Rotaract Club of Wee Waa, is generously providing a free barbecue.
The meeting will be respectful in tone but firm in its purpose.
We will hear from a range of speakers including politicians from both the government and opposition, community leaders, young people, local families, and those running major businesses in our region.
There will be a Q&A session, allowing the public to seek answers about the future of the Wee Waa Hospital in light of the recent report tabled from the Inquiry.
Many members of the Save Our Wee Waa Hospital Committee have spent the past few weeks combing through the report line by line.
They have raised serious concerns that there is still no commitment to reopen the emergency department, no assurance of a 24/7 doctor on-call, and no plan to use all of the 18 currently empty inpatient beds.
These are not just operational oversights but they go to the heart of what makes a functioning hospital in a remote town like ours.
The Minister for Regional Health, Mr Ryan Park, has been invited to attend along with the Shadow Ministers and our local member Roy Butler.
Regardless of who is in government, our message will remain the same: this is a matter of basic equity for rural NSW.
We need our hospital operating, not just as a day clinic, but as a properly resourced, round-the-clock healthcare facility for the district it serves.
In other news, I recently met with Minister Rose Jackson alongside representatives from Walgett and Gunnedah Shires to raise our collective concerns about water security for our region.
As you may have read, the state government is currently investigating ways to bolster water security for Tamworth during drought, including options that would draw water from Keepit and Split Rock Dams.
While we support Tamworth’s efforts to secure its future supply, it cannot come at the cost of communities further inland (such as those in Gunnedah, Narrabri, and Walgett Shires) nor at the expense of our agricultural or mining productivity.
The government’s current framing around “critical human needs” must include more than just drinking water and basic hygiene — it must also account for the essential community uses and services that sustain our towns and economies.
Minister Jackson has committed to pushing for stronger consultation with regional communities as this proposal moves forward.
We hope the business case properly reflects the concerns of local government and the needs of our towns, villages, and industries.
Significant infrastructure projects are also advancing across the shire, including the sealing works on Harparary Road, kerb and gutter upgrades in Selina and Nandewar Streets, and the reopening of Lake Circuit after an extensive rebuild.
Heavy patching works have resumed on the Kamilaroi Highway near Boggabri, and the Tullamullen Bridge upgrade reached a key milestone this week with traffic now switched to the new alignment.
In Wee Waa, residents may notice activity on the water infrastructure front, with work starting on the bulk water filling station and water meter replacement program.
Across Narrabri, the sewer maintenance works continue, along with important renewals of water mains and the raising of buried meters to improve future access and servicing.
Parks works are also progressing, with path and seating installations completed at Dangar Park.
Lastly, expressions of interest are also closing this Thursday for our Floodplain Risk Management Advisory Committee.
We are looking for three new community members with a passion for local flood issues and knowledge of how water moves across our land.
This is not just about sandbags and levees — it is about planning for our future with clear eyes and smart thinking. If that sounds like you, I hope you will consider putting your name forward.
And finally, our Draft Code of Meeting Practice remains on public exhibition until tomorrow.
It includes a change to live streaming protocols, with public forums to be included in the recorded council meeting livestream.
If you would like to have your say, now is the time.
I hope to see many of you at the Wee Waa town meeting next Tuesday.
Together, we can keep this conversation alive and moving in the right direction.
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