Growing the Community since 1876 AND WESTERN DISTRICTS ADVERTISER
Ph: (02) 6366 8017
THURSDAY 26 May 2022
$2.00 inc gst
Email: molongex@bigpond.net.au www.molongexpress.com.au
Bank Street Trees
Petition not accepted on technical grounds
Council resolves to further address Banks St trees and planning concerns
At its Tuesday meeting, Cabonne Council voted not to formally receive a petition from citizens concerning the proposed placement of trees in the centre of Bank Street. (see last week's Express). The petition contained 197 signatures and 6 supporting letters objecting to the planting of trees in Bank Street, Molong, which is a component of the Molong Town Centre Plan. While not tabling the petition due to technicalities (see box right) Council however confirmed that the issues will be addressed at the detailed design stage. In moving that the petition not be formally accepted Cr Peter Batten said that the issue had been plagued by many reported widespread misunderstandings - including that parallel parking would be introduced, the street would be closed and turned into a "mall' among others. Cr Batten said that there seemed to be a "lot of fiction over fact" and that there was no evidence that the petitioners had engaged with traffic design specialists [as Council had] before making assertions as to the viability of the proposals. Nevertheless Council will hold a workshop detailing the design approach in June. This will include elements raised in the petition itself. Further, Council staff will be arranging a trip to Inverell to inspect its main street upgrade, which is of a similar style to that which is being proposed for Bank Street. Councillors will be invited to attend. There will be an opportunity to provide further information to the community after this. A detailed response to the concerns raised in the petition will be brought to council at its June Meeting.
Andrew Gee holds Calare with increased margin
Two candidate preferred figures for Calare on Saturday night
SEE PAGE 4
Junior Soccer Wallas Rugby Union Pages 8, 9, 10
by Paul Mullins
If you want to send a valid citizens petition to your council it's best to study the rules. Cabonne, like all other councils (and Parliaments for that matter) have safeguards in place to ensure that formal petitions are the genuine voice of all the petitioners. They take them seriously. Which is why policies for petitions to local, state and federal governments contain minimum requirements for them to be accepted. These include • A provision for the acceptance of publication details by the signatories - that they are aware that their information will be published. • Name, address and signature of those people who support the petition. Address means address - not town. Cabonne Councillors, given that the petition did not disclose to signatories that their information will be shared, were provided copies of the petition and the letters individually and thus the petition and accompanying letters were not published in the council's agenda papers. A technicality perhaps - but its good to see the Council will act on the sentiments anyway even if they cannot publish them.
HISTORY OF CONSULTATION The draft Molong Town Centre Issues Paper was placed on public exhibition in early 2020. Feedback was used to brief an urban designer to assist with design workshops and the development of the Molong Town Centre Plan. Submissions to the issues paper were reported to council and uploaded to council’s website in April 2020. Following the completion of the discussion paper and public exhibition the process of developing concept designs was carried out. Council and consultant teams conducted a series of community consultation events in Molong on 24 - 25 August 2020. Drop in conversations were held over the two days in the kiosk on the main street and a community workshop was held at the Molong RSL Club. Both council and consultants also received follow up emails and phone calls to make comment about the town centre. A further round of consultation was carried out in Molong on 28 October 2020 at the kiosk on the main street and at the RSL when the Main Street Concept Designs were developed and put on public exhibition. The project has also been subject of numerous reports by local media and social media posts when the grant funding was announced, updates to Molong Advancement Group and as part of recent community consultation in relation to the development of the Community Strategic Plan where it was outlined that further detailed design process will be undertaken which will provide further information for the community and stakeholders.
U5 Condors Soccer Player of the Week Henry Welsh Molong Bulls
FRIDAY NIGHT FOOTY COMES TO MOLONG RUGBY LEAGUE UNDER LIGHTS
Molong Bulls Vs Bathurst CSU This Friday, 27 May 2022 Molong Recreation Ground
League Tag - 6pm First Grade - 7:15pm Gates open at 5pm - No admission before 5pm.
Both gates will be open with plenty of parking inside and around the ground. Full bar and canteen will be operating, with plenty of hot food and drinks available.
Adults $6 Pensioners $3 Under 16 FREE
Hope to see you all there as Molong Bulls make history with the first ever night games under the new lights.
Thank you to everyone who has helped to attain this wonderful new asset for our community, especially our Federal & State Government, Cabonne Council, Molong Advancement Group and the many local sporting organisations who supported it. The new lights will open up many opportunities for Dr Ross Memorial Recreation Ground. A very big thank you to Cabonne Roos for allowing us the use of the ground on what would normally be their training night.
Join us back at The Telegraph Hotel, Molong after the game!