From Hilltops Council – Brian Ingram

A very pleasing announcement came through on Monday that the Cowra Retirement Village plans to recommission the former St Lawrence Residential Aged Care Facility in Harden.

The board of the Cowra Retirement Village saw this as a fantastic opportunity to complement its existing business and expertise in the aged care industry. Due diligence to determine feasibility still needs to be undertaken, however this is a great step towards exciting progress for the community. The ongoing provision of sustainable and high quality aged care services within the region is a priority of the community, as was evident at the public meeting held at the Mechanics Institute earlier this year.

This announcement is the culmination of months of behind the scenes negotiations that have now come to fruition and I congratulate all involved. I will keep the community informed of further progress.

It is always great to see lots of activity across the region. Young welcomed the Sunrise crew on Saturday, this was a fantastic opportunity to showcase the region to a national television audience.

Congratulations to Robert and the team at Donges IGA, who were commended on their contribution to the community. This week, the Young Bowling Club are celebrating their centenary with a number of events that are bringing visitors to town. There is also a Young Turf Club Meeting on Saturday at Toompang Racecourse with a record 102 race nominations received.

This week Councillors are attending a budget workshop. This is an important step in the process of setting the budget for the next financial year. Staff have been working on the draft budget and it will be presented to Councillors at the workshop. This will provide Councillors with the opportunity to allocate funds and set priorities for the year ahead and beyond. I note that there has been some misinformation broadcast to the community this week regarding Council’s borrowings. For clarification, our borrowings total just over $19 million, of this, just under $13 million relates to water and sewer.

The General Manager and myself are meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack on Wednesday. I am looking forward to discussing funding and specifically financial assistance available to attract and retain doctors to rural areas. Next week, I am looking forward to attending the Boorowa Business Chamber meeting following an invitation extended by the Chamber to discuss a number of Council related matters.

Finally, I would like to give a shout out to Inspector Jacob Reeves and his team of police who have been working tirelessly across the region on several operations and initiatives to improve the safety of the Hilltops community. Well done to all involved.

__– Brian Ingram __

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• Local Council