Wellington deserves the same respect as Dubbo
WELLINGTON people are nervous about the upcoming Dubbo Regional Council elections on September 9, fearing that they will be under-represented in the newly-amalgamated Local Government Area.
That’s the message from well-respected local businessman Barry Jeffery who spoke frankly about the mood in town, saying that residents were worried about what the future holds – particularly when only two candidates from 10 representatives elected can be from Wellington.
“The mood in the business community is a little bit disappointed,” Mr Jeffery said.
“I don’t feel we have enough representatives on Dubbo Regional Council. To tell the truth, I don’t think two (representatives) is enough for the size of the area and the revenue this area creates.
“And I think that there are too many wards. People are not used to having a small group of candidates.
Mr Jeffery believes that three wards with three elected representatives in each would have been a more even distribution.
“Two wards in Dubbo and one in Wellington would have been fairer.”
Describing the current ward system as faulty, Mr Jeffery also said it has been ‘left open for manipulation.’
Given that Wellington has now been swallowed up by the larger Council area since the neighbouring LGAS merged in May last year, Mr Jeffery hopes the town and its needs don’t get forgotten.
“I hope it doesn’t happen but I can just see us being left behind because there’s only two people having a say.”
When it comes to future planning and economic development of the region, Mr Jeffery hopes for equality.
“I’d like to see Wellington businesses treated with the same respect as Dubbo in regard to Development Applications.”
With the township and villages only making up one out of the five ward system which is dominated by the urban centre of Dubbo, Mr Jeffery said it does put Wellington and surrounds at a disadvantage.
“It appears that Wellington is just a suburb of Dubbo – or a poorer cousin. I feel that with only two representatives, we can’t get more.”
As one of the opponents of the Wellington-dubbo amalgamation, Mr Jeffery believes that it has been somewhat detrimental for townspeople.
“I fought hard against the amalgamation,” he said.
“I know there will be job losses (at a local level). I just hope the new Dubbo Regional Council has enough common sense to keep the Wellington Depot.
“We need to keep as many outdoor staff as we can. Wellington doesn’t need any job losses.”
As a member of the Wellington Business Chamber, Mr Jeffery has already had dealings with some of the staff at Dubbo Regional Council.
“We found them to be very approachable, very professional, and concerned about the physical impacts on Wellington. I just hope that the new Council will have the same concerns and thoughtfulness.” Almost all of the Wellington candidates have previously been councillors with a couple of new faces among the more experienced candidates. Mr Jeffery would have liked to be involved too – but with his own business at Twin Rivers Printing, a second job as a school bus driver and his Chamber commitments, there wasn’t much time available for a new role.
“I would have liked to see more newbies throw their hat into the ring. I would have liked to nominate as well but felt that I didn’t have the time to focus on being a councillor if I was elected.”
“Ultimately, you need two people with a strong voice to make Wellington, Mumbil, Stuart Town, Euchareena and all the other villages put their point of view across as strong as they can. We are a small voting population in a large area so it’s important that we get proper representatives that will stand up for the town.”