President’s Message
Verge Challenge
The Shire of Northam are working hard in an attempt to keep weeds on verges in the Shire under control. This is a significant challenge with over 1600kms of verge under the care of the Council. It is with this in mind that we are asking for your help. Verges in front of your home play an important part of presenting a positive image for Shire of Northam. It is simply not practical for the Council to get to each and every verge and keep it weed free. It would be a significant assistance if property owners and occupiers could take responsibility for their individual verge and keep it neat and tidy.
Rural Community Meetings
It was with great pleasure that we held our first rural community meeting for some time last week at Grass Valley. I would personally like to thank those who took the time to attend and provide feedback. Perhaps the most common theme coming from this meeting was a perception that the Shire of Northam is not adequately addressing issues within the rural community. I know the Council is determined to change this perception and working hard to ensure that all ratepayers are provided with the very best achievable services and facilities.
I would like to offer an observation however to hopefully satisfy some in the rural communities who don’t feel the Council are paying enough attention to rural and gravel roads. The Shire in its current budget has allocated around $3.5m to road construction or reconstruction projects. Of this $3.5m approximately 83% is being spent outside of the Northam Town site. This highlights the considerable commitment Council has to our rural roads.
Upcoming Council Elections
With the upcoming Council election I would strongly encourage people in the community to exercise their democratic right and cast a vote for who they would like to see represent them. The role of the Council is being increasingly onerous and important and as such you need to ensure you have elected members in place who you believe will best represent your views and interests. As a ratepayer you will receive a voting slip in the mail shortly, it will take around 2 minutes to complete, costs nothing but can have a huge impact.
Retiring Councillors
We have a two Elected Members who will not be seeking re-election in the upcoming Elections. Cr Kathy Saunders from the East Ward and Cr Bert Llewellyn from the West Ward. Both have made a significant contribution to the Shire of Northam Community and I would like to extend my thanks and best wishes.
Bulk Junk Collection
The Shire will be placing skip bins in central locations in the following localities to assist residents with the disposal of large junk items. Items such as paints, oils, asbestos, household hazardous waste and tyres must not be placed in the bins. The following program is currently scheduled with further collections planned in early 2016.
Development Services
Bakers Hill High Speed NBN
Hundreds of Telstra customers in areas surrounding Bakers Hill including Clackline can now connect to the National Broadband Network (NBN) using speedy fixed wireless technology.
Telstra advices there are about 700 homes and businesses surrounding Bakers Hill that were now eligible to connect to fixed wireless services. Telstra staff can assist locals to get connected and reap the benefits and any questions can be directed to the team at the Midlands Gate Shopping Centre store.
Election Notice
The Shire of Northam is holding an election by postal vote on Saturday, 17 October 2015 to fill vacancies in the offices of Councillors as listed below:
West Ward - 1 Councillor
DAVIDSON, Christopher
SEAGRIM, Janette
Central Ward - 1 Councillor
WILLIAMS, Julie
MENCSHELYI, Attila
East Ward - 1 Councillor
ANTONIO, Chris
I’ANSON, Steven
Town Ward - 2 Councillors
TINETTI, Rob
PROUD, John
STURMAN, Gerald
ELECTION PACKAGES will be sent to all electors on the local government electoral roll where there is an election in their electorate.
REPLACEMENT PACKAGES can be obtained from the Shire of Northam prior to election day and from 8.00am to 6.00pm on election day if the package is not received or should any papers be missing.
POST YOUR VOTE EARLY Completed postal voting packages must reach the Returning Officer by 6.00pm on election day, Saturday, 17 October 2015.
YOU MAY HAND DELIVER YOUR PACKAGE to an electoral officer at the Shire of Northam during business hours before election day or at the polling place between 8.00am and 6.00pm on election day.
CHIEF POLLING PLACE:
Shire of Northam 395 Fitzgerald Street NORTHAM.
THE COUNT OF VOTES will commence at 6.00pm at the Chief Polling Place listed above.
Wundowie Skate Park
The Wundowie Skate Park extension is nearing completion. The Skate Park extension design was formulated as a result of several meetings within the Wundowie Community to ascertain the needs and aspirations of the community. The new facility will incorporate the existing Spine Ramp into the new design and will cater for a number of users and different disciplines at the same time.
The Shire of Northam has been fortunate in receiving funding support for the project from Department of Sport and Recreation through its Community Sport & recreation Facilities Fund (CSRFF) and Lotterywest. Whilst this project has taken awhile to commence, the construction of the new improved skate park is due for completion in late September. An official launch of the park will be scheduled shortly after it is finished.
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