STEP UP: Mayor John Davis.
ORANGE mayor John Davis says he wants ratepayers to join one of Orange City Council’s 21 community committees and have say on the “tough decisions” which affect the city.
“The council doesn’t have the monopoly on expertise,” Cr Davis said.
“There are 12 good thinkers around the table at council meetings and there’s a wealth of professional knowledge among the council staff, but I continue to be surprised by the insights and personal experience that lives here in the Orange community.”
Cr Davis said solving problems and making Orange a better community can only happen if council can tap into the broader community, and the community committee structure was a way of doing that.
“In the end it’s still up to the city council to listen to what the committees tell us should happen and then make the tough decisions about managing the ratepayers’ money, but we want to get the best advice we can,” he said.
“If local residents have got a particular interest or background with the topic of their committee, that will help sustain their interest as a volunteer, and let them make a valuable contribution.”
Residents can pick up expressions of interest forms from the Civic Centre or download them from the council website: www.orange.nsw.gov.au
More information about the work of each of the committees is also available online by clicking the community committees button on the council home page.
Forms should be submitted by November 21.
Committees include: environmental sustainability, companion animals, Orange Botanic Gardens working party, sister cities working party, tidy towns working party, economic cluster groups, infill policy working party, Orange and Cabonne road safety working party, Macquarie pipeline consultative, ageing community, Orange access advisory, cultural heritage, sports and recreation, safety and crime prevention, Australia Day working party, NAIDOC week working party, Spring Hill working party, Lucknow working party, bicycling community reference group, integrated cultural facility reference group, World War I centenary working party.
tracey.prisk@fairfaxmedia.com.au