The costly renovations to the two buildings in Cootamundra must have raised some level of curiosity with the six councillors from Cootamundra.

Well, Geoff, there is also the councillors from Gundagai, but more important that one of the three is the mayor for the new Council. Being the mayor, he has his finger on the button all the time, so one must ask why didn’t he push that button?

Under the merger, Cootamundra has six Councillors and Gundagai has three. So Geoff, don’t just put rubbish on the six from Cootamundra, the three from Gundagai are part of the team.

As for the GM signing off on the Coolac servo, under the Local Government Act, any GM has the delegated authority to sign off on certain things, when he can’t get in touch with the mayor.

In all the correspondence you have written to the editor over the past 12 months or so not once have you said what the new council has done for Gundagai and villages. 

I would just like to clarify some concerns raised by some members of the public regarding the feed lot on Jugiong Road.

Council had an extraordinary meeting on December 19 to finalise Australia Day celebrations with a couple of other items of urgency on the agenda, one being the feed lot DA on Jugiong Road.

The applicant has a farm business and his property consists of land zoned R1 and some R4.

The legislation Act does not permit intensive agriculture in R4 zoning. Intensive activities include piggeries, feed lots etc.

The applicant has been working with council to find a satisfactory solution. Whilst the region is drought declared under the legislation, he is permitted to operate.

The applicant had submitted a DA to relocate his feed lot to land zoned R1 as required. Council staff have looked at the proposed site and felt that it would be better suited, for runoff and odour control, if it was moved slightly, which will be partly on R4 land.

It was planning staff’s recommendation that council apply to rezone this area to make the DA compliant. This was to ensure the best outcome for all.

There are also strict conditions that apply to intensive agriculture operations around environmental impact, which council has to enforce compliance.

Finally, farmers have the right to farm, and the reality is if you choose to live out of town on acreage, you are likely to have a farm as a neighbour, which can mean noise, dust and odour at times. Council will ensure that these issues are dealt with if there are breaches to the legislation.

Council voted unanimously in favour of the recommendation put by our planning and development staff, and is confident that the new DA and location will meet all requirements.

Council is not about to take away a family’s livelihood and is working for the betterment of the community as a whole.

I can assure all citizens you have a competent council, wonderful staff who work very hard, and councillors who are ready to listen to any concerns and issues and prepared to find satisfactory resolutions.