YEARS OF DROUGHT in NSW causing water shortages, fires igniting in inaccessible country and the overwhelming scale of recent bushfires all contributed to the toll on people and nature in the Queanbeyan-Palerang local government area (QPRC). This is the assessment of a submission QPRC staff prepared for the NSW government’s bushfire
Author: QPRC Council Watch
Cost of drought and bushfires biting hard, Braidwood water carting
Water recycling anyone? BUYING AND CARTING drinking water to Braidwood will cost around $10,000 a day, according to Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council (QPRC) which says the NSW Government is yet to confirm it will help foot the bill. Braidwood is just one of more than 55 townships in Australia, mostly in NSW, reported
Braidwood’s river drying up, water restrictions tighten
BRAIDWOOD MAY NEED to rely on water from Canberra being trucked in as the historic town’s own water source, the Shoalhaven River, continues to dry up. A report to QPRC’s final meeting for 2019 (18 December) says discussions are underway between the council and Icon Water (Canberra’s water supply agency) to
Queanbeyan Palerang Council: what’s the reason for delaying climate action agenda?
Led by a Liberal/National council majority, QPRC residents and ratepayers are being deprived of regional response to climate change impacts, called an emergency by many councils now. Responsible emission reduction in energy, transport and planning policies are also stalled after a small start. Other councils in NSW and elsewhere are showing
Local council meetings, petitions and you — coming up
More hoops to having a say, thanks Coalition government OPPORTUNITIES TO PARTICIPATE in local council meetings will be curtailed under a proposed new meeting code of practice the NSW government is imposing effective from 14 June 2019. The changes arise from amendments to the Local Government Act in August 2016. QPRC
Major parties vie for Jerra ‘road vote’ — public transport ignored (again)
Queanbeyan-Palerang council December news roundup
QPRC borrows millions, construction runoff pollutes river, council satisfaction — what got tick and what didn’t. Council to borrow $50 million Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council (QPRC) is seeking approval from the NSW Government to borrow $50.4 million from Treasury, with an estimated interest bill of $22 million. The loan would be drawn down
Who wins from QPRC downtown land sales agreement?
Closed-door decisions beg question: what’s in it for ratepayers, existing businesses? TWO YEARS AFTER QPRC interim Administrator Tim Overall approved an exclusive in-principle agreement to sell multiple council sites to a single consortium without a public tender, details are finally starting to emerge about the arrangements, raising questions about who the
Finding: Administrator overstepped in land sales approval
QUEANBEYAN-PALERANG MAYOR Tim Overall breached the Local Government Code of Conduct when he considered an in-principle agreement to sell multiple blocks of council land to a consortium of developers in 2016, according to a finding of the NSW Office of Local Government (OLG). The OLG made the finding in response to
First CBD redevelopment project bypasses ratepayer scrutiny
THE FIRST SALE and redevelopment of QPRC land in the Queanbeyan CBD under a confidential agreement will bypass council’s inhouse approval process. The project is for a serviced apartment hotel, restaurant/café and residential townhouses. It will be undertaken over three stages. Details, including size and scale, are limited. Councillors approved the sale