Gunnedah residents are seeking support for a vote of no confidence in Gunnedah Shire Council following the move to make part of Chandos Street one way.
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About 180 people attended a peaceful protest at Chandos Street yesterday morning, where they sought answers from Mayor Owen Hasler and council general manager Eric Groth.
The protest has been followed by a swell of social media-fuelled moves against the council, with a call for letters stating no confidence, a new petition, a plea for residents to attend the next council meeting, a new Facebook site and a plethora of unhappy posts.
rge number of residents from north of Cohens Bridge, who said making Chandos Street one way between Conadilly and Little Conadilly streets would remove direct access into town and create traffic and safety issues.
Cr Hasler and Mr Groth held a meeting with Kelvin residents and those from north of Cohens Bridge after the protest.
Cr Hasler said the decision had been made as part of the relocation of the Visitor Information Centre and work would go ahead.
He said the one-way move had been clearly included in the Jenny Rand & Associates report as part of the option to relocate the Visitor Information Centre (VIC) to the Civic. That report had been publicly available and the VIC issue had been open to public consultation.
“We heard many submissions and gave people several months,” Cr Hasler told the crowd. “This issue was not raised.”
He said as well as being included in the report, the possibility of making Chandos Street a mall or one way had been included in the Open Space Strategy adopted by council in 2010.
Cr Hasler said council could look at the possibility of a new roundabout at the intersection of Chandos and Bloomfield streets in the next two to four years to address some of the safety concerns of residents north of Cohens Bridge.
He floated the idea of seeking government funding and contributions from the mining sector for a new roundabout.
The intersection of Conadilly and Warrabungle streets is already targeted for a roundabout as part of the second rail bridge project.
Orange Grove Road resident Phil Glover said he would send a notice of intention to call for a vote of no confidence in the council to Member for Tamworth Kevin Anderson.
The move has also been heavily promoted on Facebook, including on a new page called The People’s Voice in Gunnedah, which already has more than 500 members.
The page has been campaigning for people to send letters to Mr Anderson calling for a vote of no confidence in the council.
“I am upset they are moving the VIC at this stage. Why not wait a few years to see where they are going and then make a decision. Maybe the VIC has got to shift, but not now.”
- Gunnedah resident Brian Riordan
Mr Anderson confirmed yesterday he had received a small number of letters and faxes.
“People have written to me and expressed a vote of no confidence in Gunnedah Shire Council,” he said. “My role will be to collate them and pass them on to the Local Government Minister.”
Mr Anderson said he had been briefed about the Chandos Street issue by council yesterday, but had been aware of the matter for “a couple of weeks”.
“It is a local government issue and it is a local road,” he said. “It is part of a master plan to open up Wolseley Park to more pedestrians.”
Mr Anderson said he had requests about “votes of no confidence” from time to time when the community and councils did not see eye-to-eye.
“I work closely with Gunnedah Shire Council and have a good working relationship with them. It is important that I have a strong relationship with local government.
“Ultimately, we want the same things for the community.”
Kelvin resident Jeff King, who spoke at the meeting, said his main concern was that Kelvin residents had not been consulted about the change.
He said he believed the council’s system of consultation was not working and that a number of businesses were making a move to call for monthly briefings with council.
This call has been echoed on Facebook with a petition called “Gunnedah Shire needs town meetings”. The online petition is calling for regular town meetings to discuss Gunnedah issues.
The debate has drawn a huge response from the public, with Namoi Valley Independent Facebook posts about the issue reaching more than 3000 people.