Gunnedah councillors seek briefing on Chandos St changes

The street was partly closed to one-way traffic-only in September 2014 but the move drew strong criticism from sections of the community.

A motion would be raised at Wednesday’s council meeting to stage a information workshop detailing reasons behind the street changes. The workshop would be aimed at Gunnedah shire’s newly elected councillors.

Cr Murray O’Keefe, who jointly flagged the notice of motion with Cr Rob Hooke, sought the facts straight from the source.

“It’s clearly a contentious issue and you hear a lot of different stories,” Cr O’Keefe said. “We would like to sit down with the facts so we can make informed decisions. Council has done a great job with other workshops, we’d just like this one a priority.”

The notice of motion proposed councillors be provided with full copies of all reports related to the decision to change traffic conditions in a section of Chandos Street to one-way. It also proposed the workshop for councillors be held on November 2.

The first-time councillor said Chandos Street was a big talking point during the local government election, so he felt it appropriate to clear the air with his fellow community representatives.

“I know there was a strong community desire to not change,” he said. “But I assume council had good reason to do it. We just want to know the facts.”

Also on the agenda was a co-signed motion for councillors to be similarly briefed on Gunnedah’s airport landing fees.

“I understand the process of cost recovery but it doesn’t seem to be overly efficient,” he said.

Cr O’Keefe stressed that a “steady, methodical” approach would be necessary to achieve desired outcomes in both instances. “Let’s start the process looking at these issues,” he said.

Previous information workshops attended by councillors included updates on the pool upgrade, sewage treatment works and Blackjack Creek flood mitigation project.