It was resolved at the November council meeting that major projects involving the Boggabri Caravan Park, the Boggabri childcare facility and Boggabri wastewater treatment plant, would soon get under way.

A report regarding the a possible upgrade to the Boggabri Caravan Park was presented to council at the meeting.

Narrabri Shire Mayor, Cathy Redding said council was very keen to seek a resolution on how an upgrade should proceed and has been working closely with the Boggabri & Community Progress Association to discuss options for the day to day management of the facility.

“Council resolved to pursue a day to day management strategy for the park that was outlined by the Boggabri Business & Community Progress Association in a proposal they presented to the council,” Cr Redding said.

“The proposed upgrade of the park will be re-tendered based on the five options that were discussed at the community meeting held in Boggabri last December.”

Cr Redding said the proposed upgrade was “a great example” of council addressing the requirements of the community. 

“This is a great example of council working well with the community to form partnerships and progress projects based on the requirements of the community,” she said.

“As well as addressing the immediate concerns of the community, we are planning for the future of Boggabri Caravan Park.”

The future of Boggabri Childcare was also discussed at the meeting.

After lobbying from the Boggabri community about the lack of childcare in the area, the council considered a business case assessment at the August council meeting to establish a childcare centre in Boggabri.

Following the August meeting and further consultation with the community, Boggabri Coal Operations approached council offering to provide a facility on their land on the corner of Brent and Oakham Streets.

It was then resolved that the council would agree to the request and support their proposal based on approval. 

The site of the Boggabri Bowling Club that the council purchased to investigate for a childcare facility will now have a Boggabri Community Precinct Plan developed to utilise the space to benefit the entire community.

“This is another great win for Boggabri with Boggabri Coal willing to progress the childcare centre for the community,” Cr Redding said.

“A childcare centre has been a long term goal for this community and it’s great to see that Boggabri Coal will be able to progress this project for Boggabri.”

Wastewater facilities in Boggabri will additionally be seeing a boost in 2018 with a $5.1 million upgrade of the Boggabri Wastewater Treatment Plant.

The ageing infrastructure of the existing facility will be completely upgraded with new, state of the art equipment to improve efficiency and reliability of the system into the future.

Cr Redding said the council had made an effort to engage with the community and that residents should be excited for 2018.

“Boggabri residents will see some great improvements over 2018 with many of these projects progressing,” she said.

“It is great to see that some major projects are being ticked off across Narrabri Shire and that our residents are benefiting.

“The council has been making a concerted effort to engage better with the community and the results of this will be the delivery of projects that are designed with the community’s requirements in mind.”