Gunnedah resident supports NSW Police Association's appeal for subsidised housing

Mrs Fuller said she would support rental assistance for two officers after Gunnedah Shire Council last week resolved to look into the NSW Police Association request.

Mrs Fuller, who stressed she was giving her views as a resident and not on behalf of the council, said: I believe we should do it."

The fact is that the rent is high in Gunnedah due to mining and my own personal view is that council should invest in a couple of houses, particularly for young police officers who want to come to our town, she said.

If theyre probationary, theyre not on big wages. And weve got to consider that we want them here and we want them to stay here.

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Mrs Fuller said rent was subsidised for doctors in Gunnedah and if the town was not going to be granted 24-hour policing, it was important to at least have officers living here.

When you live in a community, you know a community, [and] when you know your police officers and they know the community, youve got a lot less issues, she said.

A local police association member has told the NVI the station had run "at 16.6 per cent understaffing for an extended period" and sometimes had to close the doors when officers were called out.

We want our station open through the day because we want to know that we dont have to go to the Tamworth call centre for policing, Mrs Fuller said.

Older people tell me when it goes to Tamworth, they hang up.

On Wednesday, a spokesperson for Gunnedah Shire Council said the research required to look into the associations request was complex and was expected to take quite some time.