Dear Maranoa Resident,

I have serious concerns with the unfunded proposed organisational change that the Mayor and his Unity Party members are pushing through council.

I am one of nine former councillors that was responsible for dealing with the forced amalgamation in 2008 and the challenges of bringing our region and council's workforce together.

Having been both a councillor of the Bungil Shire and the Roma Regional Council, prior to the change to the more inclusive Maranoa Regional Council, I know what the before and after looks like.

I lived the emotions of seeing our communities come to terms with forced amalgamation.

I have also seen how much our community have grown and accepted the change and how the new Maranoa Regional Council delivers for the community

Is it perfect? No. But it is undoubtedly the most cost effective model to deliver services to our residents.

I strongly believe council needs to refocus its energy into maintaining and upgrading our road networks.

This can be achieved without an expensive wholesale de-amalgamation of the council workforce that the Mayor is proposing.

I just don’t believe braking us back 12 years - adding another $1 million plus dollars to the wages bill every year to employ directors who will work from Roma, is the answer.

I understand the new director to be appointed for the former Bungil Shire area won’t even work in Injune full time. What kind of farce is that?

Where does Muckadilla fit into the proposed change?

No budget or costings have been developed to support the Unity Maranoa plan .

I am gobsmacked to understand how the Mayor’s plan can proceed without the most basic due diligence.

In my time on both Bungil and Maranoa Regional councils, councillors would never have made a decision on any matter without knowing what the costs are going to be to the ratepayer.

In the development of this restructure, there were three proposals prepared - yet the Mayor, Deputy Mayor, and Unity Maranoa councillors have blocked the two other options from being released to the public for ‘consultation’. The arrogance is astounding.

If you feel like I do, you can do what many of you did when I was on council: pick up the phone and ask one of the councillors why this is happening, how much it will cost, and how it can proceed without the most basic of due diligence.

We need to put pressure on the decision makers to answer these critical questions.

Joy Denton

Former Bungil and Maranoa Regional Councillor