From Thursday, May 18, ordinary council meetings will be held at 6pm on the third Thursday of the month at the Council Chambers in Crookwell until September 21 2017, unless otherwise advised.

It follows a rescission motion, moved by councillor Ron Cummins and seconded by Cr Richard Opie, to change the council’s earlier decision.

The council had decided, on September 22 last, to hold ordinary meetings in the morning until this September, with the exception of two recently held, trial night meetings in February and March.

Councillors will determine the dates and times of future ordinary meetings at the September 21 council meeting. 

Councillors also discussed at the last meeting the possibility of moving the meetings to a new venue to accommodate more residents who wish to attend.

From the trial meetings held at night in February and March, it was demonstrated that the Chambers filled to capacity easily with the public gallery.

If the meetings were to be moved, then the chambers could be used as extra space for staff. This would come at an extra cost, though.

To move the meetings to other buildings, such as the Crookwell CWA rooms, Crookwell Memorial Hall, Gunning Council Chambers or possibly the clubs or school halls in the Crookwell area, would have a large cost associated with internet techologies, data projection, network cables, a laptop, wifi router and more.

The cost has been estimated from $12,000 to $25,000, depending on the location.

A review into the feasibility of a green waste kerbside collection service for the Shire, undertaken by the council’s operations department, is now complete.

It was considered by councillors at the last meeting. The motion, put by Cr Ron Cummins and seconded by Cr Pam Kensit, sought to provide a kerbside green waste removal service in Crookwell, Gunning and Taralga, was defeated.

It was proposed to have a collection fortnightly in spring and autumn with monthly collections in summer and no collections in winter.

There was to be no additional cost to customers’ domestic waste removal charges, providing each customer purchased their own bin.

The domestic waste service will remain unchanged in 2017/18.

Ever wondered how the Shire’s population, age structure and household types will change between now and 2036?

Are you a small business owner and would like to know local sales figures and market data? Click on the ‘Profile and Statistics’ link on council’s website.

A community information and training session on this resource is proposed to be held in August. Further information will be available closer to the time.