Our council will hold its first formal meeting for the new year on Wednesday, January 23.

This will allow us to review our current council plan and assess the actions required to meet targets for the next 12 months. 

We congratulate Emma Kealy and Ali Cupper on their successful election campaigns that enabled them to become our representatives in the legislative assembly and look forward to working with them to realise our priorities. We also welcome the opportunity to meet with our 10 legislative council MPs over the coming months.

The issues we would love to discuss, and hopefully arrive at an achievable solution, are not just confined to our shire. 

In 2018, we welcomed an additional $1 million in local roads to market funding that enabled us to employ seven locals in six-month term positions to complete work.

We hope there will be continued investment in roads and rail that will assist our products reaching their markets. We would hope that there will also be ongoing financial commitment from the state government in other areas that are vital for our residents. We would like to see additional money given to health services that will allow patients to receive treatment in their own community.

We would welcome financial support that will enable local communities to continue to maintain recreational water and sporting facilities in their towns. We will also be pressing for a commitment to provide the $16 million necessary to finish the educational precinct at Warracknabeal and $1 million to upgrade the science facilities at Hopetoun P-12.

On January 26, Australia Day celebrations are being conducted in 10 of our towns.

All begin at 8am for breakfast, followed by presentations and a guest speaker.

We only have seven councillors. We will spread ourselves out, but unfortunately some towns will still miss out. This year, I will be attending the ceremony at Beulah to present the shire’s citizen of the year award.

Cr Graeme Massey is mayor of Yarriambiack Shire Council.