Further to the recent Rates rise by Gympie Regional Council of 9.3% I agree totally with the letter from Tony Jakeman and would like to make a few points of my own for Council to address.
It is my understanding that the money is needed to fund upgrades on the water supply and waste treatment facilities in Gympie due to our previous Council wasting the reserves that had been accumulated for just such events.
As these facilities only benefit those who live in Gympie and its immediate surround’s, I do not see why all the rest of us who live in the rural parts of the shire should have to pay for this.
Council have set the precedent for this by charging a few residents on Sorensen Road for the provision of sewerage (unasked for).
Based on that decision I believe that the costs of the upgrades to city facilities should be passed on to the ratepayers who actually benefit from the facilities provided.
It is also about time that our Mayor and his fellow travelers got off their collective rumps and actually held a few public meetings in the rural areas so that they can get to judge the mood of the people who pay for their lifestyles.
Those meetings should be on weekends as that is the only time when actual workers can get to such meetings.
Definitely not 2:00 o’clock on a weekday afternoon that they have pulled in the past.
Steve Hawkins,
Widgee
