There was an air of change at Murwillumbah on Thursday night at the Council Chamber and civic centre.
In the Civic Centre, Year 12 students were saying goodbye to school and hello to the next stage of their lives, while next door in the Council Chambers the brand new council was taking its seats for the first time.
But the more things change, the more they stay the same and the inaugural and Extraordinary Meeting of the newly elected councillors saw Councillor Barry Longland elected Mayor of Tweed until September 2013. It will be Mayor Longland’s second consecutive term in the top job.
Councillor Warren Polglase, serving his fourth term as a councillor, also nominated for the position of Mayor.
Councillor Longland received four votes to three, with support from Councillors Katie Milne, Michael Armstrong, Gary Bagnall and his own vote.
Councillor Polglase’s three votes came from Councillors Phil Youngblutt, Carolyn Byrne and his own vote.
A former accountant, Councillor Longland lives in the village of Uki and was elected to Tweed Shire Council in 2008.
Cr Longland said he was honoured to have been returned as Mayor by the new Council, and looked forward to a year of achievement.
“I hope we can make 2012-2013 a year to be proud of,” the mayor said.
“Most people think about councils and the three ‘Rs’ (roads, rates and rubbish) but the challenges ahead for this council are the three ‘Es’ – environment, economy and efficiency.”
Councillor Longland said this Council needed to protect the Tweed’s natural assets, work in partnership with the community to stimulate the local economy and improve the way Council delivers its services to the public.
He reflected on Council’s achievements in his term as Mayor in 2011-2012, including the development of the Murwillumbah Community Centre, Jack Evans Boat Harbour, the planning for the Margaret Olley Art Centre, a number of new and upgraded water treatment plants, new sporting facilities and a number of key planning documents.
“All of the outgoing Councillors should be proud of the achievements of the Council who, by working together with the staff, achieved many of the aspirations of the community,” he said.
But while the face in the main job is familiar, his deputy is not, with successful Labor candidate Michael Armstrong, one of three first-time councillors, getting the nod.
Councillor Armstrong was elected to the position of Deputy Mayor after receiving four votes (Councillors Milne, Armstrong, Bagnall and his own vote) to the other nominee, Councillor Phil Youngblutt’s three votes (Councillors Byrne, Polglase and his own vote).
Michael is a resident of Bilambil Heights where he and his wife Jenni are raising their three children Rory, Sienna and Caira.
A former solicitor, he has extensive legal experience across the North Coast representing the concerns of locals from his regional law practice.
“The community has made the call very strongly that they want a Council that works together and works openly with the community – a night like tonight shows we can do that,” Councillor Armstrong said. Having been through the cancer journey himself, Mr Fraser said access to the relevant information was vital but it wasn’t the centre’s only role.
“There is an enormous amount of written literature, it ranges from videos to written literature but most important is contact with a person, someone who can sit down and listen while they talk about their journey and problems,” he said.
“Maybe we can direct them to information or we have a computer set up where we can show them how to get to sites and find out what sites they might find useful. We have access through to the national call centre which has a lot of professional abilities to focus on a range of issues that are outside the cancer itself, from arranging financial help, to transport. There is a whole suite of things that Cancer Council NSW can do, they have been very diligent in putting together a package that will help 99.999 per cent of people.”
Director of Cancer Information and Support Services Cancer Council NSW, Gill Batt, said the service was very important as were the volunteers.
“This is our 14th cancer information centre and we started about four years ago,” she said.
“It’s gradually grown as people realise just how important it is for people who are diagnosed with cancer to be able to have really immediate access to information, support and just to someone who will actually help them. To have someone who will sit down and talk to them about what their feelings are and point them in the way of some of the other things we can do to help.
“You see, the Cancer Council isn’t just about books and help-lines, we also have a huge impetus around what we call ‘fixing the fixable’. A lot of that is around financial assistance, providing free legal advice like wills, power of attorney, things like free financial planning, providing transport. There is a whole range of things that people don’t know about the Cancer Council and that’s why the information centre here is so important.
“The Cancer Council has around 300 staff but around 15,000 volunteers and we could not do what we do without the volunteers.”
