Has anybody noticed the town looking untidy lately, grass not getting cut as regularly as it used to?
This would probably have something to do with the fact that our beloved council is cost cutting as it has no funds.
Why do we have no funds? Everything this council is doing of late is to save monies because it has none, the tourist info centre, paid parking at the airport, the sale of our, and I state our parks, recreational areas and the GPS parking monitors in town are all to do with trying to save monies or extract more from its residents.
Most councils help businesses try to expand by offering them land such as the Tamworth council. Our council seems to run away and hide when people want to start up here. We get very little rateable income from commercial interests in town as we have very few, I believe most crown owned land does not have to pay rates such as schools and the UNE, so that could be a reason why the council is struggling.
I would also like to know what contingency plans have been put in place to help avoid major unemployment that may well happen if the UNE does not get many students this year?
The funding is being changed nationwide, the UNE gets funding for nearly 5500 students, this year all universities will only get funding for residential students they have enrolled, what happens if they only get 2000? Their funding will be cut by 65 per cent, this would be disastrous for the town yet nobody is talking about it. Instead of burying your heads in the sand, communicate with the residents, we would not be in this situation if the council allowed industry here.
Jo Brown,
Armidale
