General News
26 October, 2024
Last hoorah for mayor and sitting councillors
Horsham Rural City Council Mayor Robyn Gulline and retiring councillors fired a final message to the community at their last meeting on Monday - that they had worked hard and achieved much during their time in office.
Nor did they accept criticism.
Cr Gulline, speaking before the adoption of the council's 142-page Annual Report for 2023-24, also suggested that people with adverse opinions on the council's performance could revisit those opinions.
Cr Gulline, leading her final meeting after four years in HRCC and four terms as mayor, called on people to recognise the achievements made on their behalf.
"Everything that I have done as a councillor - and collectively as a council - has been in the best interest of the community now and into the future," Cr Gulline said.
She said the annual report emphasised council themes of sustainability, accessibility, liveability, community and leadership, and those values were behind all decisions made.
Councillors had made many "brave" decisions, she said, and they should not face criticism for that.
Achievements highlighted in the annual report included public toilet upgrades, development at Horsham City Oval, urban and rural road upgrades, natural disaster asset restoration, new change rooms at Horsham Aquatic Centre, improvements to foot and cycle paths, improvements to parks and open spaces and detailed planning for a new council depot.
However, Cr Gulline deflected responsibility for the accrued $5.194 million debt shown in the latest budget figures.
"This all has to be seen in context," she said.
Governments altering grant payment timing and flood mitigation work carried out by the council and yet to be compensated were explanations for the debt and "put a framework around the figures".
"The numbers are what they are, but they must be read in context," she said.
"There's no smoking gun or dirty linen hidden under any carpet. We're delivering on our promise of being open and transparent."
She also stressed that 90 per cent of decisions were made with the agreement of all councillors, and noted disagreements were a good thing, and should not be criticised.
The meeting had begun with a stern warning from the mayor about behaviour expected of people in the gallery and that people would be evicted for not adhering to these rules.
"It is important for a successful council meeting that the members of the gallery respect the setting and do not disrupt the meeting," she read from a printed statement.
The 10 people in the public gallery only reacted on one issue - when the mayor over-stepped her speech time limit.