General News
15 May, 2026
Council direction questioned
Central Goldfields Shire councillors have questioned their council plan’s direction given unexpected global pressures.
Community members received an insight into council’s progress on the Council Plan Annual Action Plan at the April council meeting.
The document breaks down the overall Council Plan 2025-2029 into annual chunks to support its delivery.
The recommendation presented the first two quarters of the annual action plan as showing “solid progress” toward council’s key initiatives.
Out of 83 total initiatives 24 have been completed, 53 are in progress, and six deferred.
Among those completed are the introduction of an electronic newsletter, the Maryborough Tennis Court and lighting upgrade, the Princes Park wicket upgrade, and delivery of community workshops to help people survive independently for the first 72 hours following a disaster or major emergency.
Those in progress include advocating to State Government to create a learning hub in Mary-borough, help community members navigate council’s planning system with a planning forum, work to re-establish the Youth Council, and construction of the Deledio Recreation Reserve Pavilion.
Deferred initiatives include the design of the Maryborough Outdoor Pool Complex, adoption of the updated Walking and Cycling Strategy, and progress toward the Talbot Heritage Review — all in-part due to resourcing constraints.
This may be due to the “hard times” councillor Gerard Murphy described when he said they should consider rearranging their council plan.
“But we’ve got issues, we’ve got real issues, and if we can’t save money on things which are fluffy we need to do it,” he said.
“I’ve been told we can’t because it costs too much money.”
The Annual Action Plan was adopted in October but, in the time since, global challenges have put unexpected pressure on council — most recently supply chain disruption due to conflict in the Middle East.
Councillor Grace La Vella said all levels of government would feel the “domino effect” of these events.
“I think forward planning is our job and to have a look at the plan ahead would be I think a very wise way to go,” she said.
Councillor Geoff Bartlett said he agreed with Cr Murphy’s sentiment.
“Maybe a few more could be added to [the deferred] list and a few other priorities bumped up,” he said.
Mayor Ben Green said council were in for “tough times ten” which he said should be planned for.
“Maybe we could, CEO, perhaps you and I could get together and see if we can formulate something in response to the catastrophe that lies ahead of us,” he said.