Re-elected Dorset mayor Greg Howard flagged the need for a “viable” freight route as a key point to define the council’s next term.
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Speaking after the local government election results had been finalised, Cr Howard said the biggest issue facing Dorset was a high quality freight route that was capable of taking B-double trucks.
“The only option for this is the upgrade of the Sideling, which is something we have been working on for some time without much success,” he said.
“The North-East is the only major high-productivity region in the state not to have a decent freight route, and successive state and federal governments have ignored this issue, placing North-East businesses at a massive disadvantage.”
Federal funding for the region’s infrastructure network was another hot topic, with Dorset’s mayor explaining that less tax revenue meant rural and regional councils may have to cut services and infrastructure maintenance.
“Rural councils usually have large areas and large infrastructure networks to manage. They are expected to do this with small rate bases and limited federal assistance grants,” Cr Howard said.
“This is clearly false economy.”
Revisiting amalgamation post election, Cr Howard has previously spoken about his desire for Flinders, Dorset and Break O’Day council to amalgamate and extend south to include Bicheno.
“However, Dorset is very comfortable with where we currently sit and, unless there was a major push from other councils or government, amalgamation is not something that I would imagine that we are likely to consider,” he said.
Looking at the election results, Cr Howard said he was happy with the result and and saw it as a mandate for Dorset Council to continue operating as it had been for the past four years.
“I think it shows that the community are happy with the direction that council has taken and also happy with the overall performance of council,” Cr Howard said.
However, he said the campaign run by some candidates who were agitating for change was “the most adversarial and dishonest campaign I have ever seen”.
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