TINGHA residents are making their voices heard about which shire they want to be in.
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Chair of the Tingha Citizen’s Association, Colleen Graham, said she was pleased the group had raised 112 signatures on a petition, which was part of a submission to the state government calling for Tingha to be moved into the Inverell Local Government Area (LGA).
It has been forwarded to the NSW Minister for Local Government Paul Toole.
Mrs Graham said the issue had been ongoing for some time in Tingha and needed to be resolved.
“The local Aboriginals have never felt comfortable with Tingha belonging to Guyra because we’re Kamilaroi, and Guyra is a little bit on the fringes of everything,” she said.
“Most of the townspeople signed the petition, and when you look at it, it’s a natural course for Tingha to be in Inverell LGA.”
Mr’s Graham said the association had met, and been up front with, Guyra council regarding its intended course of action.
She said she had also held informal discussions with Inverell’s mayor Paul Harmon.
At least with Inverell we’ll get what we pay for. We’ll be looked after.
- Colleen Graham
“He assured me that Inverell would be happy to accept Tingha,” she said.
“That assurance was actually the catalyst for us doing the petition. Inverell is our hub, it’s our hometown.
“I don’t understand why we belonged to Guyra in the first place.”
“There would be no one I know who does anything in Guyra. Everything is here, the banking, the schools, the hospital, our medical our dentists, they’re here.”
Mrs Graham said she thought there were a few people in Tingha who were scared of the coming rate rises in the Inverell LGA.
“People need to take their rose-coloured glasses off,” she said.
“Even if Guyra is ‘stand alone’, they’ve already indicated how high their rates have to go up for them to survive. If Guyra is amalgamated with Armidale, then Armidale is in the red anyhow, and the rates are going to hike up.
“At least with Inverell we’ll get what we pay for. We’ll be looked after.”
Mayor Paul Harmon said the proposed merger of Guyra and Armidale LGAs had provided the trigger to get a Boundary Commissioner’s report.
He said while it was not up to Inverell council to advocate for a boundary change, it had responded favourably to the association’s submission.
“At last week’s council meeting we made a submission to the Boundaries Commission stating that Tingha has strong communities of interest with Inverell and that there should be an adjustment of boundaries,” Cr Harmon said.
