RELATED STORIES: 

Mayor Paul Harmon’s opinions were expressed in an interview with the Inverell Times. 

I voted for the Town Centre Renewal Plan.

In the first instance, Council has had ongoing maintenance issues for a number of years due to the incorrect planting of the wrong species of trees in concrete pipes throughout the CBD. It has been a substantial budgetary issue to ensure the safety of the general public, together with repairs to infrastructure and rate payers property. We then looked at the rejuvenation of the CBD, trying to maintain the canopy and aesthetics of the precinct. Therefore; after considerable research it was determined that the best course of action was to implement the centre median strip containing established trees. It is important that the community is aware that at no stage was the centre median to be raised. It is designed flat to allow pedestrian and vehicle access. The cost of $705,000.00 to upgrade Otho St far outweighs the ongoing cost to Council in the long term in regards to the maintenance and safety of the community should the precinct be left as it is today. If we don't act, the cost to the community (our children and or grandchildren) will be far greater in 20+ years time.

As a business owner in Inverell, I am very aware of the impact these improvement works may have on businesses within the zone and my business will feel the effect also. However, what we may feel in the short term will benefit the whole town into the future. Pedestrian access will not be an issue during the period of construction. I am working with Council to minimise the timeframe when vehicle access will be restricted within the work zone. I encourage customers to continue to support the businesses contained in the work zone as they continue to provide the excellent range of goods and services that Inverell is renowned for.

I voted for the TCRP and really look forward to it being implemented.

I voted this way primarily because it will be beautiful for our main street in the years to come. I cherish the green canopy that our town centre beholds and I am passionate that this character remains for the core of our street scape.

In researching the issue when it was debated at Council, I came to realise that there are a number of fundamental structural problems with the existing planting of plane trees. The very extensive arborist report showed obvious damage that the roots from the plane trees were doing not only to the pavement and the surrounding area of the street & guttering, but to the overall stability of the tree. Those trees along Otho St (and others) were planted in vertical cement rings which was intended to get the roots to go directly into the ground. However, the photographic evidence showed that the roots were in fact going up, over the top of the ring and out. These were having to be cut off due to the bulbous formations of the roots, jeopardising the whole stability of the tree. In some cases the trees were cemented at the base to keep them stable. This is obviously not a good long term solution and needs to be reassessed and redesigned for future management.

Hence when the pin oak trees were proposed with their better planting design in the centre of the street, I believed this to be a great solution. Pin Oaks are a beautiful specimen tree! I stand by my decision to vote in favour of this plan and I look very forward to seeing the centre of Otho street being filled with green leaf. It is well recognised across many councils that plane trees pose a great problem because of their aggressive root structure. We all love our town centre and cherish the oasis that it beholds (particularly at the moment) and the residents of Inverell can be very reassured that we as a group of Councillors will nurture and protect our town sanctuary for the future.

After sitting in council meetings for years listening to my fellow councillors wax lyrical about the beauty of our CBD I fail to understand why would you rip it up at a cost of $16 million dollars then hit Ratepayers for a special rate increase of 14.5% because Council needs the funds ostensibly to pay for it.

There is no question Inverell has a very attractive CBD but council forgets they are servants of the people and must ask and listen to what the people want and our Council studiously avoids fair dinkum consultation embarking on a Clayton process where only the anointed few get heard.

During the last council elections a number of councillors assured people they would not support the TRCP but apart from Neil McCosker and myself the elected councillors have 100% rubber stamped the General Managers wishes. Even Councillor Baker who claimed a conflict of interest was Chairman of the committee that recommended the funds to commence Otho Street and has been a strong internal supporter.

Trying to get complete exposure on the total cost of the TRCP is like pulling teeth but the

operational plan identifies the 8 sections will cost in the order of $16 million dollars.

CBD businesses will cop a huge impact during construction but council has either not done or unwilling to share the compulsory part 5 assessment under the environmental and planning assessment act which examines the economic impact on business.

Retail shopping is under huge threat from online shopping and i fear the unique character of our CBD brought about primarily by the plain trees will be lost and Inverell will become another hot dull shopping centre that will no longer attract out of town shoppers.

I voted against the Town Centre Renewal Plan.

There has been insufficient disclosure to the public and to the Councillors regarding immediate costs and long term costs.

Budgetary information that was provide by the Inverell Shire Council (ISC) staff to the Councillors was piecemeal, obscure and contradictory.

In terms of costing, I felt I was being fed ''crumbs'' when I wanted to see what the whole ''loaf'' looked like.

I had concern about the accuracy of the budget and the possibility of a significant budget blow out in the long term.

In turn, I believe that consultation with the community is flawed as the community has not been provided with transparent information.

As well, I believe the community should have greater input into this major project prior to decisions being made by the majority of Councillors.

A significant number of people petitioned against the removal of the trees in the CBD - the community was not listened to by the ISC, nor were they listened to by the majority of Councillors.

I find it offensive that representatives of the community (the Councillors) do not listen to the community.

An independent arborist and an engineer diametrically opposed the ISC's view about the problems that the trees were causing.

Hence, one may ask, why pull out all of the trees, when only a few of the trees are creating a problem.

Is the Town Renewal a top priority for the community in terms of prudent use of funds? - I don't think so.

I did vote for the Town Centre Renewal Plan.

I voted the way I did after considering the following:

I listened to community members who were for and against the plan.

I listened to people with health concerns about the trees.

I listened to the engineers and technical staff in their presentations.

I read and considered the business papers, the consultants report and the financial information we received about all aspects of the plan.

I also considered the ramifications of not dealing with both short and long term infrastructure issues.

Please go to the website for facts such as no raised median strip or nose in parking.

Any kind of change in our lives, surroundings or circumstances can at times be challenging. There will be some disruption, change rarely happens without it,  but I believe staff will handle that the best they can. Humans, myself included don't always handle change well. However we only need to look at the past to see how this town has changed, been upgraded and grown since it was first established in 1856. This is the third country town I have lived in and by far the best. It's a beautiful town and will remain so as long as council and the community appropriately consider the future.

Yes I am in favour of the council's decision as a matter of fact i actually I moved the resolution for the revote of funding.

I note that Journalists attend most Council meetings so would be aware that I have voiced my opinion on this matter previously. You must also be aware that prior to my election to council I was one of three community members on the Main St committee.

As for any further comment, I will leave that for the mayor as as councillors’ official spokesperson.

Cr Baker said she refrained from voting, as she declared pecuniary interest because she owns a building downtown. She declined to comment further for the same reason.