The council has resolved to adopt the revised Community Strategic Plan 2040. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
Wagga City Council unanimously adopted the revised Community Strategic Plan (CSP) 2040 at the 27 June meeting despite several community members’ last-minute efforts to make changes to the document.
City councillors considered all the different perspectives but ultimately decided against amending the document, which was on public exhibition for a minimum period of 28 days from 3 May and invited public submissions until close of business on 4 June.
Councillor Dan Hayes said the CSP “has a pretty impossible task” of addressing all the different views and opinions of the community, and staff went through all the feedback to try and find the right balance.
“The document will have aspects that do not satisfy everyone, either through an omission or by including something or focusing on something too much,” he said.
“They (council staff) have done a good job in difficult circumstances.”
The Plan 2040 is an aspirational look to the future of Wagga Wagga and its surrounding rural communities based on the shared vision, knowledge and values of the community. It sits at the highest level of the council’s planning hierarchy, which guides all other Council strategies and plans.
Councillor Rod Kendall said the State Government decision to “delay the election process with very little warning” added additional pressure to the process.
“To delay the election from September last year to December but keeping the same reporting and adoption date for the CSP (30 June) made the work difficult,” he said.
Community members Keith Roberts, Doctor Patricia Murray, William Adlong, and Doctor Murray addressed the council in favour of the Plan, but requested some changes.
Environmentalist and advocate for climate change Mr Roberts and ecologist Dr Murray proposed including “sustainability” as the fifth guiding principle, alongside thriving, innovation, connection and inclusivity.
Mr Roberts said the CSP was generally good but that certain aspects of the community’s vision for climate change were underrepresented.
Dr Murray said a sustainable guide was important as climate disruption affected people’s mental and physical health.
However, one community voice on the night spoke vehemently against the Plan.
Former Wagga Councillor Paul Funnell opposed the community strategic plan, stating it was influenced by left wing agenda that was not in the best interest of the broader community.
He said the CSP was the most important and powerful document as, when approved, it gave the operational council license and unconditional authority to do as they saw fit.
“Constantly pursuing an extensive list prioritising Indigenous matters in a virtue signalling manner is not providing actual measurable outcomes that are beneficial,” he said.
“It is creating a vision for some and certainly does not provide a message that all people are equal.”
Mr Funnell said the council had been running losses for years and would continue to do so.
“It is said the place is under pressure and under-resourced, therefore highlights an issue with the cultural capacity of the current organisation.”
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