Tamworth council calls for Joint Organisation funding

TRC will take a motion to the local government state conference, asking the NSW government to fund joint organisations (JOs) of councils as local government bodies, which would essentially open up multiple grant and funding opportunities.

Councillor Russell Webb said the state government had indicated JOs would become increasingly important in the future and, as such, they should be funded appropriately.

“For us to grow, the region needs to grow,” Cr Webb said.

“I think in to the future, JOs will be doing much more and will be responsible for a lot more activities.”

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TRC is part of Namoi Unlimited, alongside Gunnedah, Walcha, Gwydir and Liverpool Plains councils.

Cr Webb said it was crucial the council did some groundwork to get other councils and JOs on board with the motion.

“I’ll be looking for support for this in a very strong, wholeheartedly way, to give this some real muscle down at the conference,” he said.

“We need to get that in front of others, and get strong support and representation from other organisations across the state.

“That will send a clear message to the government that this is a way for regions to grow, not just cities or towns to grow.

“If we’ve got some strong debate down there, we might see an uplifting in funding.”

Mayor Col Murray said the council would seek to draft the motion “sooner rather than later”, and then circulate it among the other JOs.

“We’ll seek their assistance and support, which will be forthcoming, because there is not one joint organisation out there that won’t support this wholeheartedly,” Cr Murray said.

Another motion TRC will take to the conference calls on the NSW government to increase funding for public libraries. 

Funding for libraries was cut by 18 per cent in the most recent state budget.