A webinar held on Monday night concludes an extensive schedule of engagement activities conducted by Council on the proposed Special Rate Variation (SRV) and implementation of Rates Harmonisation. However there is still time to share your views as submissions are still open until Thursday 10 December 2020.
A busy schedule of activities across the LGA commenced in Guyra on Wednesday 11 November with a pop-up stall in the main street and a session with local members of the NSW Farmers Association. This was followed by three further pop-up stalls in Armidale and Guyra, five stakeholder and community sessions, six village meetings and a webinar.
Armidale Regional Council Acting General Manager John Rayner said it was important that Council provided numerous opportunities for the community to be informed about the SRV and the impact of the mandatory rates harmonisation.
"The face-to-face sessions have provided Council with valuable feedback on the three options for an SRV presented to the community," said Mr Rayner.
"It has also allowed Council staff the opportunity to further drill-down on the impact to ratepayers of rates harmonisation and allowed people to express their views about Council, the levels of service provided and suggestions for improvement of our operations."
If residents haven't had time to review the information sent to all ratepayers in the mail or were unable to attend a scheduled engagement activity there is still opportunity to review information on Council's yoursay online engagement hub yoursay.armidale.nsw.gov.au or you can call Council's dedicated SRV hotline on 1300 364 366. Council has also conducted a phone survey of randomly selected members of the community to seek further feedback.
"So far the response rate for submissions is encouraging and we are receiving a broad range of views on the options presented for the proposed special rate variation," said Mr Rayner.
"If you haven't yet shared your views there is still time and I encourage as many members of the community to take the time to submit a formal submission."
Information on how to make a submission is available on the yoursay.armidale.nsw.gov.au online engagement hub or ring the hotline for details. Submissions close Thursday 10 December 2020.
A report will be presented to the January 2021 Council Meeting on a final recommendation on an SRV to present to the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal.
