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Speaker 1: We know that Litchfield Council has handed down its draft

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Speaker 1: municipal plan for the coming year, forecasting one fourteen percent

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Speaker 1: increase in budget revenue backed by an increase in council rates.

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Speaker 1: So residential rates in the area are set to increase

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Speaker 1: by three percent that's around fifty five cents per week.

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Speaker 1: Now joining me is the Litchfield Council mayor Doug Barden.

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Speaker 1: Good morning to you, Doug.

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Speaker 2: Good morning Katie and listeners. And firstly, i'd like his support,

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Speaker 2: key comments and reference to the fire brigade and Palmerston

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Speaker 2: Rural Fire Brigade. We one hundred percent agreed with Jerry

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Speaker 2: and Sezia. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: Look, and this is the thing, isn't it Doug? It

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Speaker 1: does seem as so most out in the rural area.

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Speaker 1: Going hang on a second, why's the fire station just

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Speaker 1: been called Palmerston and not Palmerston and Regional or Palmerston

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Speaker 1: and Rural or the rural fire station.

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Speaker 2: Yes, yes, Katie, and the same as the hospital. We

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Speaker 2: would have liked to have called it the your previous

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Speaker 2: commentator on four point nine, what.

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Speaker 1: Was his name, Pete Davies, Yeah, yeah, Pete Davies.

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Speaker 2: We would like to have called the Palmerston and Regional

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Speaker 2: Hospital the Pete Davy Hospital, And I think we could

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Speaker 2: have done something similar to the to the that the

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Speaker 2: new fire should be, which should be called the Lichfield

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Speaker 2: fiber G, Aske said earlier.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, well, and look, I know Pete Davies thought so

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Speaker 1: hard for that Parmeston add In hospital. That that hospital

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Speaker 1: out in Palmerston was something he was so very passionate about.

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Speaker 1: They did name the auditorium in his honor, which was

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Speaker 1: really which was a really lovely thing to do. But yeah,

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Speaker 1: with you know, with this, with the fire station, I

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Speaker 1: reckon it could gain a bit of momentum by the

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Speaker 1: sounds of it, Doug, obviously, Jerry wood Kesey epiric. Now

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Speaker 1: you and I'm assuming that the majority of council feel

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Speaker 1: the same, not.

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Speaker 2: The majority, All of the councilors fill the same and

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Speaker 2: the whole council feel the same. That it could have

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Speaker 2: rural in the rural in the titles.

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Speaker 1: Yes, Oh well, we'll keep talking about it, Doug. Let

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Speaker 1: us know if you know, if there is any sort

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Speaker 1: of movement in that space, or if anybody else wants

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Speaker 1: to come on air and have a chat about it

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Speaker 1: as well. I do want to ask. We know that

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Speaker 1: the new council has a new direction, how important was

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Speaker 1: it to get that budget right this year?

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Speaker 2: Well, as we said at the beginning, yes, we are

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Speaker 2: having a three percent increase where the previous municipal plan

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Speaker 2: had predictions of it being ten percent. So we were

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Speaker 2: able to keep that down as much as we could

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Speaker 2: also like to in re like to in our municipal plan.

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Speaker 2: On page twelve we talk about two two stategic advocacy

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Speaker 2: projects being being Holston Kwandi in working to develop those

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Speaker 2: and also fread passports recreationary derves. I know on page

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Speaker 2: five of the paper that that the that all the

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Speaker 2: governments are supporting Middle Arm and the one of the

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Speaker 2: one of the parties, one of the major parties put

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Speaker 2: a pledge out there for for ten million dollars for

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Speaker 2: Fred's pass and we would like to have the other

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Speaker 2: other all parties and independents be the same.

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Speaker 1: And so Doug with the with the rate increase, how

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Speaker 1: have you managed to have it go up that three

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Speaker 1: percent rather than the ten percent that had initially obviously

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Speaker 1: been flagged.

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Speaker 2: The new Council believes that we can that we can

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Speaker 2: we can say costs make savings and costings we also

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Speaker 2: have and we're also spending a lot of money. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: we've also had a lot of fun with a lot

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Speaker 2: of grants long term, the from from government which has

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Speaker 2: gone into the road such as the Mingo Roads. We

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Speaker 2: put twenty one million dollars worth of roads in the

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Speaker 2: last last four years, which has been fantastic, and we're

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Speaker 2: and we're hoping to do the same. We're spending six

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Speaker 2: point five million dollars on capital works, doing one point

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Speaker 2: five million on road reseals, one point two million to

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Speaker 2: upgrade our gravel road to sealed, seven hundred thousand on

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Speaker 2: drainage upgrade on Girwene Road and Stoftwell Road, five hundred

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Speaker 2: thousand on road road safety upgrades on white Wood Road

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Speaker 2: and Waden Road, seven fifty on sky Creek Road healing,

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Speaker 2: and three hundred thousand on gravel surface ring nels.

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Speaker 1: So certainly plenty happening out there. Doug, one of our

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Speaker 1: callers has just called through and asked any idea why

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Speaker 1: Power Road is still closed. It seems the builders walked

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Speaker 1: off the job. I don't know what the situation is

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Speaker 1: out there.

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Speaker 2: Unfortunately, the contractor has walked off the job and that's

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Speaker 2: in the hands of solicitors and we're putting that out

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Speaker 2: for tender at the moment, and hopefully we'll have a

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Speaker 2: start on that in the very very near future.

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Speaker 1: Okay, So, so hopefully it will get back underway very soon.

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Speaker 2: Yes, yeah. Unfortunately, unfortunately it took quite a while for

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Speaker 2: the for the road to be handed back to Council,

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Speaker 2: and it wasn't in our control. We had very small

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Speaker 2: We couldn't do a great deal right until until the

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Speaker 2: lawyer has got things sorted out. Yep.

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Speaker 1: Right, Well, we'll keep an eye on that one, Doug.

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Speaker 1: Another one that I'm keen to just get a bit

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Speaker 1: of an update from you on is a replacement of

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Speaker 1: the telstraphone hour that you and I had spoken about

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Speaker 1: a little while back. How is it going. Is it

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Speaker 1: still moving forward in that same location or is it

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Speaker 1: looking as though the location is going to move.

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Speaker 2: Hopefully it will move. As all things with councils, things

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Speaker 2: go very very slowly. And Council is assisting Telster and

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Speaker 2: finding an alternative site and investigate the options of terminating

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Speaker 2: the lease with Telstra so that it's under investigation, but

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Speaker 2: of of both moving the alternative sight to to hope. Well,

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Speaker 2: there's two or three sites that could be I'd like

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Speaker 2: to note that we did exactly the same lease out

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Speaker 2: at the end of Girween Road and Herbert and I

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Speaker 2: had five or six people at the markets congratulating us

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Speaker 2: for that site. But we are working with the community

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Speaker 2: to try and sort this problem out.

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Speaker 1: Okay, well and yeah, and hopefully we'll be able to

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Speaker 1: get a bit of an update I'm assuming from the

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Speaker 1: from Telstra as well. Doug, we really appreciate your time

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Speaker 1: this morning. We are going to have to leave it there.

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Speaker 1: We've got such a busy hour lined up. Thanks so

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Speaker 1: much for coming on the show and having a.

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Speaker 2: Chat with me. And I'd also like to thank Kesier

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Speaker 2: for her comments and reference to the boundary changes.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, of course.

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Speaker 2: Intention Cancel has no intention of changing its boundaries and

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Speaker 2: we have no intention of giving giving any land of

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Speaker 2: a either. It'sink it's going to be a big debate

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Speaker 2: for another day.

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Speaker 1: I reckon it's going to be, Doug. So we might

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Speaker 1: even try to get you and Keys here and you know,

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Speaker 1: some of the reps from from out at Dundee and

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Speaker 1: various other locations on the show over the next few weeks.

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Speaker 1: Can you keep in contact with us because I think

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Speaker 1: it is something that we're definitely going to need to

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Speaker 1: talk more about and spend a bit more time on you.

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Speaker 2: Not a problem, and thank thank you Keasier for bringing

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Speaker 2: these things up.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, she's a good egg, that Kesiopuric. Thanks so much, Doug.

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Speaker 1: We appreciate your time this morning.

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Speaker 2: And err Wood is too, Yeah he is.

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Speaker 1: He certainly is, and he messaged me a bit earlier

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Speaker 1: this morning. Thank you Doug for having a chat with

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Speaker 1: us today. That is Doug Bardon there. He's the mayor

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Speaker 1: out there at Lichfield