Toowoomba Regional Council (TRC) is looking into ways of better connecting with residents outside Toowoomba City by potentially holding meetings in regional towns.

Cr Megan O’Hara Sullivan proposed a motion at the Ordinary Meeting of Council last week that a meeting be held once a quarter in regional townships on a rotational basis, with residents encouraged to make deputations at the meeting and to have the opportunity to talk with councillors informally.

The motion was voted down 5-6, with councillors O’Hara Sullivan, O’Shea, Vonhoff, Shine and Melissa Taylor voting for it.

An alternate motion proposed by Cr Geoff McDonald, seconded by Cr Bill Cahill, will see a report outline a variety of options and officer recommendations for additional engagement of councillors into regional communities, to be presented in October.

This motion passed unanimously.

Although the towns were the meetings could be held were not specifically mentioned, the eight areas that amalgamated to form the Toowoomba Region were Toowoomba, Cambooya (Greenmount), Clifton, Pittsworth, Jondaryan Shire (Oakey), Millmerran, Rosalie (Goombungee) and Crows Nest.

Council meeting chambers still exist in each centre.

In her motion, Cr O’Hara Sullivan noted that this idea was trialled after amalgamation but she believed it was very costly due to the number of staff having to travel to the regions in order to speak to their items.

With modern video conference technology, the cost and time would be greatly reduced.

Cr O’Hara Sullivan said councillors were looking for more ways to engage with all residents throughout the Region.

“We all get feedback about not being accessible enough so we need to look at ways we can change this as we genuinely want to hear from each community member in the Toowoomba Region,” Cr O’Hara Sullivan said.

“Having meetings in the smaller communities would provide an opportunity for school groups and residents to interact with us more and it would allow for individuals in those areas to give delegations to Council.”

Answering a question from Cr Nancy Sommerfield about the logistics of holding the meetings across the region, CEO Brian Pidgeon said in some places connectivity is fine while in other places Council will need to investigate to see if it is possible to do so.

Cr Carol Taylor was critical of the original proposal, believing the best way to know what is happening in the region is to talk to people at events, having “ordinary conversations with ordinary people.”

She said the only people who will attend are those strongly against or for an issue.

Cr Tim McMahon suggested it would be a good idea to host special meetings of council in regional towns when a development application pertaining to the local area is the topic of the meeting.

Mayor Paul Antonio, who was Deputy Mayor during the previous regional meetings, said he did not think the meetings held at the smaller towns were any success at all.

He said he had hoped to host more town meetings this term, which began in early 2020, but COVID-19 made it impossible to do so.

Cr Sommerfield said general town hall meetings turn into “yell-at-us fests” and she preferred a more structured approach.

This article appeared in On Our Selection News, 25 August 2022.