Talk about being underwhelmed by the State Budget - obviously it doesn't count that we were so nice to the Premier and her Cabinet when they visited.
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This year’s Budget, was much like the last we few years, Singleton received virtually nothing which is disappointing given the dollars that leave our local government area from coal royalties.
What did we get in the Budget ? Well $12 million to widen the Gowrie Gates underpass – the hole in the wall on the New England Highway and $5 million to plan for the upgrade of the New England Highway from Belford to its intersection with the Golden Highway.
We consider that paltry and totally inadequate for our growing community.
Only days before handing down the Budget Premier Gladys Berejiklian and her Cabinet were in town talking up their economic credentials and how they were interested in regional and rural communities like Singleton.
Talk is cheap our community needs some real investment in infrastructure not more planning. Take the hole in the wall we were promised years ago it would be widened and still we are waiting.
Now they are talking about planning an upgrade of the New England Highway at Belford. Truly can’t they spend the money on actual plans as it doesn’t appear to require massive engineering and land acquisitions to widen that stretch of the highway.
Singleton needs that work up and running as soon as possible along with the long promised fly-over for the actual intersection of the New England and Golden highway.
Come on Premier get that cheque book out for Singleton. In politics perception is everything and the State Government let us down with their Budget. However they were not alone.
Singleton Councillors voted last week to increase their annual fees to the maximum allowable rate.
This occurred at a time when the vast majority of ratepayers are not enjoying any wage increases.
When the Councillors and Mayor stood for election last year they did so in the full knowledge of what their fees would be and they were happy to be elected based on those figures.
We accept they are entitled to an annual fee increase but surely they should have accepted something more in keeping with community expectations.