On Thursday evening representatives of the various village associations from within Blayney Shire were invited to attend a meeting to discuss council's proposal for a development coordinator program.
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The proposal seeks to guard against the loss of local autonomy in the face of the Blayney-Orange-Cabonne merger by implementing four 'village clusters'.
Each of these clusters will be allocated $25,000 per annum over four years to employ a development coordinator whose job will be to source external grant funding, coordinate and promote local events and represent the association in its dealings with council.
The program is the brainchild of Blayney Shire Council General Manager Rebecca Ryan who spoke about her experience with the Warrumbungle's Shire where she successfully implemented such a scheme.
Councillor David Somervaille believes that this concept has the potential to strengthen local communities in the face of council mergers.
Whilst the reaction from village representatives was one of tentative support there were also a number of concerns raised with regard to the degree of authority these clusters would have in choosing and dismissing a coordinator.
There were also concerns over the possible loss of autonomy of individual village associations.
Council would like feedback within the next couple of weeks.
Taking Time Out
LAST week Liz Hayes and the 60 Minutes crew stayed in Stoke House Bed and Breakfast.
The reason for their visit was to interview Carcoar resident Nick Lee who has written a book titled "All This In 60 Minutes" which details his 35 years as a 60 Minutes cameraman.
The book will be launched in Sydney on July 27.
The crew shot scenes of Carcoar on Tuesday and Liz Hayes conducted an interview at Nick’s home on Wednesday.
If you have an upcoming event please contact us at ricconlie@ozemail.com.au
