Mayors disappointed after Bush Summit in Tamworth

They say the summit on Friday August 11, was a missed opportunity for NSW Premier Chris Minns and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to speak directly to local mayors about current or future funding for projects that directly impact the regions.

Country Mayors Association chair and Gunnedah mayor Jamie Chaffey said none of the questions he sent through the website prior to the summit were addressed by NSW Premier Chris Minns or Prime Minister Albanese.

"For Gunnedah, the two big issues that we're dealing with are crime and also the very real and genuine concern about the master plan for the Gunnedah Hospital not having adequate funds to be delivered," Cr Chaffey said.

He said he wanted a commitment from the Minns government about securing additional funding in the September budget for the $53 million Gunnedah Hospital upgrade, after plans were scaled back earlier this year due to what Infrastructure Australia cited as escalating building costs.

Cr Chaffey also said that Gunnedah Shire Council "has been calling for additional resourcing in the form of 24-hour policing" for a long time due to a rise in crime such as car thefts, house break-ins and larceny.

He said there is just not enough of "those officers that are responsible for our community", and that he would have preferred a response from the state government about the crime wave issue during the summit.

"We're really concerned that if the state government doesn't allocate more resources then it's impossible to say there's going to be a change in our community," Cr Chaffey said.

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Armidale Regional Council Mayor Sam Coupland said it was a "missed opportunity from the government to provide meatier announcements" about providing "high quality, highly paid, highly skilled jobs in the form of decentralising government departments".

"And that's certainly very topical here in Armidale, with the looming threat of the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Association (APVMA) being relocated to Canberra," Cr Coupland said.

"There was nothing big [announced] that is going to ensure a shift of populations from the cities to the regions.

"I would have thought that given the lineup of speakers, the forum and all the 'hoo haa', something a bit more region-specific would have been nice to hear.

"So maybe my expectations were higher, or maybe unrealistically high?"

Liverpool Plains Shire Council mayor Doug Hawkins described the summit as "positive" but said that he is worried about whether funding under the Resource for Regions would be available in the September budget.

"There was no mention that was back on the table," Cr Hawkins said.

"So I'm still a little bit concerned as to how we get funding to do the work on our roads and the infrastructure that we rely heavily on."

During the Bush Summit in Tamworth, the NSW government announced an additional $10,000 bonus for health workers, taking the initiative up to $20k, to move to any region or rural area across the state.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also announced a $38 million drought resilience package that would fund six research projects for long-term trials of emerging and new agriculture practices.

But perhaps the hottest topic on the day was the debate over wind and solar farms, and transmission lines and towers being built on private land in the transition to renewable energies.

Meanwhile, organisers of the Bush Summit said any questions that the Prime Minister and NSW Premier could not get to during the question and answer sessions would be relayed to them at a later date.

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