Forbes Council Shire have reaffirmed their position to stand alone in response to the IPART assessment of its Fit for the Future proposal at a special meeting this week. The Council’s decision was backed up by Member for Orange Andrew Gee, who says that he fully supports their stance to stand alone.
“Forbes Shire Council has voted unanimously to continue to stand alone, and I have made it clear from the start, I will be backing them to the hilt,” Mr Gee said. “While I accept that people have differing views on the issue, and I, and we as a community certainly need to respect those views, the overwhelming feedback I’ve had at both the community meeting earlier this month, and through a phone survey conducted by Council, is that the communities
of Forbes would rather stand alone.” “Being a local member is about backing your local communities through thick and thin, and while there is no doubt that this is a very tough battle, I’ll be in there fighting for the Forbes community until this thing is done.”
Mayor Phyllis OAM said the response from the community at the public meeting and the telephone survey showed 72% wanted to stand alone.