As I hope you would by now be aware, we currently have a survey out to understand the community’s support for or against a split of our local health district. We haven’t been sitting idly by, we have attended the rally held in Memorial Park, met with Murrumbidgee Local Health District (MLHD) and sent out letters as requested by the resolution of Council, including to the Minister for Health.

Please let me say a couple of things to begin with. I have never said that I or Council are against the proposed split, only that we require more information about the process and the outcome of the split. Secondly, please remember there are staff involved in the outcome of this push. Please respect the doctors, nurses and allied staff who have as much skin in the game as we all do, if not more.

We have now provided information on both sides of the debate on Council’s website. You will see information provided by our Local Member as to why we should split and also information from MLHD as to the what the potential split would mean.

We are trying to present a balanced argument for the community to make their own mind up about the split, we are not trying to sway anyone one way or the other.

However, we do need community feedback via the survey, we have had over 500 surveys completed to date but we need many more to get a good idea about community sentiment. With the additional information, I hope we will see a surge in surveys completed.

We must also remember many fellow Local Government Areas will be affected by the potential split, and we also want to hear from them so please spread the word far and wide. This is an extremely important discussion that must take place in our community.

Stay safe, stay well and above all else be kind to each other.