ARMIDALE Shire Council administrator Dr Ian Tiley was left unconvinced that the majority of Tingha residents would welcome boundary changes to take Tingha into the Inverell shire following a poorly attended community meeting at the Tingha Town Hall on Tuesday, June 21.
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About 40 of the 1000- strong Tingha population attended the meeting, a number that president of the Tingha Citizens Association Colleen Graham was disappointed with.
“Dr Tiley had a lot of representatives with him, an engineer, planner and I think the general manager; all from Armidale,” Mrs Graham said.
“The only person from Guyra Shire Council was corporate services officer Heather Sills, and past mayor Hans Hietbrink and his wife came along in an unofficial capacity.
“Mr Tiley had the floor and gave people three minutes speaking time that they had to register for, if they wanted to say something.” Mrs Graham said Dr Tiley said he could not make an informed decision on the basis of the meeting.
“At that point he was still prepared to hold his plebiscite, but I’ve since heard on radio that that’s now on the backburner,” Mrs Graham said.
“It leaves Tingha where it’s always been, just a little shadow sitting here, and I really wonder how many people know a great deal of what does go on.”