Melissa Hargraves
Richmond Valley Council (RVC) says it’s time local National Party MPs stood up for their region and push the state government to boost police presence in the Casino area.
Cr Robert Mustow said the policing issue has been around for many years and he feels council had been snubbed.
‘The community deserves better and we need to lobby hard,’ Cr Mustow told councillors last week.
‘Over the years when we had the Labor Party in, we had National Party reps saying they would “do this and do that”, well now they are in power,’ he said.
The comments came as councillors voted at the RVC meeting last week for general manager John Walker to take part in a NOROC (Northern Rivers Regional Organisation of Councils) delegation to Sydney on Thursday to lobby police minister Michael Gallacher for increased police presence in the community.
Local state members Thomas George (Lismore) and Christopher Gulaptis (Clarence) will facilitate the meeting.
Former mayor Cr Col Sullivan reminded council of a previous visit to Sydney over the same matter which came to nought.
‘We were assured last time that after a report on the policing across NSW was complete they would get back to us, well they never did, ’ Cr Sullivan said.
Councillors noted in their decision that ‘to date, whilst the minister claims increased police numbers on the north coast, no discernible improvement in service has been noted in our area.’
The longstanding call for a 24-hour police station in Casino has never been met and although council has secured funding for CCTV cameras in the town’s CBD, it is seen as a deterrent and not a solution.
The CCTV funding does not cover other communities like Coraki and Evans Head.
A report of the outcome of the meeting with ministers is due to be presented to next month’s meeting.
Cr Mustow asked for an assurance from Mr Walker that all the information from previous meetings, and 2,000 letters of support and feedback from the Strategic Plan (which identified that 90 per cent of residents feel unsafe), would be passed on to the minister.
Mr Walker agreed, saying the information had been passed on to the local police command.
Council staff say that media had reported that ‘an inquiry is being carried out by new assistant commissioner Mr Jeff Loy who has been transferred to the northern region, and started to look at the current and future challenges for resourcing on the north coast.’
Mr Walker told council that ‘NOROC has decided as a group that mayors and general managers of all constituent councils will travel to Sydney to meet to discuss a range of issues that affect our region.’