Rose Jackson hears local concerns during Bourke and Brewarrina visit

Bourke Shire Mayor Lachlan Ford, Councillors, General Manager Leonie Brown, and Manager of Works Peter Brown had the opportunity to meet with Minister Rose Jackson (centre) and Member for Barwon Roy Butler during their visit to Bourke last week. Photo TWH

Water security, mental health, housing, and youth services were all high on the agenda when NSW Minister for Water, Housing, Homelessness, Mental Health and Youth, the Hon.Rose Jackson, visited Bourke and Brewarrina last week alongside Member for Barwon, Roy Butler.

In Bourke, the Minister met with Bourke Shire Councillors, representatives from the village of Louth, and Council Executives to hear firsthand of the ongoing challenges that Far North West communities face.

General Manager of Bourke Shire Council, Leonie Brown, said the Minister was receptive and took the time to listen.

“We held a meeting that involved our Councillors and the Minister, and then we also had another meeting where the Minister and Mr Butler met with representatives from Louth regarding the proposed lowering of the Louth weir,” Mrs Brown said.

“She certainly listened to their points. These people have resided on the river for a long time and have a lot of information around their lived experiences. Whether science agrees with that or not, that’s the debate. But they’ve  lived there, and they know what the River is like at Louth.”

Water security was a key concern.

“Bourke only has six-months of water in the weir pool once the River stops flowing and Council continues with its efforts to finding a solution to securing more water for Bourke,” Mrs Brown said.

“Minister Jackson gave a commitment that she’s continuing to support communities needing to secure more water, whether that’s increasing the height of an existing weir, constructing a new weir, or delivering off-river storage.”

“Council maintains and provides a non-potable water supply at each of the villages in the Shire. Council only has 25 megalitre water licenses in these villages, and some of them are close to using that allocation already. The Minister told us that licensing allocation is top of her agenda, which is good.” […]

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