Kylie Hughes

26/09/2023

The Chittering Residents & Ratepayers Assn have organised a series of public meet & greet sessions with the 5x Candidates, including myself who have nominated for Election in the upcoming Chittering Shire local election.
Tonight's session is in Wannamal commencing at 7pm in the Community Centre.
The next 2 sessions are;
Tomorrow, Wednesday the 28th 7pm at Bindoon Hall &
Thursday 29th 7pm at Lower Chittering Hall.
Hope to see many of you this evening in Wannamal or at one of the other sessions if you can't make it tonight. Please Vote #1 Kylie Hughes.

02/10/2019

From the LCSRF 2016 feasibility study, feedback recieved from the few community surveys returned indicated that aside from walking being the main activity most people wanted to be able to do more of, a public pool and indoor courts would address many of the identified service gaps. I think that perhaps it was a facility more like this one being built in Ellenbrook which those people had in mind? Which is simply not financially viable until we have a population on par with that in Ellenbrook - Bullsbrook is next in line for something on this scale because they will have the ratebase to afford it. Link below (comments on the post are interesting too);

https://www.facebook.com/1909848682628539/posts/2476605869286148/

Ellenbrook & Bullsbrook are close enough for people here to travel the short distance to - many travel daily further afield to work than that. We NEED to focus on putting more value on what we do have, rather than what else we think we want because the grass is much greener on this side of the fence - alot of people in these high density housing areas with infrastructure to support it want what we have!

If we put the Shire into $7.3M debt to build half a facility that isn't even what the majority of people had in mind how is that visionary or progressive? Its loosing sight of what matters most to all of the people who live here - a sustainable country lifestyle and time to live their best life here. Not to be working more and more to pay a fortune in rates only to travel 20 mins away to use facilities elsewhere anyway that better meet their needs.

What more will the Ratepayers in this Shire really be getting for their higher rates to build the LCSRC that isn't already being superseded right next door?

Even if you have children at IHC you really be better off paying more in rates & school fees for the LCSRF? If IHC can afford to invest THAT much money into a shire building (estimated$450K p/a) - just imagine what they could afford to build themselves instead which they would own and could use for free forever?

There's NO loser's if this does not go ahead, thinking about it from that perspective. What else could the Shire possibly hope achieve for ratepayers over the next 20years with that debt burden? What else will be lost and at what real cost will it be to ratepayers to Use the $4.7M Grant. Remember there are numerous other huge projects in the pipeline too.

Rates are the Sum of all things the Shire has to do, but can't afford to. Rates are increased each year at Budget time to cover the shortfall required to balance the books. Any other business needs to close that gap of their own devices, Shire's just charge us with that responsibility.

I believe that Council needs to push the responsibility back to the business to fix the funding gaps! Rubber stamping $1.625 million dollar unsecured loans and taking on $7.3M of debt and the extorbinant interest charges associated with that flies in the face of this principal.

Authorised by Kylie Hughes, Chittering Street, Muchea.

27/09/2019

You do have the power to make change. Vote when you receive your ballot.

Lots of Bad Councillors are elected by lots of good people who don't vote.

If you've never before voted in local council elections - I implor you to check whether you can afford not to vote this time! The Stakes have never been higher! The prospect of huge rate rises and financial insecurity for the next 20 years hangs in the balance.

It takes just 5 minutes to complete the vote and have your say on who will represent you for the next 4 years. That is 0.00024% of your time over the next 4 years. Make it count.

Vote 4 to be sure. 👍 Hughes, Angus, Davis & Curtis.

Authorised by K Hughes, Chittering Street, Muchea.

COMMENT by Liam Ducey WE love to complain about local government. Whether it be rates, development...

24/09/2019

This went out today & Ballot Envelopes have also started to arrive so be sure to check your Mailboxes & PO Boxes. There is a Public Forum with the Candidates tomorrow evening - 7.30 PM in Bindoon Hall. There will be a Q&A opportunity if you have any questions or feedback for candidates. See you there. I'll add that flyer too , CRRA are running the evening but I have not been involved in those plans in the interest of fairness.

23/09/2019

22/09/2019

I've heard and seen it said time and again recently that the proposal to build the Lower Chittering Sport and Recreation Facility is Dividing this Community and even been accused of insighting that, their reason being some mysterious plot to an election campaign?

This is simply not true and I think it says a lot more about them and where their self interests hide in plain sight, than it does about me. I'm not hiding anything. I tell it as it is because we're all grown ups and as such I believe people are entitled to make their own informed decisions instead of having someone else decide what's best for us (themselves?) and then cherrypick the parts of the story that fit the narrative to support the decision they've made.

This has been the overwhelming consensus of of most of the complaints about the LCSRF - 'Why didn't we know anything about this?' Most of those saying that mean they didn't know anything at all - not just the details but that this was proposed to be built - because they'd never even heard of it. And there wherein lies the biggest problem - THAT is why this is all being discussed in the community now and not 3 years ago when the 'public consultation' was done in 2016 - clearly not many people were actually consulted.

But far from dividing the community - It has inspired and empowered more people than ever before to come together! There are more people coming to Council meetings, more people coming to Community meetings and information sessions, more people meeting and speaking to neighbours and others in our community - all United in their quest to take part and be counted. That is incredibly positive. People on both sides of the debate have had the exact same opportunity for community engagement.

What is interesting is that the overwhelming majority of people with questions are being labelled 'Opposed to' because they are asking fundamentally important questions because they haven't been given any of that information. Why don't those 'For it' seem to have many questions? It seems to be mostly reasons? 'We deserve to have a Facility of our own' is a pretty Divisive reason in itself.

What else is really interesting is that those few people that are engaging in the debate 'advocating for' this, including those 4 Councillors in favor of it going ahead as is, keep claiming that there are Thousands of People who support this. When asked where are they then? The usual response is that the 'vast majority who support this proposal' are silent on this issue. Again the exact same opportunity is available to both sides of the debate. What if, and I expect this is more likely! the vast majority of people 'Opposed to' this are silent on the issue for exactly the same reasons as those advocating for it?
There are some nasty commenters from the 'For' camp too!

I think what it boils down to, is that ALOT of the people claiming that 'this is Dividing the community' most likely mean - They don't like that there are people opposed to what they were going to do, now that those people actually know about it. Which is the only thing that's changed - people know about it. Which is why they are blaming those such as myself for telling them and thereby 'dividing the community.' It's yet another smokescreen.

This Community has never been stronger! It's inspiring to see so many people taking an active interest in community engagement. There's far more information being shared and discussion being had about what services and activities we DO Have as well as what else we'd like and need more of. There are MANY benefits for our community and local businesses and groups coming out of this debate.

There are a multitude of wonderful ideas being bandied about for different community activities and services this new development could provide - Its just a Building. The vast majority of these ideas such as Play group, Parents groups, youth group, Physio led 'Aging in Motion' Act, Belong, Commit group activities ,Yoga and other exercise classes,, Autumn Club, Bridge and similar community centre type groups and activities can be facilitated RIGHT NOW. The Lower Chittering Hall is under utilised and available to be used for any of these and much much more! The reason we don't have these activities & services isn't the lack of a Facility - It's because no one is driving them. For whatever reason we are all time poor - maybe as much as we'd like to! we simply don't have time.

The Shire could be canvassing for or inviting activity & service providers to come and trial these things to Gauge community interest. You don't need to build it for them to come - you just need to invite them to come, and it need not cost anything to try it.

This will be one of many areas of focus for me going forward. We are already thinking in these terms for the Muchea Facility also including Sports Medicine type services. There's no reason why this can't also be happening for the Lower Chittering Village Green or any of the other Shire Halls and Facilities across the Shire area. I have mentioned this to the Shire previously and will continue to lobby for these Shire Buildings to begin working for the community! instead of being ignored sitting vacant most of the time unless its the existing Sporting and community groups driving their own use.
This is a Huge missed opportunity the Shire can and should be persuing!

If the Shire build this new Facility - who will be using it? There's no clubs just waiting for it to be built. Lower Chittering has only got 1 Sporting Club - Cricket and there's no Oval so won't use the new Facility. Canvassing for users for Shire's existing buildings is not done now and they are vacant much of the time? What would change? It's still just a Building at the end of the day. A $10M Gamble.

Within every community there are always going to be people focussed on different things that are important to them. We will never all agree and people won't agree all of the time. So long as people are respectful of that - a healthy debate is how some of the best ideas are roused and compromises reached.

Hope every ones enjoying this magnificent Spring Sunday afternoon 🌞

Authorised by K.Hughes,
Chittering St, Muchea. For Chittering!

21/09/2019

Well that's a wrap on the Winter Netball Season - 6 teams into finals this year, 3 into Grandfinals with 2 Premierships won 🏆🏆
Exciting way to spend the day in the Sun 😎
3 weeks off then straight into Spring Season!

Speaking of the next 3 weeks - This IS YOUR Opportunity to HAVE YOUR SAY! Postal voting envelopes went out yesterday so you should be receiving them in the next few days.

Are YOU better off than you were 4 years ago?

The Stakes Have Never Been HIGHER! VOTE!
Step up for a SUSTAINABLE Future! VOTE!
Make Chittering SANE Again! VOTE!
Fix the Hall, SAVE US ALL! VOTE!
Had Enough? I have too! VOTE!

Talk is cheap! Voting is free.
Better yet, It's coming soon to a letterbox near you. Return your envelope before Oct 19th.

Remember too - VOTE FOUR to MAKE SURE!!

Kylie Hughes
Mary Angus
John Curtis

Sincerely,
Democracy!

LOL - So many clichès all true though!

Authorised by K.Hughes,
Chittering St. Muchea. For Chittering!

18/09/2019

We NEED change.

Time to put the best interests of ALL ratepayers back on the table - a SUSTAINABLE future! At the end of 2018 in the Shires LTFP there was an estimated $3.66M Operational DEFICIT with funding gaps across all areas of Building Assets Maintenance & Renewals totalling more than a MILLION dollars every year! That's more than 50% of what needs to be done, not actually being done! Buildings, Facilities, Parks, Verges & Roads. Year on year - That's not a Progressive, Visionary or Positive report card.

In fact the Findings state: 'An analysis of the financial information provided reveals that for the 2017-18 financial year the Shire has an estimated operational DEFICIT of $3.66M. This result places the Shire in a vulnerable position, with an Operating Surplus Ratio of (51.2%) in the NEGATIVE - that's right we have a NEGATIVE surplus! How has this trend not been turned around? its gotten worse every year for the past 4 on this Council's watch - one must ask, what on earth were they watching instead?

The LTFP is missing MILLIONS - none of the funding changes to the LC Sport & Rec Facility have been applied and it only has $2M capital cost in the plan for stage 1. We know this is incorrect- its a Shire contribution of $3M loan plus the IHC proposed shire self-supporting unsecured loan for Capital Costs why hasn't it been changed as those changes were made? So an informed decision about future impact of those changes upon the Financial Health of the Shire could be made?

Currently all LTFP Financial Health Indicator projections show the Shire heading into the RED within the short to medium term. Also shown is a necessary Increase to Rate Revenue of $4.2M over 10 years while Shire only plans to increase their operating revenue by $1.3M over that period. Remembering this is on the figures missing millions of expenses so Rates Revenue will need to be much higher than this to balance the budget as it stands.

This is Shire's Long Term Financial Plan - The forecast of income & expenditure for the next 10 years, The forward planning guide to AFFORDABILITY & SUSTAINABILITY. This shows we can not even AFFORD to do everything on the books right now - armed with this information;

Who thinks adding $5M of borrowings to take Shires total from $2.2M to over $7.2M right now is a sensible idea? Who thinks adding a $10M Building Asset with Operational Expenses & Loan repayments of more than $700K p/a to a budget already running with a $3.66M DEFICIT right now is a sensible idea?

It's not scaremongering if the truth is scarey!

If you want a new strategy - to find a better plan VOTE for candidates who are asking these sort of questions. I have been but they have been ignored. That's why I have nominated so that important questions like these are answered with action towards resolving them!

Mary Angus has been consistently outvoted trying to ask these sorts of questions. Candidates John Davis and John Curtis have been asking these questions too too.

Authorised & Written by Kylie Hughes, Chittering St Muchea.

15/09/2019

The Nominations are in, there are 7 candidates for 4 positions declared vacant. My advise, choose the 4 candidates that are already acting in the best interests of this community.

Actions speak louder than words.

Most candidates are either current councillors, former councillors or previous nominees. Use the power of hindsight to hold candidates to account for their pledges, have they walked the walk or just talk the talk? Choose wisely there is alot at stake with the Shire right on the cusp of a period of rapid growth and monumental change.

It is critical that a sensible, holistic and sustainable approach is taken to ensure that Shire can capitalise on all of the opportunities as they present to maximise potential growth and in doing so protect whats most important to us! Rather than letting imperious unaffordable projects under the guise of 'progress' run right over the top! Swamping the Shire for years to come 🎱

Progress is perhaps better thought of as adaptability. A local community hub for LC is a Fantastic idea - I do not dispute that & I know that will potentially become the heart of a well connected, engaged and thriving community. But no one can deny that there have been significant funding changes - adding MILLIONS in interest charges to the capital costs for ALL parties.

There are also significant environmental issues surrounding sourcing and discharge of water which need very careful not rushed consideration making the LC Sport & Rec Facility in its current form financially unsustainable and the water environmental risks aren't even known.

It's not a NO! It's a things have changed - lets work together to find another solution that won't cost more on either front!
The Grant can be suspended while a solution is found. Social capital is important too! Rural neighbourhoods thrive when due care and consideration is given to retaining and enhancing the WHY people want to move to a country community. Ratepayers should have time to enjoy a sustainable work, life balance without the stress of looming rate hikes.

Adding $5 MILLION dollars of debt taking the Shire total borrowings well over $7M is a massive change - take a minute to think that through. It costs ALOT more to pay money back than to does to SAVE it up. Earn interest, don't pay it.

All the Candidates profiles can be found here;

15/09/2019

Good evening, It's been a very exciting fortnight in Chittering! With Spring Fest and many associated activities right across the Shire concluding today well done to all involved what a wonderful way to celebrate Spring in this fantastic part of the world.

Most of our Netball & Footy Club's have been involved in Finals with SMNA Netball & CJFC Footy Grand Finals this weekend, Muchea Grand Finals next weekend. All have had lots of Wins, fantastic seasons, club champions and club/team wind-ups! We have our many varied Spring & Summer Sports getting geared up for their seasons this month too with no time to spare.

It's a great time of year to become more engaged and active in our local communities - if you don't envisage physically jumping into activities - sports clubs, community clubs and groups and community services such as your local volunteer bush fire brigades are always happy to have people volunteering for support roles too. Volunteering is a huge part of our Country Spirit which keeps our community connected, its also a great way to meet your neighbours and forge new friendships 😀

14/09/2019

I sincerely hope that this is how the entire shire votes because the Councillors need to best represent the interests of ALL ratepayers and the financials for that project in its current form do not equate to a good business decision any day of the week. For the record I am not opposed to Lower Chittering getting sport and recreation facility upgrades - but there are better ways to achieve that!
It's not a $4.7M gift if it costs you $15M dollars over 20 years to have it? If ALL banks think it's too risky to provide an unsecured $1.65M loan, it's too risky. Simple as that. Common Sense = Vote 4 to ensure that Sustainable, Sensible and Solution Orientated decisions are made - it's not 'progressive' to drag the finances into the RED. It's not 'negative' to speak the truth - the truth is shocking in this case! the negativity is not in the telling - the devil is in the detail or lack there of! the long term financial plan has million dollar holes in it!
If I'm an 'opponent' in this fable, I can assure you that I have not 'only nominated' on this issue. I've nominated because I have lost trust and faith in Council to represent me because so many residents and ratepayers asked Council for a referendum on this and they refused - refused to let the ratepayers have a voice. That said ALOT more than the results could have.
Authorised & written by Kylie Hughes, of Muchea but for the Shire Area of Chittering.