Murray Bridge council watch: Councillors contemplate cat confinement
Plus the latest on a “chatty bench” in Murray Bridge, plans to fly the Ngarrindjeri flag through winter, the city’s future structure and more.
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Three years ago, Murray Bridge’s councillors voted not to impose a curfew on the city’s cats.
Could a change of heart could be on the way?
At a meeting last week, Cr Tom Haig asked staff to put together a report on the cat containment regulations he said were now in force in more than a third of South Australian councils.
Alexandrina, the Adelaide Hills and a number of metropolitan councils require cat owners to keep their animals confined at home at all times, and other councils have an overnight cat curfew.
He also suggested the council consider a free desexing program.
Cr Karen Eckermann, a fierce advocate for humane cat management since her election 10 years ago, welcomed the suggestions.
It was she who proposed a curfew in 2020, and who later slammed her fellow councillors and staff for failing to act on the issue.
Chatty bench will ease locals’ loneliness
A conversation can save a life – that’s the principle behind a weekly Chatty Cafe event in Murray Bridge, and now the planned transformation of a bench outside a Murray Bridge shopping centre.
One of the benches at the corner of Sixth Street and South Terrace, outside Silly Solly’s and Murray Bridge Marketplace, will be replaced in the coming months.
The new bench will have signage saying something like “sit here if you don’t mind someone stopping for a chat or to say hello”.
If you’re feeling lonely or troubled, you’ll be able to sit down and wait for someone to stop for a chat.
There will also be a QR code linking people to mental health support services.
The bench will be made by members of the Murraylands Community Men’s Shed, and the project led by AC Care and the Murray Bridge Wellbeing Hub.
A Chatty Cafe event with a similar philosophy is held at the Square Community Centre at 10.30am every Thursday.
Ngarrindjeri flag will be flown through winter
The Ngarrindjeri flag will fly outside Murray Bridge’s council office for six weeks per year from now on, from late May to early July.
Councillors approved a proposal to fly the flag from Reconciliation Week until NAIDOC Week each year, to acknowledge the district’s traditional owners and start public conversations.
The Australian, South Australian and Aboriginal flags will continue to be flown, as usual, throughout the year.
The Ngarrindjeri flag will fly on a fourth pole used from time to time for the rainbow flag, national flags of visiting dignitaries, and service clubs’ flags.
The blue and white flag, featuring a golden sun and ochre boomerang, was designed by elder Matt Rigney and first flown on Hindmarsh Island in 1999.
Plan for future growth finalised
The future is never certain, but the shape of Murray Bridge’s growth over the next 15 years has been more or less locked in.
Councillors last week gave their final approval to a structure plan which will determine what goes where between now and 2040, from housing to industry to a new R-12 school.
Mayor Wayne Thorley described the plan as “probably the most forward-looking document you’ve seen from our council for some time”.
More transparency needed around futures fund
As the Murray Bridge council starts a review of all the property it owns, it needs to be more transparent about what it will do with the proceeds of any sales, a councillor says.
Council policy calls for any profit from land sales to be deposited into a futures fund, which currently has a balance of almost $900,000.
But Cr Airlie Keen called on council staff to provide councillors with more regular information about how much money was going into and out of the fund.
When it came to being transparent, the council had improved a lot, she said – but it could still do better.
Murraylands councils may team up on economic development
The Murray Bridge council has divorced itself from Regional Development Australia in an effort to spur growth in the district – could other councils do the same?
Council CEO Heather Barclay met with a group of other councils last month to talk about “the potential for shared services around economic development” and “exploring opportunities for collaboration”.
Murray Bridge has gone its own way on economic development since pulling funding out of RDA and opening a business hub last year.
Wheels begin turning on Thiele Reserve work
Council staff have agreed to keep working on a solution to safety issues at Murray Bridge East’s Thiele Reserve after an approach by local residents last month.
After a push by Cr Andrew Baltensperger, staff agreed to:
- continue efforts to identify a suitable method to solve erosion and bank instability at riverfront reserves including Thiele Reserve
- explore possible funding sources
- consider forming a consultative committee to work on the problem
Any committee would include community members such as Bob Neindorf, who spoke to councillors in May, staff said.
- Read more: Thiele Reserve needs a fix, residents say
