IT might be easy to gloss over the city’s wishlist under the premise that none of it is yet real.
It is but a list of things that those in charge of our city have deemed that we want. One day we’ll need them, but not yet, so let’s leave them play their games, some might argue.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
These are the types of thing modern councils should be judged on.
As the third tier of government, local councils have two choices – to plod along making sure rates, roads and rubbish are taken care of; or to be progressive and fight for the people they serve.
The second option is exactly what we as ratepayers should be demanding from our council.
Councillors are on the ground, speaking to people. They know the area better than anyone, and they should be aware of the primary needs of the city in terms of major infrastructure.
Dare it ever be suggested that the priorities of state and federal funding are at times determined more by a need to be elected than by the needs of the electorate.
Neither should we suggest that the squeaky wheel is often the one to get the oil.
Regardless of how true the cynicism, there is an important role for advocacy to play in the development of our city.
Council should be beating the drum of the nine projects already identified as priorities for the city, louder each day until money falls in the right hands, shovels start digging and cranes start lifting.
For these are projects that council cannot afford. They need money from the higher authorities in order to come to fruition. And if higher authorities don’t know how important each of these projects is to the development of Logan – now and into the future – they simply won’t happen.
