The Southern Downs Regional Council’s Stanthorpe chambers have been getting a workout for the past month, and there’s a good reason for that.
The Warwick chambers have been closed to meetings while refurbishments take place. The work should be finished in time for the swearing in of the brand new council.
Southern Downs Mayor Councillor Vic Pennisi said it would be nice for the new council representatives to start afresh because the current cohort of councillors hadn’t had a ‘proper’ chambers in Warwick all term.
“As soon as Covid hit we started meeting in the Town Hall. It was freezing and we couldn’t hear properly so we had to hire expensive microphones and PAs just to keep going.
“In the chambers, the furniture had been water damaged and new furniture was built in the second year, but it was sitting in storage while the roofing was being fixed.”
So the councillors and officers have been making do with collapsible tables discreetly covered in black cloth.
It’s expected the swearing in of councillors will happen in the first week of April, immediately followed by a special meeting to vote for the Deputy Mayor.
The new Mayor is usually announced on voting night but last time the counting for the councillors’ positions took about two weeks.
