Clutha District Councilor Bruce Graeme spoke of the current consultations occurring in the Clutha District. He emphasised there importance to Milton. One consultation which has now passed the deadline for submissions is the number of councilors that make up the represenation of the Clutha District Council. Currently 14 councilors and the Mayor represent our communities. The proposal is for this to reduce to 9 Councilors and a Mayor. Councilor Graeme suggestss a Community Board could serve Milton well if Councilors are reduced. He feels they can be more in touch with local issues than the wider Council. He also stated that Community Boards have proven to be a good training for future Councilors. The other issue for Milton district is the swimming pool and library development. Due to cost blow outs ( 2.5 million ) this also has to go back for District wide consultation. Options are to continue with the extra cost, downscale the project or mothball it. Councilor Graeme encouraged us to make submissions. Although submissions are dictrict wide he claimed submisions from Milton may carry more weight. Discussion by members made points that " vibrant communities have good ammenities " and the positives were greater than the negatives. Submissions are expected to open for the pool/library development in early October.
Colin Calteaux with Councilor Bruce Graeme
