Cr Susannah Pearse, Mayor of Moree Plains Shire

02/09/2026

How generous of the Bartram family and Country Education Foundation to turn a huge and sad loss into something so hopeful and rewarding for our young people.

If you know someone who may benefit from this sponsorship, please encourage them to apply.

🎓 Investing in our future!

The Mitchell Bartram Memorial Trust, in partnership with Country Education Foundation – Moree Branch, is proud to offer a $1,000 scholarship to support an eligible local student studying Certificate III in Engineering – Fabrication.

📅 Applications open 1 August 2026
📅 Applications close 31 October 2026

Please share and help us support the next generation! 💚💙

14/08/2026

Homework time!

The agenda for our 20 August 2026 Council Meeting has been released. Our councillors will be busy reading all 496 pages of it over the week.

There are a number of reports which our community may be interested in:

13.1 A Mayoral Minute asking the council to consider empowering our community-run hall committees by allocating them their own annual budgets to undertake repairs and maintenance.

17.5 A report which - if approved - will enable council to release a partially redacted version of the confidential report of February 2025 which resulted in council making the decision to stop works on the 50m pool at the MAAC and consider Taylor Oval as an alternative site.

17.6 A report detailing recent years' expenditure and capital works costs at the MAAC site.

18.1 A report on the outcomes of the Taylor Oval masterplan community consultation with recommendations for stage 2 of the long term masterplan, along with further site investigations.

19.1 A report containing the deed for the transfer of assets from the NSW Government to Council once built for the Moree Special Activation Precinct.

19.2 A report seeking budget allocations for development of a Waste Strategy and remediation of asbestos contamination at village transfer stations. The report also provides some detail on council's challenges with waste management.

20.3 Council's quarter 4 report, which details what has been delivered in the 2025-26 financial year. This report will form the basis of our Annual Report.

This is not the full list of reports. You can view all reports here:
https://moreeplains.resolve.red/portal/meeting/576

If you found this post interesting and would like me to do it each month, let me know with a 👍

And yes, have succumbed to the middle-aged need for specs. Thanks Amcal Moree!

13/08/2026

It was an honour to stand alongside fellow councillors and Elders from our community today as Moree took its place on NSW’s first heritage trail which follows the path of the 1965 Freedom Ride.

An iconic Blue Plaque was unveiled on our Moree War Memorial Hall, one of the scenes of the Freedom Ride protests, and home to the decisions which prevented Aboriginal people from accessing council facilities such as the renowned Moree Bore Baths through council bylaws.

It was incredibly special and humbling to hear so many Elders who lived and breathed that history tell their stories today. Thank you for sharing with all of us in attendance.
(Check out the article on Moree Online News page for some of their stories.)

It was also great to hear about the non-Aboriginal people who stood with the Freedom Riders and our Aboriginal community in their push for change.

As per our 2024 resolution, Moree Plains Shire Council acknowledges the impact of the creation and enforcement of the 1955 by-laws in reinforcing racial segregation.

I am however proud to be part of a council and community which has progressed from those days.

I am hoping this Blue Plaque will give both residents and visitors alike reason to stop and give pause, to think about that history, the impacts on our community, and about what we can all do to ensure that those prior mistakes are not repeated.

Thank you to Heritage NSW for their initiative, which I hope will also give more people a reason to visit and learn in our region.

You can read more about the trail here: https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/topics/heritage/blue-plaques/1965-freedom-ride

08/08/2026

Sunday musings:

An interesting and highly topical read on news.com.au this morning 🗞️ ☕️

🏊‍♀️ The North Sydney pool which finally opened this week is sadly renowned not for what has been delivered, but for its cost blowout - from an original $28m to $122m.

And who is footing the bill now? Ratepayers, with rates going up 74% over two years 💰

People have generally been fairly dismissive when we have said that if we push on at the MAAC it is going to cost so much more and may not even be possible due to the particular site constraints. Issues with the site which have been well reported for many years and have delivered a poor result for our community and visitors with regular service interruptions and closures for unexpected repair works.

I however do not agree with being flippant about impacts on rates.

We have sought to learn from the missteps that led to the North Sydney pool fiasco, including sending our former GM to a one-day conference where the project was explored in detail. Some of the key issues there were the council taking on a high level of risk and not properly understanding the site deficiencies at the old and historic site, amongst other project management issues.

We are doing what we can to avoid such a situation. But to avoid it, it takes restraint, tough calls, and potentially a fairly simple Stage 1 scope of works which is in line with the budget, to keep the impact on the ratepayer down.

I understand that some in our community still do not understand the rationale behind moving our 50m from the MAAC to Taylor Oval. People think council had a brain 💨 and just turned on a dime. That is not the case.

The decision was a tough one, made based on the facts that:

1. the development had limited contractor interest and the terms of the final contract (which was dealt with in closed council due to commercial particulars) were essentially deemed to be not acceptable to the council. Because council did not accept and enter into the contract, the community cannot be told its particulars.
There had been no other Principal Contractor interest for the project.

2. the development had struggled to progress in a timely fashion due to site conditions including a consistently wet site;

3. the development would be attached to aging infrastructure from the failed 2012 redevelopment which council is still dealing with on a regular basis (and which is continuing to cost ratepayers), which could both compromise the longevity of the new 50m if built there, and mean substantial unbudgeted further works required with more service interruptions;

4. we have grant funding, it expires Dec 2027, and it will be taken away if we don’t have demonstrable progress on a 50m pool.
These grants cannot be used to fix issues at the MAAC.

Despite council trying to get as much information out to the community as possible, I understand that a lot of people are still scratching their heads.

We councillors have asked our team to help us to get more information out to the community on the MAAC. We have a key deliverable for ourselves this financial year - to plan for the future of the MAAC. With that, you will see more financial and site condition information on coming council meeting agendas.

Some say that anything can be done at the MAAC - “they built a tunnel under the Sydney Harbour!” Yes of course, anything can be done with an infinite budget, but we don’t have an infinite budget. We have $13.7m in remaining grant funds and $6.7m in council cash to contribute.

Yes, we could potentially borrow more. But we know that pools are not money makers, and successive councils have worked hard to curb debt, getting it down from the 2014-15 level of $53.7m to $36m.

We are working to deliver a 50m facility that the community can afford.
It isn’t easy, but we are trying to learn from mistakes of the past, both here and beyond.

You can read the news.com.au article about the North Sydney pool here:
🌊 https://bit.ly/4g2mcWo

07/08/2026

Great to catch up with Bronwyn and Steve whose Saturday mornings have been made a bit more pleasant thanks to Moree Plains Shire Council’s upgrades to the Ron Harborne canteen.

The 1980s built canteen and amenities block has had a long-awaited full refresh, with new bathrooms, change rooms and meeting space completed recently and opened in time for Heferen Shield and the upcoming junior rugby carnival.

Work is also kicking along at the netball courts with installation of new amenities expected to be completed within the coming month.

Thanks to Bronwyn, Steve and everyone that helps out at our Saturday morning sports 🙏

07/08/2026

06/08/2026

🗳️ This Tuesday 11 August is Census Night 🗳️

Census is about making sure our Shire and our people are seen, recognised and counted 👵🏽👶🏼👧🏻👨🏾

For regional communities like ours, being accurately counted is critical. This data helps decision-makers understand who lives here, and what our community needs, which determines what services, funding and infrastructure our community gets.

The more people we have, the more love we get from the government!

To everyone who wants an Aldi, a Red Rooster, a Guzman y Gomez, a Big W - pleeeeeease fill in the form! We need population to get those things!

Whether you’ve lived here all your life, recently moved to the area, are working here, or are simply staying in the Shire on Census night, it’s important that you’re counted.

Households should have received a letter in the mail with instructions on how to complete the Census online 👩🏼‍💻

If you need help, or would prefer a paper form, you can also call Census on 1800 130 250. You can also get in-person assistance by visiting Balo Square Moree on Monday 10/8, Tuesday 11/8 and Wednesday 12/8 from 10-4.

Every answer matters because every person here on the Moree Plains matters.

Please, make sure you are counted.

31/07/2026

Just a reminder that the Taylor Oval Masterplan survey closes 11:59pm today.
Link in comments.

30/07/2026

📉 From $53.7m to $36m 🎉

"Council is finally getting our finances back in order," said Moree Plains Shire Council Mayor, Cr Susannah Pearse.

At the Ordinary Council Meeting of 18 June 2026, Council adopted its 2027-2036 Long Term Financial Plan which highlights a continued reduction in loans, with the 2026-27 projection of $36m representing the lowest loan balance in 14 years.

“Council understands that our community expects us to treat public money with the utmost care and do all that we can to ensure the long term financial sustainability of our council. We understand that public funds are not something to be gambled away.

"If we are to avoid a significant rate rise, council simply cannot spend more than we earn, so our focus is on finances that are prudently managed, ensuring value for ratepayer money and not passing the buck onto future ratepayers or councils,” said Moree Plains Shire Council Mayor, Cr Susannah Pearse.

“There is great interest in council’s finances and we are keen to help the community access and understand where we are at – warts and all.”

Cr Pearse noted that one particular area that has been the subject of public discussion lately has been council’s borrowings or loans.

“I am pleased to inform the community that council has got our loan balances down from the 2014-2015 peak of $53.7m, to $36m.”

“This has been the work of successive councils and a really good result for our community,” said Cr Pearse.

“I am especially pleased to inform the community that despite prior plans for a $6m loan for the 50m pool, council is now proposing no new loan for the pool. Council’s contribution is coming from cash,” said Cr Pearse.

Council’s Acting General Manager Mr Ian Stoneman added, “After a period of sustained loan increases for infrastructure including the Moree Gateway, redeveloping the Moree Artesian Aquatic Centre, acquiring the Max Centre, developing the Moree Water Park, constructing a new waste management facility, and some major water projects, council has sought to proactively pay down loans, refinance and not enter into new loans”.

Council’s Chief Financial Officer Mr Andrew Probert confirmed that Council has taken out no new loans since 2022. “In the last 2025-26 financial year, Council started with 31 loans and paid down 8 during the year, leaving 23.”

All councils in NSW are required to prepare a Long Term Financial Plan every year, to ensure appropriate regard for long term budgetary impacts of decision-making, and adequate funding for operations, maintenance and renewal.

“Council’s Long Term Financial Plan reflects council’s intentions to continue to pay down loans and avoid taking out new loans,” said Mr Probert.

“Council has also been working hard to restore its cash in its various funds to be in a better position to fund necessary maintenance and repairs of our vital infrastructure, with the health of each fund improving in the past 12 months,” said Mr Probert.

Council’s draft 2025-26 financial statements will be presented to Council for consideration in September 2026.

30/07/2026

🪏 PALLY PUB’S NEW PROJECT UNDERWAY 🪏

The slogan used to say “Pally’s got a secret” but I don’t think it’s such a secret anymore!

The Pally Pub is going from strength to strength. It was great to pop in and see the progress Shane Taunton and the Pally Pub is making on their new accommodation this afternoon.

With demand outstripping current capacity, the pub is expanding and building 12 new one and two-bedroom fully self-contained cabins just opposite the pub and I was lucky to get a quick tour with Squiz today.

Was also fantastic to see local contractors Muggleton’s Cranes and Grant Wilson Excavation on the tools.

The Pub’s hoping to have these open around Christmastime 🎅

Another great project happening in our shire 🙌

Thanks Pally Pub for investing in our community.