Bundaberg Regional Council has halted its proposal to reduce the number of divisions in the Bundaberg Region Local Government Area from 10 to 8 following limited community response.
In February Council resolved to undertake community consultation on the proposed change to local government arrangements, which would have reduced the number of Councillors from 10 to 8 divisional Councillors plus the Mayor, resulting in a cost saving of about $1,060,000 per Council term.
Mayor Helen Blackburn said, as a major amendment within the Local Government change process, ascertaining community support was the first step in the process.
However, she said the number of responses received had made it clear this was not a priority for locals.
“As a Council we have committed to finding cost savings and efficiencies wherever possible and reviewing the number of divisions, and therefore Councillors, in the region was just one avenue we had been investigating,” Mayor Blackburn explained.
“We had just over 600 responses to our survey across a range of different platforms and approaches which, considering we have some 77,700 registered voters in our Local Government Area, does not adequately represent community sentiment on this matter.”
Mayor Blackburn said Council had launched an online survey promoted avenues including its websites, social media channels and a media release and media interviews.
“In addition to that, Councillors themselves gathered feedback at pop up events through our Connect with your Councillor sessions and I distributed a paper-based survey as well.
“Due to the limited number of responses we have determined that this is not a matter our community wants prioritised at this time and therefore we will not progress it any further.”
Mayor Blackburn said Council remained committed to finding efficiencies and cost savings where possible after delivering a significant turnaround in its financial position in the 2025-2026 budget.
Council divisions and divisional boundaries are managed by the Electoral Commission of Queensland.
