Narrogin council to vote on cash splash for heritage restoration projects and 4.99pc rate rise

The Shire of Narrogin council was set to vote at Wednesday’s council meeting on a proposed 4.99 per cent rates rise for the next financial year and whether to spend $130,000 on works at the Narrogin Town Hall as part of its 2022-23 budget. The proposed rates hike follows the 2.5 per cent rates increase last year, which was reduced from 2.9 per cent due to “efficiency gains”. “The proposed increase in rates means that the average rates for a typical three by two house in Narrogin townsite will increase by approximately $80 per annum, or the equivalent of $1.50 per week, about the same as a mug of coffee per month,” an officer’s report said. Shire president Leigh Ballard said the proposed 4.99 per cent rates increase was to cover the “increased cost of running the Shire”. “Most of the Shire’s costs have risen by a minimum of five per cent, if not more, and to keep providing those services the community expect from us we need to be able to cover those costs,” he said. “Our biggest costs are fuel and supplies for road maintenance and road building. “We don’t want to provide a lower service to our community.” The draft budget, released to the public ahead of the council meeting, included $130,000 for works at the Narrogin Town Hall including lighting, a hot water system and stage rigging — up from $75,000 allocated last year. The funding comes after Narrogin’s peak arts organisation Arts Narrogin pulled its production from the town hall and moved it to Williams in May due to ongoing safety issues at the State Heritage-listed building. The Shire have since agreed to address the safety issues, with the stage rigging being the number one priority. “We got a bit of work to do at the Town Hall, which is great, and we will hopefully bring that back up to a standard that it has to be to keep the Arts Narrogin shows coming through,” Mr Ballard said. Narrogin Leisure Centre would also receive $484,500 towards purchasing a new emergency generator, court upgrades, lighting improvements, and provision for repairs to pool liner, filter and boiler. The restoration of the Narrogin Railway Station would continue to be a key area of spending for a third year, with a total $175,000 to be set aside for the completion and fit-out, dependent on grants.