Mayor column: with Cr John Harvie

Mayor column: with Cr John Harvie

Published on 12 March 2026

Council has received a few enquiries recently, from Moama residents, about progress with the opening of the NSW Ambulance station in Moama. We were initially told that the station would be operational in November last year, however, it is now expected to begin operating in the second quarter of this year. Our recent enquiries with NSW Ambulance also revealed that the vehicles have been allocated and recruitment of paramedics is underway.

Speaking of state government services for our region, the Moama Police Station which has been operating since late last year and which was built on land provided by council, will be officially opened by NSW Minister for Police the Hon. Yasmin Catley MP on 1 April, 2026. Councillors and CEO Stacy Williams have been invited and will attend.

The opening will be a further opportunity for council and Member for Murray, Helen Dalton MP to lobby the minister in relation to replacing the existing and permanently unusable Mathoura police station. The officer attached to the Mathoura station, lives in Mathoura but operates from the Deniliquin station. Helen has worked tirelessly advocating for a replacement station at Mathoura.

As well as advocating for a replacement station at Mathoura, council has been advocating, to the NSW Minister for Customer Service and Digital Government the Hon. Jihad Dib MP, for a full Service NSW centre in Moama.

Council currently operates Service NSW agencies in Moama, Barham and Moulamein which are only licensed to provide certain services. To access the full suite of services our communities must travel to Deniliquin which can involve a one to two-hour trip by car. The net cost to council (you the ratepayer), to provide these vital services, is over $200,000 per annum.

The first cut of the Moulamein Masterplan will be presented at an upcoming community drop-in session at the Moulamein Bowling Club from 3pm to 7pm on Thursday 19 March. The final version of the masterplan will guide and prioritise the future development of the town, so it is vital that community members drop-in and have a look at the plan and have a say on Moulamein's future. The next Community masterplan development will be for Murray Downs which has some unique challenges.

A big thank you to the Koondrook-Barham, Moulamein and Cohuna Football Netball Clubs for holding practice matches in Wakool last weekend. An enthusiastic crowd was in attendance and had a great night of footy and provided the Wakool community with a much-needed social event.

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