Deputy Mayor quits

He opted not to go into further detail about those reasons.

Saying he has immensely enjoyed his role on the council, he has not ruled out standing again in the future.

Mr Fellows’ resignation came one day after the last formal council meeting of the calendar year.

The Pastoral Times believes that meeting ended in a heated debate between councillors behind closed doors.

We understand it partly stemmed from a video posted on the Mayor Cr Peta Betts Facebook page.

In the video, she held up the PT Opinion in our edition last Friday commenting on her refusal to answer questions about council’s growth strategy (’Mayor silent on council’s 20,000 population goal’, Friday, December 1) and stated “if I was Donald Trump I’d be saying ‘fake news’.”

We believe councillors did not believe this to be an appropriate response.

Mr Fellows’ resignation also comes less than a year before the next councillor elections, set down for September 2024.

Council is now seeking the advice of the Office of Local Government on how to “best manage the vacancy”.

In the meantime it will continue to operate with eight councillors.

Mr Fellows’ resignation was announced in a media statement issued on Wednesday evening.

Speaking directly to the Pastoral Times yesterday, Mr Fellows said while his resignation comes well ahead of that election he has confidence council can manage without him during that time.

“We have a strong council, well led by the mayor and the executive team, and like any good business you can take one person out and it can still prosper.

“Harold Clapham and Shannon Sampson are now starting to work hard on the growth strategy, and there are other projects on the move that will continue whether I am there or not.

“I don’t want any turmoil for council but for personal reasons I needed to take a step back.

“Will I stand for council again? Let’s see what happens next year.”

This was Mr Fellows’ first term on council after being elected at the end of 2021 with the second highest number of community votes, behind Cr Pat Fogarty.

He said he has learned a lot in that time, and enjoyed the many facets of council and community work.

He listed his highlight as the interactions with the community.

“Meeting with the public and attending community events have been particular highlights,” he said.

“The Vietnam Veterans function was particularly good, and so was being involved in Australia Day.

“I got to know Aunty Jenny (Yarkuwa Indigenous Knowledge Centre chair Jeanette Crew) and her crew a lot better, and that has been a great personal journey too.

“Working on the budget was another highlight - I did a lot of work to try and balance the books a bit better so we could avoid a special rate variation - and I really enjoyed being part of the ARIC (Audit, Risk and Improvement Committee) committee and looking at the finances through that.

“The other great thing was being the conduit between the people and the council, particularly when we got the result we were after.”

Mayor Peta Betts said Mr Fellows’ resignation was a “big loss” for Edward River Council, and thanked Mr Fellows for his efforts and dedication.

“It takes a lot of courage and a significant commitment of time to be a councillor,” she said.

“I know it has been a difficult choice for Paul, and he should be proud of the work he has put in to making Edward River a better place to live, work and visit.”