Farmers must stand: Kerin

Former Shire of Katanning president Peter Kerin continues to speak out against the lack of "rural voices" sitting on the Shire council and says farmers need to take responsibility to elect representation when the next opportunity arises.

Mr Kerin raised concerns at last month's council meeting, saying he feared the integral voice of the agriculture sector was lost at the Shire because there were no farmers on the council.

He highlighted rising rates and roads outside the town centre as issues needing attention, but was worried they would be ignored with no farming faces on the council.

"I think there has been a lack of awareness from councillors who are not living in the rural areas and they don't identify some of the problems faced by people living in rural areas," he said.

"I know the town needs to keep going, but you have to be aware of the community we live in and what the community relies on, and the community is based around agriculture,

"If the community are looking to develop projects in town to boost the economy, they mostly have to be agriculture-based or have an agricultural interest."

Mr Kerin said when he first joined the council in the late 1980s there were seven councillors from the farming region and six based in the town centre.

After reforms to local government, in particular the removal of wards in the 1990s, the number of agricultural-based councillors gradually shrank, with no farmers serving at the moment.

At last year's council elections, farming representative David Potter did not seek re-election, while David Rees did not secure enough votes for another term.

Shire president Alan McFarland said he would like to see more farmers on the council.

"We want them there, they need to stand up for council," he said.

"The council has been accused of being town-centric. We don't have ward systems anymore and that has had an impact."

Cr McFarland said farmers were an important voice in the Shire due to their knowledge of the agricultural sector.

Mr Kerin said farmers must take responsibility if they wanted council representation.

"We have something to answer for ourselves," he said.

"We have less people here, but we need rural people putting their hand up."