After weeks of being wooed, Wagga residents finally get to vote in the byelection.

The major parties have hit this election campaign hard. Both the Liberal and Labor candidates have had a variety of heavyweight supporters campaigning alongside them, with the usual array of campaign promises.

We need to be paying attention to those promises, because as voters, we need to hold both parties to account if nothing happens.

In just eight months time, we in Wagga will be heading back to the polls, along with the rest of NSW, for the general state election.

Eight months is not long enough to make good on a lot of what is being promised, but by gosh we should be expecting some really thorough updates on exactly what’s what and just when those shovels will be hitting the dirt.

By March, work should have just about started on the major ambulatory care building at Wagga Base Hospital, and there should be some fairly detailed plans for the multi-storey car park.

We need to keep an eye on what’s happening with plans for the new bicycle facilities out at Pomingalarna and make sure there is progress on those upgrades on the roads around the Gobbagombalin Bridge.

Tumut residents should be all over the plans for the long-awaited redevelopment of their hospital.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian has said the promised works will go ahead no matter who is elected on Saturday, and certainly the candidates from outside the Liberal party have said they will be holding the government to its commitments.

But it isn’t just the new Member for Wagga who needs to be making sure these promises are fulfilled.

So should we voters. We have all heard what commitments are being made and we all have a voice and a vote.

We are able to make a noise ourselves.

Remember the old saying about the squeaky wheel getting the grease?

Well, we need to start squeaking if Wagga is forgotten again.

Polling ahead of this byelection suggests the result is going to be close.

That should be a big hint to every government that Wagga is not willing to be taken for granted.

An array of politicians have demonstrated they consider Wagga a seat worth fighting over, so let’s make them keep fighting.

It's not up to just Wagga City Council or Committee 4 Wagga or any other organisation to do all the heavy lifting.

For too long, we in Wagga have shrugged our shoulders and said that as a “safe Liberal seat”, we are likely to be overlooked in favour of residents in more marginal electorates.

But is there really such a thing a safe seat any more?

The people of Orange certainly proved they weren’t going to be ignored when they voted in a candidate from Shooters Fishers and Farmers, after 69 years of representation by The Nationals.

 A part of that result hinged on anger about the planned greyhound racing ban and forced council amalgamations, but how much of it was also a warning to political parties generally that voters will not be taken for granted?

More and more we are seeing minor party and independent candidates taking their community’s concerns straight into Parliament.

Over the past week, I have chatted to every candidate in the byelection and all of them have been hearing from the community about what the electorate needs.

That feedback shouldn’t stop once the votes are counted and the new Member for Wagga is sworn in.

On the contrary, we need to make sure we keep telling our new MP exactly what the city needs.

Their job as a representative of Wagga only begins once the campaign is over. It’s no good us sitting back and complaining that nothing gets done, unless we are also willing to speak up.

Health Minister Brad Hazzard said this week that Wagga Base Hospital is getting its long-awaited car park because he got feedback from staff, patients and nearby residents that parking around the health precinct was a massive problem.

If one minister can listen to the community and make a decision, so can others.

Wagga is being noticed and the community’s chance to have a voice doesn’t end with putting that ballot paper in the box.

jody.lindbeck@fairfaxmedia.com.au