Hello, Dungog Shire. I'm Councillor James with your weekly Council Connect.
On Wednesday night, Council held an extraordinary meeting to consider all matters that would have been considered otherwise, without the added factor of having reviewed the recent draft Dungog Shire Housing & Infrastructure master plan at the Council meeting earlier in the month. In our most recent meeting, the council reviewed four concept design options for the intersection of Duke and Durham Street in Clarence Town, forming part of the broader delivery of the new Clarence Town Bridge and associated bridge approaches. The safety of this intersection has been raised multiple times by Clarence Town locals, so I'm pleased to see this initiative coming to fruition, with all four options aimed at increasing pedestrian access and improving the safety of both pedestrians and drivers. The options will shortly be up for public exhibition for a period of 28 days. So I invite all interested to make a submission on the Council's website to help us plan and build better and safer roads in Clarence Town.
Council also received an update on the new Gresford Bridge project and agreed that revised alignment options be placed on public exhibition for community feedback. Likewise, the community will soon be invited to review the updated design information and submit their feedback once the exhibition period opens.
The Council also supported a motion by my fellow Councillor, Alexander Carruthers, requesting that Tomra Cleanaway reconsider its initial decision not to install a Return & Earn machine in Paterson, so that we can get some Return & Earn services in the western part of the Shire.
Council has endorsed the Dungog Shire Housing & Infrastructure Master Plan for public exhibition, and we want your feedback. We'll be holding community drop in sessions right across the Shire so you can learn more, ask questions and share your thoughts on how we plan for Dungog Shire's future growth and infrastructure. Sessions will kick off on Saturday, the 29th of November in Clarence Town and Vacy, followed by Dungog on Wednesday the 3rd, and Paterson and Gresford on Saturday the 13th. We'd love to see you there. It's your chance to have your say on the future of your community. You can also provide your feedback through an online survey on the website if you can't make it to an information session. You can find the draft plans and all the associated information on Council's website and Facebook page.
Also, next Wednesday, 3rd December, our Waste Management team will be in Paterson for a Recycling and FOGO information session. It's a great opportunity to learn more about how we can reduce waste, recycle better, and prepare for the rollout of our food organics and garden organics service. This will take place on Wednesday, the 3rd, from 5:30 to 7:30pm at 21 Duke Street, Paterson. Again, head to our website for all the details and information on how to register.
