It's Digby Rayward here, and again, it's my pleasure to present this week's council happenings.
Look, there's a lot happening. This council is flat out at the moment. You may not appreciate it, but both the councillors and council staff are really working hard, both behind the scenes and what you're physically seeing.
Look, on the business management side, as we're into stage two of the restructure and that's going well. And stage 3, which I've talked about before, is currently starting to show a bit of shape. So look, I'm absolutely confident council is moving in the right direction. And you've heard me bang on about this before when I get on this, it's my turn to have a yarn to you, right? But it's all about organisational resilience. Dungog is a small council, right? We've just got to be smart. And an organisational resilience is a capacity for change before the case for change becomes desperately obvious. And positive change is happening. You can call me wrong in the next 6 or 12 months if I haven't got that right, but let's watch this space, right?
Look, a few points to make on what's happening around town.
Anzac Day was a great turnout across the Shire. I was fortunate enough to go to the Dawn Service at Clarence Town and it's always great there. The people turn out in huge numbers and March, and then I slipped across to the Gresford Service at 10 o'clock. And also, I think there was a bigger number there than last year too. So, that's very good to see. I mean, the Shire needs to be proud of those, this tradition and honouring those people. So that was a great outcome, I thought.
From the last council meeting, the development approvals have seen Cangon Park approved. That's a development up near the golf club. And we'll get 87 blocks out of that eventually. And that's going to be a great boost for Dungog. And also, we know Glen William is also progressing very well, which will give us about 30 blocks. So we're talking about 117 blocks coming into the pipeline over the next few years. And what I'm happy about is it's great news for the Shire when developers have the confidence to invest their dollars into this infrastructure for us so we can get somewhere. If they were too scared to come, we wouldn't be going anywhere. So well done, everyone. I think that's going to turn out well. And I'm sure we'll get some more interest in Dungog Shire over the next little while from developers. But it all has to be done in the appropriate manner, right? We're not going silly, but you'll see that happen, right?
The Clarence Town Flood Study is out for those that have an interest, and this will shape where developments can occur in this area. You know, we hear this thing called a probable maximal flood. But don't get too excited about it. If we got a probable maximum flat, it'd be about 8 metres over the current height of the new bridge. So we'd all be swimming! But anyway, that's out there for those who have an interest in this sort of stuff.
On the political front, let me tell you, we've been working really hard on this because it's vital for us. The General Manager and I and some other councils have been to Sydney on a number of occasions. And certainly last week, General Manager and I met with the Hon Emily Suvaal MLC and also with Dave Layzell, our local member, and we pushed a number of points with them, which they were supportive of, including, of course, we're on about that road from Dungog to Chichester Dam, which we've got support from Hunter Water for that. So we're trying to run that hard and put that on the agenda. Also, there's a couple of other things, of course, is the FAG money, that's a financial assistance grant money, which we're poorly missing out on that, great. But the big money goes to the Sydney councils, not us, right? So we're trying to get that program changed and there's some there's some work, strong work happening on that. So we'll see what happens.
And also, the discussions we're having with Dave Layzell at the moment as our local member, of course, is that a state election is coming up next year. And we're certainly looking for a stronger voice from Dave, for Dave to speak up for Dungog, on all things Dungog. Come on, Dave, get into it, mate. So we'll be on that, and especially things like block grant funding as the share of the financial assistance grant comes from the state. So, we've had an agreement with Dave last week that we'll attack this from a couple of different angles, but we are certainly looking for his stronger support. And as we get closer to the state election next year, we'll talk with all you people more about that.
But while we're talking about grants from chasing these guys up, that leads me into grants. And they're absolutely essential for Dungog. Like probably 60 to 70% of our funding comes from grants. If we didn't get that money, we'd be $10 million in the red. So it's absolutely up to us to keep asking our fair share. We're not asking for anything more than their fair share. We're just not getting it, we don't think.
So that leads us then, of course, to the draft budget and operational plan that went through council last week. Now, this is very important. So what happens in any business, you come up, what are we going to do over the next financial year? And that's what is in this draft budget and the operational plan. So it says, this is where the money is going to go. And the capital works program says this is what we're going to spend it on. So, in any business, a budget is a budget. If something needs to go in, something will need to go out. So you're given the opportunity to have a look at the one that we've presented. If you want to argue and put up a good case, well, we will obviously want to hear it, right? And the mathematics is pretty simple for us, right?
If something comes in, something goes out, or we're going dead, right, which is an unwise move. Anyway, look, take these dates down:
- - on the 4th of May at Dungog, from 5 to 6pm, go to the Doug Walters Pavilion and have your say or just listen
- then the next day, the 5th of May we're running at Vacy because it's halfway between Paterson and Gresford. So you guys in that area whipped down to Vacy, again 5 to 6pm at the Vacy School of Arts.
- And finally at Clarence Town, that'll be on the next day, the 6th of May, same time 5 to 6pm at the Clarence Town School of Arts.
So here's your opportunity. So don't come back later and tell me you didn't know anything about it! If you want your money spent, where being spent, where the roads are going, that's it. Our capital works budget this year is twenty-eight million for the next financial year, so that's there and that'll be discussed.
Look, there's plenty happening. I could bang on again for a while, but I'm not going to, I'm going to leave it there.
So please take the opportunity to come and talk to us about the budget and operational plan and I'll catch you next time when it's my turn.
Till then, take care and I'll see you later.
Cheers.
