Hi G'day. It's Digby Rayward, and it's my pleasure to present this week's Council Happenings.
It's actually great to see the sun out today. I'll tell you, we're lucky to have dodged a bullet with the recent East Coast low, and we were certainly expecting a lot worse than what we got. So thank goodness for that. I can give you a brief update on the storm damage from the last event. It looks like it's going to be over $7 million plus, and we still haven't finished finalising some of the work estimating the repair costs. Our staff have done excellently well, and considering we've had three natural disaster declarations since January, is amazing. I've got to admit that I've worked in this area, in the agricultural field for over 45 years, and I've got to admit this is the wettest, longest period of time I've seen where it's been hard to get onto the paddocks and just stay boggy. But anyway, let's hope the sun comes out and the winter warms up and the grass keeps growing.
The other interesting thing about this storm event was the severe erosion we've seen. It's been amazing. A lot of the riparian structure has just been lost, and you can see that close by at Vacy and certainly plenty of other rivers if you have a closer look. So it's going to be interesting to see how we recover from that. But anyway, that's the weather events.
Let's have a quick talk about the state budget that was handed down. Look, there wasn't a lot in that for us, but certainly the funding for the disaster relief, and that's greatly appreciated, of course, because, you know, you've all seen how massive it's been, especially our neighbors to the north got really badly smashed last time. There was a reference to a thing called a Biodiversity Offset Scheme. Now, I'm not going to bore you with what that is, but there's $427.9 million in the state budget to look at that. The biodiversity offset scheme increases the cost of development in some sites in our Shire to the extent that it becomes too expensive to carry on and people give up. Now, we're concerned about that, as are other country mayors, and we'll be meeting in Sydney in a week or so to discuss this. Hopefully, we can get some relief from the current scheme. Anything that discourages sensible development in our Shire needs to be addressed. We've got to look for development where we can in a sensible way.
Most importantly for the residents, the key action, of course, is involvement in the Housing and Infrastructure Master Plan. Look, I hope you haven't been under a rock and haven't heard everything we've tried to push at you to be involved with this thing, because this is a long term plan for what's going to happen in Dungog and Dungog needs to manage growth and preserve the shires unique rural character, the natural environment, and the community values that we all value in the Shire that's made the Shire so special. So your input is vital to how this whole project unfolds.
There are many opportunities for residents to have a say. We'll be at Dungog this weekend, at the Dungog markets on Saturday from 9am—12pm, and also a more formal presentation at the Doug Walters Pavilion on Sunday from 2-5pm. But go on the Council website and see what's available for you, and certainly try to get involved.
Look, it can seem overwhelming, because there are probably five layers on top of the Master Plan which make up the master plan, and you think, this is too hard, right? But look, there is a survey too, a community survey, and you may just choose to fill that in. It'll take you 5-10 minutes. So at least fill the survey in. There are a few questions on each layer, whether it's the Rural Land Strategy or one of the other layers that you have a keen interest in. You can leave blank sections if you're unsure how to answer it.
On Tuesday of this week, it was a pleasure for me to officiate in the Australian Citizenship Ceremony, where Caroline Edwards and Xavier King were both received as Australian Citizens. Congratulations to both of them, and we warmly welcome them as Australian Citizens into our great Dungog Shire.
Another progress report on the Clarence Town Bridge. Despite the terrible weather, they're making good way with that. And I know that Clarence Town residents, including myself, are quite aware that they've hit hard rock. So bear with it; it'll be a bit noisy and inconvenient for a short period of time, but in the long term, we will forget about that, and we'll have a great new bridge.
The other couple of things coming up to keep on your calendar is, of course, the Sculpture on the Farm. Now this is residents of the local community that drives this, amazingly full of energy, and it's the art side. It's moved on to the Dungog Common this year. So it's a great initiative from that group. And we wish them all success and want to give them all the support we can. So watch out for that one. The other one coming up is with Rotary. Unfortunately, I've never been involved with Rotary, but these guys are organising Pedal Fest, and they do a great job. We just need to get in and support them. If we can back up any community thing that's happening in the Shire and give them support, it gives them a lot more enthusiasm to carry on.
Well, anyway, that's about enough from me for today, and when it's my turn to turn up again, I'll be pleased to address you and have a yarn to you. So until then, catch you.
