Hello, it's Digby Rayward here, and it's my pleasure to present this week's Council Happenings. Let me tell you, there's been a lot going on, and especially behind the scenes. We are busy driving the business of Dungog Shire forward. You can be assured that we're not taking it easy.
Let's start off with a bit of rubbish. Next week is National Recycling Week from 10-16 November. We encourage you not to miss out on the opportunity to get informed next Wednesday, 12th November, from 5:30 - 7:30 pm at the Dungog CWA Hall. We'll be holding a Community Information Session to discuss all things Recycling & FOGO. If you don't know what FOGO is, you'd better get along to this meeting on Wednesday, the 12th of November, because it's going to affect us all. Recycling is so important because there's a lot of pressure on our tips. Our partners in the event are Boomerang Bags, and The Dungog Whole Food Co Op. Great work from those guys. So come along on the 12th of November, 5.30pm to 7.30pm at the Dungog CWA.
Okay, let's move on to Australia Day Awards, where we take a moment to recognise all those deserving individuals doing great things in our community, and there are so many of them, right? The community is only as good as the people in it and the environment they've got. This is a great time for us, not only recognising the day, but the people involved. There are several categories that we're looking for people to be nominated, and they are:
- Citizen of the Year
- Young Citizen
- Environmental Citizen
- Volunteer
- Senior Sportsperson
- Junior Sportsperson
- Arts & Culture
The Arts & Culture category is a new addition this year, reflecting the growing importance and increasing recognition of arts and culture in the Shire. So look around you, see the people who are strong in those areas, and please put their names up for consideration for the awards. The nomination forms are available on our website and in many locations around the Shire. Nomination will close on the 28th of November, so don't sit back and regret failing to nominate someone that's really deserving.
Now to Clarence Town Bridge. Now, all those who go past that bridge, like me, would be absolutely amazed at the progress. I think those guys are doing a great job. The installation of new stormwater pipes across Durham Street will commence in the next few weeks, but it looks like the traffic management won't be altered much, so things will progress as planned. Apart from the hard rock and the guys struggling with that, it's looking great, and in the end, it'll be absolutely fantastic for us.
Now, moving on to another very important topic, the Housing & Infrastructure Master Plan. This has taken a lot of time and energy from many people, the staff have been fantastic, and the contractors are doing a great job. But it's getting to the pointy end now. The hard work is nearly complete, and at our Council meeting on November 19th, a few more of these strategies will come into play, such as the Rural Lands Strategy. We've just finished the last discussion on that, and these will then go out for community consultation. Now, this is very important. I know it's a lot of paperwork, it'll look overwhelming, but let me tell you, it's shaping the future for the next 30 years for our community! Once it goes on public exhibition, we will be hosting a number of community information sessions to guide you through it. So look out for them. They'll be held across the whole Shire. With the Rural Lands one, we've developed a program where you log on to your property, and it'll tell you what's proposed, what the present conditions are, and what the changes will be. So have a good look at that and get your head around it, because this is an important document that will then lead into the new LEP in the next few years or so. So keep a lookout for those community information sessions and get yourselves involved.
All right, moving on now to politics, the General Manager and l have certainly been banging away at every opportunity to highlight all things Dungog to the important people that control the cash. We joined forces with the nine Mayors of the Hunter Joint Organisation in Parliament House a week or so ago. We got a great hearing, but like all these things, you can put your point across, but whether you get rubber on the road, we won't know. But we will certainly be banging on for how important Dungog is for the whole of the Hunter. And we are again organizing a meeting with Dave Layzell, our local member. I was talking with him yesterday, and we want to find out where Dave is up to in advocating for all things Dungog. So in that meeting we'll be putting pressure on Dave to get us some money.
Now to employment opportunities in Dungog. If you know of any people, young kids or the like, looking for work, there's a number of current job opportunities with the Council. These include
- Apprentice Plant Mechanic
- Apprentice Parks & Gardens
- School-based Trainee Administration
- Cadet Engineer
- Cadet Building Surveyor
- Building Surveyor
These are great jobs and the Council is a great place to work. The Councillors and General Manager work hard to create a great culture. So if you know someone who fits the bill and looking for work, the jobs are advertised on Council's website.
What about the Dungog Show this weekend? Holy smoke! The show is on today and tomorrow, and you wouldn't want to miss this one. The guys do such a great job putting this event together, from camel racing to whatever you want, it's going to be there! They even tell me that the TV show 'Farmer Wants a Wife' is going to be there! I think one or two of our Councillors are single, and there's a suggestion that they might be looking for some women there. So the Dungog Show, don't miss it this weekend.
A very important position is our Director of Planning and Environment, one of the major positions in the Council, as part of the Executive Team. We interviewed six key people last week, and I was part of the panel. There's a lot of good people, anyone of them could have done the job, and they were shortlisted from 25-30 other people, so I'm very confident that things are progressing well. So watch this space in the very near future. So, yeah, exciting times, and I'm very pleased with the way it's all going.
A point of interest too, Tocal Foundation Day. Tocal, of course, is a significant institution in our Shire, and it's celebrating its 60th year since its foundation. So well done. I used to be based at Tocal for a while, and my wife was a lecturer there for a while, so I'll be wandering along to celebrate that with them.
And just as a wrap up, this new Council has just completed its first year together, and as a Mayor, I am very pleased with how the team has come together and working strongly with the GM and the Executive Team. We couldn't get more support from the GM and that team to go in the direction we're going in, and we're certainly trying to turn the ship around, and I think we are, we're making some great success. So I'm really looking forward to the next 12 months as we work together and I think we will really make Dungog a place people want to live, visit and enjoy, and where businesses want to invest their money. So it's going to be another great 12 months ahead of us.
Anyway, that's enough for me for this time, and I'm happy to chat with you again some other time. Cheers.
