Mayoral Column - 23 November 2022
Published on 23 November 2022
The Keep Australia Beautiful Lifetime Achievement Award recognises the outstanding contributions of community members who have worked hard for their communities.
This month, I was proud to present this award to local legend Ken Victor, founding member, and recently retired president, of the Cessnock Tidy Towns Committee. Ken exhibited great passion and enthusiasm as president from 1992 until 2022.
One of his most notable projects was the restoration of Aberdare Central Colliery, now known as Poppethead Park, Kitchener. Ken led the Tidy Towns group in raising funds, restoring the land and preparing the site for community use. Ken’s extraordinary work has greatly contributed to the enjoyment of public recreational areas by many in our community.
I am delighted to announce a number of grants for community and sporting facilities, and cultural development organisations, funded through Council’s Dollar for Dollar Grant Scheme.
Council is contributing over $52,000 to local facilities and organisations through the current round of the scheme. I can’t wait to see the exciting projects our community groups will be able to deliver with this money.
I want to express my disappointment in ANZ’s decision to close its Cessnock Branch in April 2023.The bank’s closure will have a negative impact on our community who bank with the ANZ, especially the elderly and those with a disability. For this reason, Council is writing to the ANZ, and urging it to reverse this decision, which comes at a time when banks are making record profits. We will also write to the Federal Member for the Hunter Dan Repacholi to see what can be done to compel these big banks to stop quitting regional and rorqual areas.
On another matter, Councillors will write to the NSW Minister for Planning, Anthony Roberts, asking him to reverse an approval by the Department of Planning and Environment to allow Urban One allotments at Huntlee, which will allow blocks as small as 217m². This decision is not a sound strategic fit for our area and will cause more problems with parking and traffic.
Speaking of which, this month I spoke at the 2022 Local Government Parking Summit.
State-wide road rules have resulted in many problems in the Cessnock Local Government Area. In particular, NSW Road Rule 197 prohibits people from park on the wide verges that are characteristics of many parts of the Cessnock Local Government Area, even when it is perfectly safe to park there. I will continue to advocate for a common-sense solution to this matter for our community. Council is working hard to make sure the best decisions are made for the needs of our community.