Mayoral Column - 19 January

Published on 19 January 2022

It’s a great honour to be writing to you all as Mayor of Cessnock City. I would like to take this opportunity in my first column to thank each and every one of you for your support and encouragement. I commit to do my best to serve the people of the Cessnock Local Government Area (LGA) with integrity and transparency through innovative thinking and hard work. 

I am excited to begin working with our newly elected Councillors to achieve positive outcomes for our growing community. I also look forward to working with the people of the Cessnock LGA as well as its many community groups, businesses and organisations – all of whom make such an important contribution to this region. 

As Mayor, my priorities include improving local roads, continuing to upgrade our parks, and providing better connectivity through footpaths and shared pathways. It is my hope that together we can build Cessnock, and its surrounding towns, villages and rural areas, into one of the most liveable, prosperous and welcoming locations in Australia.

We have many challenges to face, but I am committed to listening to local residents to ensure we get it right when it comes to improving and building the community infrastructure we need as our region develops.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve, we are all living with many disruptions to our daily lives. Council is currently experiencing staffing shortages due to the pandemic. I ask for your patience as this impacts some Council services. In the meantime, I urge everyone to get vaccinated, get boosted, practice social distancing, handwashing, mask wearing and undertake testing if you have COVID-19 symptoms or are a close contact of someone who has contracted the virus. This is a difficult time for us all, but as a community we will get through it together.

One of the ways you can support local business during this challenging time is by participating in Council’s Support Local competition, with five $100 gift cards to be won. For the month of January, residents are encouraged to post to Facebook and Instagram to describe in 25 words or less how they’d spend their $100 gift card. Ensure you use the hashtag #SupportLocalCessnock and set your post to public.

We all want Cessnock to prosper into the future, and that is achieved through good planning. Cessnock City Council has partnered with Singleton Council to develop the Hunter Valley Tourism Plan, which will become the next Hunter Valley Destination Management Plan for 2022 – 2030.  Residents and business operators are being invited to participate in a short survey to ensure as many people across both LGAs have input into this important management plan. You can take the survey right here on the website.