Hello, Dungog Shire. Councillor Liam Ley here doing this week’s video.
I’ll start off with just a personal note. I have actually been away for a few months, deployed with Three Squadron over to Asia. So I do have a lot of emails, text messages and phone calls that I haven’t responded to yet. I’m back on deck this week, and I will eventually get round to all of you. So please bear with me while I get back into normal life and the astronomical amount of life admin that I have to get through.
So moving on. This week, I thought it’d be a good focus, given that we have quite a lot out for public comment at the moment, to briefly talk about why. A big focus for this term of Council has been developing a Plan of Management and, really, a broader strategy for council assets. We do have a lot of lazy council assets out there, and it’s really important that we come up with a long-term strategic plan for them. Particularly assets that are in community use. This is a big one. So we’ve been working really hard towards this goal. So has council. Obviously, you will have seen, and you will continue to see, a lot of callouts for community input within these reviews. So, you know, this has been a big effort for this council, and it’s really important that the plan for these assets really taps into community wants. It’s no good having a plan or a strategic long-term plan if it doesn’t fit the community wants or expectations for that asset. So this would be the cornerstone of planning for council going forward, and that’s really try and get community involvement in there.
There are a couple of projects open for community consultation this week. I’ll start with John Tucker Park. This is a chance to have your say on its future. If you’ve ever spent time in John Tucker Park in Paterson, you’ll know just how unique this park is, with all those trees and its location right on the river. It’s a really good community asset. We’re now starting a plan for that park’s future, and we really want your input. Council is developing a Plan of Management and Master Plan to guide how this park is managed. Improvements could be made in the years ahead, so this is a big one. What are we doing well, and what do you want us to continue focusing on? There will be two community drop-in sessions at the park: Saturday, 21 November, from 12pm – 3pm, and Tuesday, 24 November, from 4pm – 7pm. There’s no need to register. Just drop in at the park, come have a chat, low-key, and share your ideas. If you don’t have time for that, that’s totally fine. You can also fill out an online survey on the council’s website. It will be open until Friday, 11 December. If you don’t have time to come down and you have some ideas, chuck them down there.
Now to Dungog and Clarence Town Pools, as well as the Williams River Holiday Park. We’re also looking ahead to the future of the swimming pools in Dungog and Clarence Town. You would have noticed quite a lot of work going on at Dungog Pool while it was closed this season. It is open now, but there is still time to have your say in the future of these assets. We’ve extended the deadline for our community survey to Monday 30 November. I know it’s a busy time of year, so we’re extending it a bit to give people a little extra time as they’re trying to close out the end of the year. And Christmas is fast approaching. So if you haven’t shared your ideas yet, definitely jump on and share them there. If you are heading to the Dungog Dowling Street Christmas Party, which I hope you all are, on Friday 27 November, there will be a pop-up session there where you can chat with the project team. They’ll be out in front of the Council Administration Building from 4pm – 7pm. They’ll be there to answer your questions, hear your ideas, jot them down, and help you submit your feedback. You can also just jump on the website. It’s there as well.
Moving on to Australia Day nominations. That’s a weird one because Australia Day isn’t until next year, but we’re actually not that far away now. We know our community goes above and beyond when it comes to volunteering. I think our council, probably more than any other shire or council in the country, relies heavily on volunteers to do much of the management. Many of the boards and public assets we have are managed by volunteers. This is your chance to give them the recognition they truly deserve. Nominations are open for the 2027 Australia Day Awards. There are seven categories, representing a broad range of people across the shire, but you don’t have too long to nominate. Nominations close on the 27th of November, so you only have a couple of weeks left. You can nominate through the council’s website. Really have a think about that. I’m sure there are many people you know who would be more than deserving of one of these awards. So make sure you nominate them.
Okay, now to the Emergency Management and Community Resilience Expo happening this Saturday. This is a co-sponsored event by Dungog Shire Council, Maitland Council, and Port Stephens Council. It’s quite a big effort and will be a big event. It will be held in Maitland. It’s on Saturday, 14 November, 9am – 2pm. I think about 25 emergency services and other organisations will be there. There will be live demonstrations, interactive opportunities, and chances to meet and talk with many of the organisations that work across the community and keep it safe. There’s also a good chance to pick up practical tips on preparing your home, family, and businesses for bushfires, floods, and storms. This is pretty relevant to Dungog Shire, because we all know we are a shire that floods quite a lot, and we are also heading into bushfire season. So there might be some good things to brush up on, good things to get your head around. It’s being held at the Maitland Showground. So if you’re free on Saturday and you’re not at Dungog Show, which we’ll talk about now, head down there. You could do both!
The premier event I’ve saved for the end is the Dungog Show. It’s back today, Friday the 13th, and Saturday the 14th as well. There’s plenty to look forward to. This is probably one of the biggest events across Dungog Shire. It’s growing year by year. There are cattle, horse events, wood chopping, and camel racing, which is a great one! I think two years ago, unfortunately, I probably put too much money on a camel, and it didn’t do very well, but it’s for charities, so that’s fun. There are animal nurseries, two car smash derbies this year, and monster trucks. So literally something for everyone. I know the crowds are expected to be quite big this year, and they were huge last year. So I can imagine how great this is. Fantastic celebration of local Dungog Shire. It’s a great opportunity to support this really, really, really important event on the Dungog calendar, and well done to all those volunteers. I was down there this morning actually submitting all my entries. I submitted a papier-mâché chicken because, obviously, you can’t have chickens this year due to bird flu. I also submitted some, or the kids submitted some Lego, but I did kind of help her a little bit. But don’t tell the judges that. Anyway, the volunteers down there were doing a fantastic job. Everyone was down there at the last minute trying to submit everything for the judging panels. So look, it’s going to be a great event. Well done to the volunteers again. You’re doing a fantastic job, and hopefully I will see you all there.
I think that’s about it for this weekend. So have a great weekend, and I’ll see you all at the show. Thank you very much.
