Hello, Dungog Shire. I’ll kick off this week’s meeting with last week’s event: Run Dungog. What a turnout! 500 people. I did manage to run the 10km there after almost no training. I spent a lot of money on new shoes, but it turns out it was probably my socks after all, because I didn’t quite get under the hour. Anyway, we’ll work on it for next year. Hopefully, there are even more people then. It’s definitely becoming one of the bigger events in our region. It’s great to see.
Now to Vacy Sportsground. The official renaming ceremony for the playing field will be held this Saturday at 1pm. The new name is the Keith and Lesley Miles Oval. This new name was chosen after months of public requests and community consultation. It’s a really good, positive outcome that we’ve finally reached after a bit of effort from all parties.
Hospital Road Tree. So I’m still getting quite a lot of emails on this. I thought I’d just quickly touch on it again. I know I’ve already talked about it recently, but I’ll just touch on it again briefly. At this stage, no decision has been made about the future of the tree. The hospital road project is still being designed. So Council will consider a range of factors before any decision is made, including road safety, engineering requirements, environmental assessments, and the long-term health of the tree, as well as community desire, which will be a big part of it. So, at this stage, due to the large number of disaster works that have taken place across the shire, it’s actually very likely that this project will now slide until later in the year or even next year. So, there’s a bit of a delay there.
I also wanted to clear up one point that seems to be circulating based on everything I’ve been told. The tree is not at risk due to the building of a car park. The real challenge is that this is a grant-funded road, a full road upgrade, and like any new road project, it needs to be designed to the current engineering standards and safety requirements of the times. Those standards require designers to consider roadside clearances and hazards, which is where the tree will actually become an issue. So, even if options such as narrowing the road or changing traffic arrangements, such as a one-way, are investigated, there’s also the question of work around the tree root system as well. So, if you’re removing significant portions of the roots for construction, that could actually affect the long-term health as well. So there are a number of things that engineers will need to consider, but importantly, we’re not at that point yet. No final decision has been endorsed, and no decision has been made.
I also understand that there is a Council motion intended to be moved at next week’s Council meeting, seeking that every reasonable option to retain the tree be fully investigated. I fully intend to support this motion as well. I’ll continue to keep you updated on where things are at with it, and try to be as open and transparent as I can about what work is going to happen up there.
Work is also continuing at both the Clarence Town and Dungog swimming pools. Well, actually, Clarence Town just finished this week, and they’ll start refilling it over the next few weeks. But more extensive work is continuing at Dungog Pool, which is good news. You know, there are 10s of 1000s of dollars that have been spent on this site very recently. Most of it, unfortunately, is behind the scenes, so it’s probably not going to have a high visual impact, but it’s still very important. A lot of filter work and that kind of thing. Obviously, there was a little more work than they probably anticipated, which I’m sure many of you can appreciate if you’ve been at that pool recently. But it’s expected to still open on time for the season. It’s an investment that’s needed. Hopefully, they get that work done.
Lastly, the Ordinary Council Meeting is next week. This is where the Mayor and Councillors debate and vote on a number of items that affect the shire as a whole. I always encourage community members who are interested in what’s going on in the shire to read the agenda. You can also watch the meeting live, or if you’re really keen, you can attend in person. It’s Wednesday, the 19th of August, at 6pm, if you’re interested. I think that’s it for everything this week. So everyone, have a good weekend, and if you are at the council meeting next week, I’ll see you there. Thanks.
