G’day, Dungog Shire. This week mainly revolved around the monthly council meeting, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to get on here and go over some of the key things and policies that were passed at that meeting.
There were several quite important items to consider this month, but probably the biggest outcome was Council accepting an $8.76 million Disaster Recovery Funding Package. This is primarily for roads and drainage restoration across the Shire. As many of you would know, our road network has been heavily hit by a number of natural events that started this year, as well as at the end of last year. These natural disasters have caused quite a lot of damage across the Shire. So, this funding will continue to carry out those repairs and restorations and essential infrastructure as well. Council will work through that delivery program and prioritise these projects, because there are actually time limits with that funding. A lot of these repairs have already been carried out by Council, because we can’t just leave roads where you can’t drive across them, and we’re finally being reimbursed for them now, which is very welcome. And if you’re following council budget, which I’m sure you are, you’ll know that it’s not looking great at the moment, so it’s good to finally get that funding come in.
Another item considered was Council’s Advocacy Strategy, and this is particularly important ahead of the 2027 New South Wales state elections. So this strategy is designed to identify major priorities and projects that Council will be advocating for to the state government over the coming years, but also the federal government as well, and as many of you would know, I’ve been a very strong advocate for fairer funding for regional councils, but particularly here in Dungog Shire, road funding is a big one. Block grants, which are how the government funds our roads, are also absolutely broken for us here in Dungog shire, and you know we’re the only council without a state road still, so this strategy provides an opportunity for Council to continue pushing for investment infrastructure and services across our community, and what we actually need to grow as well. So, having a clear advocacy strategy will help Dungog speak as one voice. So, if you have an opportunity, definitely have a read of that. It lays out what Council is prioritising and what we’re forecasting. If you have an opportunity, we’re going to need everyone’s support, particularly coming up to the election. And Dave Layzelle, our local member, if you’re listening to this, hopefully you have a read of that too, and hopefully we actually start getting some traction on some of these things.
Another major item for adoption was the 2026-27 Operational Plan Budget, Fees, and Charges. This sets out Council’s priorities, projects, and spending for this financial year. Now, I’ve talked about it quite a lot, and I was really trying to get as much community input as possible, and well done, because we did actually get quite a lot of public submissions during this exhibition period. Community feedback, as I said previously, really does play a very important role in shaping how Councils’ decisions and future priorities will unfold. If you look at the adopted policy, they’ve published the community feedback, how they’ve responded, and how they’ve implemented that in the operational change. So, a lot of the feedback did actually directly change the operational plan for the coming year. So, it’s really good to see. The biggest community feedback topic was very strong interest in Dungog and Clarence Town pools, and I actually agree with a lot of what you’re saying, I feel the exact same way. I think there is quite a lot of work to do. There’s quite a lot of maintenance to do, and we can provide a better service there. So, Council has accepted that, and we’re doing a few things. Over the past week, you would have noticed both Dungog and Clarence Town pools have been drained and cleaned as part of ongoing maintenance and assessment works, and these works will give Council a really good understanding of the condition of the pool, but more importantly, also the infrastructure for the filters, the heaters, that kind of stuff. It really helps identify future maintenance and renewal needs. So we really need a thorough, in-depth assessment of both of those pools. Consultants will then undertake a detailed assessment of both pools and consider extending the pool season, both before and after. This will come back to Council in around August, the first report about extending seasons, because the season is set to open, I think it’s around September, so we want to try and get that report ahead of that decision. Hopefully, we can get a good outcome there. We’ll just have to wait and see what those reports say and what the funding is. Council will also be looking to work with community groups who have expressed interest in helping fund some of these projects. So, there’s a lot going on in that space. There’ll be more updates soon, but for now, we’ll just see what happens out of that report.
Council also formally set rates and charges for the 2026/27 financial year and determined the interest rate applicable to overdue rates and charges. This is just an annual requirement that must be completed before the start of each financial year. Interestingly, the interest on overdue rates came down about 1% and there are some changes to your rates as well, so if you jump on there, you’ll be able to see, depending on what zone you are, and land size, and all those good things that go with it, you can calculate your new rates. Or you can just be like me and just wait for your rates to come in and see what they are and pay them.
We also considered a number of community-focused initiatives. The Council endorsed opening an Expression of Interest for community representatives to join the Access and Inclusion Committee. This was a new committee formed at the start of this Council term. It took a little while to get it off the ground, but we finally got there. So, this Committee is finally out for EOI. It’s a good one. There’s probably a lot of work to be done around our shire to make it more accessible for people living with disabilities, and this committee will start cracking on that soon. Hopefully, they can start making some positive impacts there.
Council also endorsed advertising the 2026 Community Small Grants Program, which provides a little bit of support for local community groups and organisations delivering projects and activities that will benefit residents across the Shire. There’s a whole selection criteria, you can jump on and have a look to see if you qualify.
Another item that generated strong support was the proposal to name the playing field at Vacy Sportsground to ‘Keith and Lesley Miles Oval’. So, Keith and Lesley made an enormous contribution to the Vacy community over many years, and Council has now commenced the formal public consultation process before making any final decision. But that is the new proposed name down there.
Council also continues to progress its Strategic Property Review Program. This work focuses on ensuring council-owned land and assets are being utilised effectively and identifying opportunities that may benefit the community in the future. You would have heard me talk about this a lot. Council has what I call a lot of lazy assets. So we have a lot of assets that are just sitting there and have been sitting there for quite some time. I’m not saying that we need to sell everything. Some of those assets have legitimate future uses. But it’s really important that we look at them all now, assess them, and consider if we can turn them into something that will benefit the community in the future? Do we need to sell it? Do we need to develop it? This board will look at those properties and assess each one on a needs-by-need basis, which is, you know, obviously something that is probably long overdue as well.
So, in terms of governance matters, Council adopted Councillor and Mayoral Fees for the upcoming financial year, and that’s just in accordance with the New South Wales Local Government Remuneration Tribunal determination. An interesting outcome, here in Dungog Shire, we’ve actually now been reclassified from a rural council to a rural large council. It doesn’t really change a whole lot in day-to-day operations, but what it does do, finally, is recognise the scale and the responsibility that we manage here across the shire, and the challenges associated with that for the state government. So, realistically, we’re no different than we were yesterday in terms of our assets and the things that we’re managing, but now the state finally goes, “Yep, okay, you’ve reached enough residents, we’re now going to look at you as a bigger area,” and that might hopefully unlock quite a bit more funding as well. So, we’ll just wait and see how that turns out, but you know, potentially good news there.
I think that’s really the key points for this month’s meeting. You can jump on the website and watch the full meeting; it’s all recorded, and you can view the agenda and minutes if you’re interested.
Other than that, there are some tree works about to start down in John Tucker Park in Paterson. The tree works will commence on Wednesday 24 June. These works flow on from the recent tree assessments and community information sessions held in May down in Paterson, where residents had an opportunity to learn more about the findings and the proposed action, which is really important for this. As part of that project, 24 trees will be removed, and 25 will be pruned to address safety concerns, as identified throughout the assessment. And if you do read the assessment, you will understand why those decisions have been made. For the safety of contractors and the public, John Tucker Park will temporarily be closed while those works are underway. They are expected to take no more than two to three days, if the weather permits.
I know John Tucker Park is a much-loved community space, both within and beyond the community. Many people come there for photos and all kinds of activities, and I know it’s been out of action for quite a long time. But please hang in there. We are very close to that work being done. There will be additional work and a future plan after these works are carried out as well. We’ll be holding further community consultation for that as well, so stay tuned.
Alright, as always, if there’s anything discussed at this week’s meeting that you’d like to know more about, you can hit me up. If you have any issues, just in general, you can reach out as well. I think that’s it. So, have a good weekend, everyone. Thank you for listening. Bye.
