Hello and welcome to this week’s Council Connect video. Councillor Alexandria Carruthers here with you to give a quick update on what’s going on with Council at the moment.
At the last Council meeting, we endorsed the Customer Experience Strategy for public exhibition. So now you, the community, have the opportunity to have your say on what you think the strategy should look like and what it should include.
It’s really about your experience dealing with the Council. We know there are some great ones there, and we also know there’s some work to do, so we want to hear from you so that what we do in that space reflects what our community wants and needs.
You can provide feedback on that strategy via the website. Submissions are open until 5pm Monday, 19 October. But don’t leave it until the last minute to submit your feedback, because you might think of something after you’ve submitted it. So I would suggest you jump on the website, have a look at that strategy, and give us your feedback. I’ll pop a link in the comments below as well, so you can have a look there.
Another thing we’re looking for at the moment is community members to join the Weeds and Biosecurity Committee. We’re inviting Expressions of Interest (EOI) from people who’d like to join that Committee.
There are up to six community positions available. So local landholders, primary producers, land care, bush care volunteers, or anyone who’s interested in weeds, agriculture, and the environment, along with land management, we want to hear from you to be on that committee. Expressions of Interest for those positions close on Sunday, 25 October.
School holidays! Anyone who’s a parent knows they are here today. As of 2:45pm, school’s out for two weeks. So families, we’ve got a couple of great activities at the Dungog Library during the holidays. I’ll include links to those as well in the comment section below.
We’ve got Rachel Barry joining us on Wednesday, 30th September at 10.30am for a creative morning inspired by her beautiful book ‘Where the Ripples Rise’, which is a lovely illustrated book. So I would encourage you to come along to that. And Rachel Barry is just a beautiful person. Rachel will be showing kids how to make their own zine, which is like a mini magazine. I remember making those in the school holidays when I was younger too. It was always a fun activity for any age.
And then the week following, we have ‘Reptiles on the Go’ visiting the library on Wednesday, 7th October at 10am. You’ll be able to come along and have a look at some reptiles. They’re always very interesting. Places are limited for this one, so book your spots early by calling the library.
And finally, just in time for the school holidays, the pools are reopening. Both Dungog Pool and Clarence Town Pool will be open from Monday, 28 September, just in time for the school holidays. There’s been plenty happening behind the scenes over winter with repairs, maintenance, and improvements carried out on both pools. And look, they were really overdue. So thank you for your patience while we’ve worked through the backlog of maintenance and repairs. And please come along from Monday and enjoy the pools. The finishing touches are happening at the moment, with the pools being refilled, which is quite a mission in itself, and the water treatment is underway to get the pools ready for opening.
A big thank you to all the council staff and contractors who have made it possible to reopen the pools! We know there are many community members who really enjoy those facilities and everything they offer. And how great is it now that we’ve got some repairs, maintenance, and improvements carried out on both? So hopefully there’ll be plenty of enjoyment at the pools over the coming months.
That’s about it in terms of the council update from me. Everybody, stay safe during these school holidays. We know there are extra people on the roads, particularly as the weather’s starting to warm up, and we’ve got that little bit of extra daylight coming our way as well with the October long weekend. So stay safe, and most importantly, have fun and cherish the time with your family and friends. Thank you.
