From Yamaga City, Japan - Mayoral Column 21 August 2019

This week’s Mayoral Column comes from the beautiful city of Yamaga in Japan. I am fortunate to be visiting this amazing country as part of the Cooma-Yamaga exchange program facilitated by the hardworking Cooma and Yamaga Lions Clubs.

Cooma and Yamaga have been closely linked for 44-years and it is fantastic to see this relationship continuing to thrive. The current delegation visiting Yamaga comprises of Cooma Lions Club president Lee Riley, Lions members and Monaro High School students.

We were officially greeted by Yamaga Mayor Kensei Nakashima. There is great respect and admiration between the people of the Snowy Monaro and Yamaga.

So far, we have been treated to a wonderful display of Japanese culture. We attended the Yamaga Lantern Festival, an amazing show featuring 1000 dancers in traditional Yukata dress and a beautiful collection of lanterns crafted by Toro craftsmen.

Have you picked up your copy of the Regional Lifestyle Magazine? This is an edition not to be missed with our Snowy Monaro region showcased in a 141-page feature.

There are stories of local identities, interesting tales from times gone by, and a wonderful collection of photographs that show what a stunning region we call home.

With 80,000 copies spread throughout the state, the feature will attract even more visitors to our region.

On Friday 23 August, the Upper Snowy Landcare Network is hosting a very important talk on regenerating the Monaro landscape.

Around 100 landholders and stakeholders will gather at the Alpine Hotel in Cooma for lunch and to hear a presentation on the latest scientific approaches to land regeneration from Professor Justin Borevitz from of the Australian National University.

The Upper Snowy Landcare Network do a wonderful job in our region, and to attend this event, you can contact the group at [email protected]

Council in partnership with the Office of Environment and Heritage are facilitating the latest round of the NSW Heritage Grants program. A total of $20,000 is available in the region. For further information and application forms, please visit Council’s website.

Councillor John Rooney Mayor of Snowy Monaro Regional Council