Nana Glen Bushfire Recovery Update (30 May 2020)

I enthusiastically took up Kevin Hogan MP’s offer to visit Nana Glen with him recently to inspect hardstand sites that Council has been constructing on local roads in the Orara Valley for emergency vehicles.

He was announcing funds to install emergency water access stations at Nana Glen and that will help RFS trucks fill up from local creeks during emergencies.

I was able, during the visit, to update Kevin on the work that Council has been doing with the Orara Valley community since the devastating bushfires.

While COVID-19 has been dominating the headlines, we have not once lost sight of how we can work together to help the community recover successfully from the bushfires. To that end, we’ve been working hard on a list of priorities requested by the community.

As well as the hardstand sites, we’ve appointed a Community Recovery Officer, initiated works on the requested turnaround bays for emergency vehicles, progressed solar panels and air conditioning for Nana Glen Memorial Hall, assessed the condition of a local bridge in regards to its use by emergency vehicles, begun liaising with stakeholder groups over an Environmental Recovery Program, started planning for Community Recovery/Resilience Events which have been impacted to date by COVID-19 and started scoping the extent of works for upgrades of identified Neighbourhood Safer Places.

Work is ongoing, but we are here – with the Orara Valley community – for the long haul.

Draft Jetty Strip Streetscape Plan

An exciting plan to upgrade the Jetty Strip streetscape is currently out for public consultation and I’d really urge everyone to take a look. It’s on Council’s Have Your Say website and the information includes a concept fly-through video to give people a good understanding of the improvements it would achieve in this very popular dining and entertainment area.

The Plan is specifically for the Jetty Strip area that covers Harbour Drive from Edinburgh Street to Orlando Street and then north to Collingwood Street. It is separate to the NSW Government’s Coffs Harbour Jetty Foreshore Precinct masterplan, but the improvements aim to complement that revitalisation.

This Plan would cost around $20m to complete, and is currently unfunded, so it was one of the projects Council recently put forward to the Deputy Prime Minister for funding consideration following his request for transport-related projects that could help stimulate the economy and drive job creation as we recover from the pandemic.

Please take a look and give us your feedback.

Virtual Storytime

I had heaps of fun doing a special online Storytime for the littlies for the Library’s Facebook page this week. It was a great reminder of how much fun libraries are – and also how important they are to get kids into reading and loving it!

Pictured above: Coffs Harbour Mayor Councillor Denise Knight joined Kevin Hogan MP to inspect some of the ongoing bushfire recovery projects underway in the Orara Valley.