Mayoral Column - Wednesday 14 July

COUNCIL MEETING – THURSDAY 15 JULY 2021

Tomorrow night Council will be holding its regular monthly meeting at the Cooma Council chambers.

Some of the matters up for discussion include:

Adaminaby Parking Infrastructure

Up for Council approval is the truck and light vehicle parking improvements in Adaminaby that recently received grant funding from the Bushfire Local Economic Recovery program co-funded by the NSW and Australian Governments.

It’s good to see the important centre of Adaminaby getting more attention and more funding from the higher tiers of government. This will improve the amenity of the town of which is seeing continuing growth in visitor numbers.

These upgrades will benefit both the tourists and locals through the creation of safe parking for trucks, substantially lowering the risk of accidents and encouraging more motorists of all kinds to stop in the town.

State Government Housing Matters

I was pleased by the NSW State Government’s recent announcement of the NSW Housing Strategy Action Plan 2021-22, as well as the Temporary Supportive Accommodation (TSA) discussion paper.

These are important and far-reaching documents, and Council will be discussing what they may mean for our region.

We will continue to work with the NSW Government with a view to advocate for extra housing that can help alleviate the housing issue across our local government area.

While the supply of housing – and the supply of affordable and social housing – is not a responsibility of local government, this council recognises its importance and the need for more supply. Secure and safe housing for the most vulnerable lowers crime, domestic violence and other antisocial behaviour. This lessens the cost on other government agencies and programs, and is a sound investment that I believe needs to be further encouraged.

Draft Michelago Masterplan

If passed at the upcoming meeting, Council will be asking for further comments to be considered in regard to the Michelago Masterplan.

Council welcomes all submissions. It helps us to understand and meet the needs of everyone in the community and recent consultations have made a real difference in the policies adopted.

BUSHFIRE LOCAL ECONOMIC RECOVERY (BLER) FUNDING

The State Government has announced recipients for its BLER grants. Among the projects approved in this round of funding are:

•$1.2 million for Jindabyne Skate Park •$710,000 for the Tourism Snowy Mountains Bushfire Recovery Program•$812,340 to improve Adaminaby’s streetscape

FAREWELL TO PAM

After many years, it is with sadness we farewell Pam Veiss our Library Manager. Across our libraries and across the pre- and post-merger Councils, she has overseen enormous expansion and improvement of our library services from Cooma to Bombala and through the Mobile Library.She will be missed and from all of us here at Council, we wish her a wonderful retirement.