Mayoral Column - Wednesday 11 August 2021

COVID-19 Spreading

At the time of writing, we have seen hundreds of new COVID-19 cases reported daily across New South Wales. We have seen transmission to locations as far out as Mudgee and infections have started spreading further from the Sydney area into the Central Coast and Hunter/Upper Hunter area.

It is critical for our region that we all continue to be careful, as just the last week shows that this pandemic can spread, and has done so, to regional areas.

This recent spread to the Hunter and Upper Hunter is another blow for our local tourism operators, as the lockdown of these regions shuts off one of the only remaining major population centres that could still travel to our region.

The high numbers of new infections shows just how highly transmissible the Delta variant is. We have seen just in the last week worrying signs that Greater Sydney will remain in lockdown for some time to come. As the lockdown goes on, the income of many winter-dependent businesses in the region will continue to suffer.

Stay strong, stay safe, and together we will make it through.

Have your say

There are only a few days left to have your say on two important strategies that will shape the future of our region. Whether you live here, work here, or only come to visit – the Community Strategic Plan and the Michelago Masterplan will affect you. Please have your say.

The Snowy Mountains Special Activation Precinct will of course have a big impact, and it is worth considering the long term impacts of the NSW State Government's plans for our region and Jindabyne especially when lodging a response to these plans.

Visit https://yoursaysnowymonaro.com.au to learn more about these initiatives and to have your say.

Rates

Rate notices have now been sent out with a large amount of feedback from the public coming through due to the impacts of a new rate structure being put into place.

The rates harmonisation process that was recently completed by Council was mandatory, legislated by the NSW Government for all merged Councils. This process did not result in additional rates being collected. The overall amount collected remains the same but the distribution of collection changes.

It was not possible to bring together the rates for the entire region without having changes to individual landowners’ rates. Council, with community input, sought to develop a fair, simple and equitable model with as few impacts as possible, but all possible options still led to a significant number of positive and negative impacts.

The new rates structure has the same rate for most people, which has led to the description of rate categories changing for many. It has also led to many of the location descriptions being removed as rates were harmonised. These changes only relate to rates and have nothing to do with what you can do with or on your land. Now you are categorised for rates only on whether your land is considered residential, farmland, business or used for commercial level electricity generation. The value of your land, which also reflects the services and amenity of your land, determines the relative amount of rates paid. An example of a change for some is a move from ‘rural residential’ to ‘residential’.

If the change is creating financial hardship for you please contact the Council’s revenue section to discuss options for payment plans.

Council update

No further details have been issued at this stage in regards to the lockdown and how it will impact the rescheduled Council elections.

Any updates will be relayed to the public as soon as they are available to Council.

In the meantime, stay distanced, wear masks, wash your hands and stay safe. Keep COVID at bay in our region.