Message from the Mayor: 14 October 2022

Hi I'm John Connors, the Mayor of Dungog Shire.

Last Friday, we received advice that the Department of Planning and Environment delivered their report with respect to the Martins Creek quarry development application to the Independent Planning Commission. It's now a matter of the Independent Planning Commission considering that report and considering submissions from Council and other stakeholders and of course the community.

To that end, Council has been advised that on the 20 October, that's next week, we've been given the opportunity to make a submission to the IPC, and the community has a similar opportunity on the 1 November. Regrettably, both of these are virtual meetings, they’re both external.

The public participation session will be facilitated by the Independent Planning Commission in Paterson, and commissioners will be accessible only via video link. This is a great shame and Council’s taking action lobbying to have the commissioners visit Paterson so they can see firsthand the impact of transport and haulage on the community and keep you informed as the matter progresses.

Last weekend, we had more rain, and this weekend we are forecast to have a bit more. But I suppose out of that was the good news that both the recent recently constructed bridges the Bruxner Bridge on the Paterson River and the Saxbys Bridge on the Allyn River both withstood the weather and neither were overtopped.

And still talking about bridges, work progresses on Thalaba Bridge, and work will commence shortly on Banfield bridge which was of course damaged recently by what appears to have been a heavy load and now has a load restriction of five times. So it's hoped that both of those bridges can be completed as soon as possible and without any undue delay due to weather. And in the meantime, Fosterton Bridge is still progressing having started two weeks ago.

In the last week, the government announced a further program to facilitate the rehabilitation of flood-damaged roads and infrastructure. It's available to those councils that were declared flood-affected back in February of this year, and Dungog is one of those councils. So naturally, we will be submitting an application under this program to try and get some funds to assist in the rehabilitation of damaged infrastructure.

This program, unlike most other programs, enables betterment. It enables the work to result in a better facility than previously existing. Most programs enable replacement of like for like.

But none of that is going to alleviate the potholes overnight. And again, as I did last week and the week before, to get everybody to realise there are a lot of potholes, not just in this Shire, but everywhere. And we all need to drive knowing that there are potholes and drive in accordance with the conditions. We’re doing what we can. I know it's inadequate, and never will be adequate. But it requires all of us to acknowledge that there's a problem, there are potholes on the road, and we should drive taking that impact into account.

So until next week, Goodbye and good luck.