Mayoral Column - September 2023

Published on 06 September 2023

I am very pleased to be re-elected as Yass Valley Mayor for a further twelve months at the September Council meeting. I am grateful to my fellow Councillors for their support and look forward to continuing our work for the advancement of Yass Valley residents. I congratulate Councillor Cayla Pothan on her election as Deputy Mayor and I am confident we will work well together.

I thank Councillor Jasmin Jones for all her help and assistance during her term as Deputy Mayor. Councillor Jones was always willing to step up (sometimes at very short notice) and always helpful in supporting me with her valuable background knowledge. I know she will continue to make a significant contribution to the affairs and decision-making of Council.

It's been another busy month with the weather warming up, and I’ve had the opportunity to attend some great events.

On September 6, I joined the Hon. Wendy Tuckerman, Councillors Cecil Burgess and Kim Turner as well as Council CEO, Chris Berry at the Binalong Community Club following the announcement that the Binalong Golf Course has been selected to host the inaugural Men’s World Sand Green Championships! The Championships are scheduled for 28-29 September, 2024. Located 25 minutes outside of Yass, it’s great to see our community being part of such a big event. More information about this exciting event can be found at https://www.yassvalley.nsw.gov.au/Home/Tabs/News/News-articles/Golf-NSW.

My day didn’t end there. After briefly stopping by the Bowning School for a quick photo, I was sprung in the act by the ever-alert Principal, Belinda Brown. I was thrilled to be given the opportunity to have been given a tour around the school and noted the spacious, well-kept ground, good facilities, and lovely students. It was a wonderful surprise to my day.

The Yass Men’s Shed have been hard at work on the refurbishing of the Comur Street heritage benches, pumping out another three! This has been a wonderful collaboration between Council and the Men’s Shed.

On 19 September at the Yass Shed, I got to meet up with the hardworking blokes as part of our Senior’s Spring Program. There was a good roll up, where a number of first-time visitors were welcomed and enjoyed morning tea, a yarn and tour of the shed workshops and grounds.

Due to the sad passing of one of our Elders earlier this year, some of the Yass Valley’s NAIDOC Week activities were postponed out of respect. I was honoured to attend the Flag Raising Ceremony on 18 September. The reception was a wonderful start to the NAIDOC Week activities.

I attended our last activity at Oak Hill for the official opening of the Scar Trees Installation. I was given the opportunity to hear Ngunnawal man, Wally Bell talk about his early years living on the Oak Hill Reserve. It was a real honour to be educated about the Aboriginal spiritual and physical connection to the land, whilst getting a grasp of the true meaning of ‘Welcome to Country’.

The conclusion of the NAIDOC Week activities saw the commencement of our Spring School Holiday Program. It’s been wonderful to see our community working together to provide fun and educational activities for our kids to keep engaged with.

I was able to listen to some incredibly talented musicians during the 2023 Irish and Celtic Festival and was pleased to speak at the festival launch on 14 September. It was a great weekend filled with wonderful music from some brilliant musicians!

I’ve had a wander around our community and have seen the great work being done to the Skate Park. It was members from the Youth Council who had the brilliant idea to add shelters. It’s amazing to see our youth working with the community!

Until next month,

Allan McGrath