Message from the Mayor: 8 September 2023

Published on 08 September 2023

Hello, I'm John Connors, the Mayor of the Dungog Shire bringing you this week’s Mayoral Message.

This week saw a meeting of the Traffic Committee of the Shire for the first time since mid 2020. Since COVID hit the committee has been unable to meet in the intervening period because the government or Transport for NSW shut down meetings for their members to attend and without a member participating from Transport for NSW, the committee was unable to be convened. That situation is now resolved fortunately so the committee held its first meeting in three years.

There will be recommendations going from the Committee to Council hopefully at its next meeting, which include a review of parking in Dowling St in Dungog, a review that will look at marking all parking bays between Mackay St and Hooke St, and also look at the necessity or removal of the 15 minute parking zones which were originally there for banks, which aren't there anymore. And of course, the no stopping zones near the intersections which are again no longer necessary because of the blisters that have been put in place.

The review will also look at means of alleviating the problem that exists with the awning posts in various places along Dowling St being right on the curb. If it’s in a position where there's an angle on the road, then pantechnicons have been known to hit and damage the posts. So methods to keep vehicles out from the curb in those locations will also be looked at in the course of the review. The review will also look at the side streets for a distance of 50 metres. So that should deal with the parking anomalies, particularly in Brown Street where there are different angles on different sides of the road.

So as that review progresses, and assuming Council adopts the recommendation at its next meeting, there'll be consultation with the Dungog and District Chamber of Commerce and with impacted businesses along the street.

The meeting also considered an initiative of Transport for NSW to create a school drop-off and pick-up zone called Kiss and Drop.

And there's a recommendation going to Council that there be such a zone created in Dowling Street adjacent to the Dungog Primary School and in Queen St at Clarence Town adjacent to the Clarence Town Primary School.

If those recommendations are adopted, then that will require the relevant schools to participate to supervise the drop-off and collection of children. The scheme works with parents not getting out of their motor vehicle to collect the child or to drop off the child and for it to be a smooth drop off and pick up.

The Committee also looked at a request for timed parking at the post office at East Gresford as a recommendation going to Council with respect to that. And a further request for timed parking near the intersection of Hooke Street and Chichester Dam Rd in Dungog. There'll again be a recommendation going to Council with respect to that request. So quite a lot of action on the street front which isn't surprising seeing there's been such a long period between meetings.

Council has for some time, been requesting a meeting with the current Minister for the Hunter, Yasmin Catley. Council had a meeting with Minister Crakanthorp very shortly prior to him no longer being the Minister and since he was replaced have sort a meeting with the new Minister, Yasmin Catley. Our request has been unsuccessful to date, but we're continuing to seek that meeting to push the numerous issues within the shire, particularly as to funding and obviously at the top of that list is the Brig O’Johnston Bridge replacement at Clarence Town. Council is also seeking a meeting with the Minister for Regional NSW, Tara Moriarty, and again the purpose of that meeting is to pursue funding that involves the State Government funding that appears to all be on hold at the moment. Funding in which we seek to get clarification includes the Suspension Bridge at East Gresford and works in Hooke Street in Dungog between Lord Street and Dowling Street for which funding was announced prior to the state election, but hasn't been forthcoming. So hopefully, we'll get those meetings in the near future and we'll be able to pursue those causes at that time.

There are numerous activities going on throughout the Shire at the moment with the Tea Party at the Theatre in Dungog, the Polo at the Wirragulla Polo Grounds this weekend (Friday and Saturday) and the Vacy Farmers Carnival. So with all those activities, one hopes that the weather might be good, notwithstanding that those on the land are all looking for rain at the moment rather than winds that further dry out the country. Anyway, we can only hope for the best.

So that's it for me for this week. So until next week, good luck and goodbye.