Mayoral Memo - 11 January 2023
I am not much of a fan of New Year’s Resolutions. Why go down a path that data shows has a 91 per cent chance of failure with a 43 per cent failure rate within the first month.
I am more a fan of the application of the concept of Kaizen which, at its heart, aims for continuous improvement. Every day is an opportunity to improve the way we do things.
Having said that, it is natural that people tend to ask about plans for an upcoming year. Council does tend to work in financial years but over the course of the calendar year of 2023, the community will see a range of ideas and plans worked on.
The first and most visible will be the task of repairing roads. With a break in the rain, the subsoil moisture is reducing to a level that repairs can actually be undertaken. There is still a shortfall in the total funding needed to bring our entire 2,875km road network up to an acceptable standard but we will receive injections from external sources to add to our existing budget and we will continue to look for innovative ways to improve our road network.
We have some major capital works that will be undertaken this year. We will be re-introducing fluoride to the Dubbo water supply this year and we will also continue our program of expanding our bore supply network so when the next drought hits we will have the ability to draw more water from bores. The Dubbo Wiradjuri Cultural Tourism Centre and the Entertainment Precinct are significant projects that are nearing the end of the planning stages and we will start to see physical activity on both of these projects this year.
The broader community continues to recognise the Dubbo region as a location they want to live so we will continue to see demands on the supply of housing. Council will continue to develop blocks of land in Keswick Estate along with further planning for the North-West Residential Urban Release Area. The reintroduction of the quarterly development forums will help facilitate further development across a range of areas in Dubbo.
We have a huge opportunity and a huge challenge with our Renewable Energy Zone to ensure the community receives commensurate benefits as the provider of over thirty per cent of the residential power needed across the State. Related to this is the amount of short-term worker accommodation required for the significant infrastructure projects we are seeing develop in this region. Mining, transport, renewables all need construction workers.
Lastly, we need to ensure we deliver a financially sustainable Council and we need to improve the levels of communication between Council and the community.
We will be working hard every day to deliver all of this and more over the coming year.
Councillor Mathew Dickerson
Mayor of Dubbo Regional Council
Last Edited: 10 Jan 2023