Mayoral Memo - 2 November 2022
“Penny, everything is better with Bluetooth!” so says Sheldon in episode 18, season 2 of ‘The Big Bang Theory’ and after the last two years, you could say the same for QR Codes.
Well the new Victoria Park Fitness Centre ticks both boxes with fitness bikes and a cross-trainer that link via Bluetooth to your smartphone and QR codes on the equipment that can be used to demonstrate the correct use of the apparatus.
The fitness centre is just another area in Dubbo that encourages people to be outdoors and physically active. When it isn’t underwater, the 13-kilometre Tracker Riley Cycleway is a great facility to encourage people to walk, run and ride with a beautiful backdrop – the Macquarie River. There are a number of exercise areas along the path to encourage people using the area to be active in a variety of ways.
I have often spoken about the higher-than-average volunteering rate in the Dubbo community as evidenced by the Census data we see every five years. This reflects the high level of community spirit and pride in our region. Another area that I see similar community-minded outcomes is the financial contributions made by various organisations to make our city better.
The new fitness centre is just the latest area that the Titan Macquarie Mud Run has helped financially in Dubbo. Apart from being a highly successful event attracting over 10,000 people to participate since its inception in 2014, this event has also helped install lights along our riverbank and various pieces of fitness equipment too numerous to mention. They are not alone though. The Dubbo Stampede is another event with a similar heritage having its initial outing in 2012. With up to 3,000 participants in each event, it also attracts people to Dubbo and injects money in to our economy – but once again the committee has contributed profits from the event to various infrastructure in the city.
There are many other organisations that similarly contribute to our city. Service clubs and community groups and sometimes just individuals. When I speak to Councillors in some other areas in Australia, they tell me that their residents are constantly asking the Council to magically make money appear to build some new piece of equipment or new infrastructure. I proudly tell them that in our community we have many organisations that pitch in and help the Council provide infrastructure that the community wants or needs.
This doesn’t just apply to sporting infrastructure. Think of Macquarie Home Stay as one simple example where many organisations have raised money for this facility that is used by people outside of Dubbo. The list goes on but my word count doesn’t. On behalf of the residents, thank you to all those organisations that help make our community such a wonderful place to live and play in.
Councillor Mathew Dickerson
Mayor of Dubbo Regional Council
Last Edited: 01 Nov 2022