IT was an honour to join my fellow councillors at an extraordinary Council meeting on Monday to take our Oath of Office and to elect Cr Linda Campbell as the Deputy Lord Mayor of Wollongong for the next year. Councillors are currently going through a comprehensive induction program so we can hit the ground running at our first ordinary meeting on 28 October. I am excited about the next four years and working collectively with all councillors in the interests of our residents.

And this starts with talking about the need for additional funding for flood mitigation and the efforts to rebuild our damaged assets to contemporary standards, following the cumulative impact of seven natural disasters in our LGA since 2019. Last term I joined Council’s Senior Executive to discuss this issue with Minister Jihad Dib and Minister Paul Scully and I will soon go to Macquarie Street to continue discussions on how we can improve flood mitigation across the city given our unique vulnerability to storms.

Another key priority for me is to support our visitor economy as much as possible. Council is currently consulting on the draft Tourism Accommodation Review Strategy which aims to guide possible amendments to land use planning controls to incentivise and support the development of new hotel accommodation across the city. Once finalised the Tourism Accommodation Review Strategy will better guide the growth and evolution of hotels and other types of accommodation across the Local Government Area and see proposals, should they be approved, move into construction phase as soon as possible.

The big takeaway from Council’s Climate Change Mitigation Plan is that everyone has a role to play in creating a sustainable future for Wollongong. Getting to net zero is going to take a concerted effort from the whole community, businesses, government and individuals.

Council has launched a dedicated hub with information and support about a whole range of actions residents can take to reduce their emissions. We’ve also launched our Net Zero Heroes campaign to show how some local residents and businesses are doing their bit to reduce their carbon footprint and demonstrate how you too can play a part in driving change.  In addition to empowering the community, Council will continue to lead by example as it aims for net zero emissions for council operations by 2030.

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