From the Lord Mayor's Office
Time to focus on the future
Anyone who holds the belief that Council is just roads, rates and rubbish, should take a look at the suite of planning documents that Council endorsed for public consultation on Monday night. The collection of documents includes the draft Community Strategic Plan, Delivery Program and the Operational Plan for next financial year.
In them you will see Council is about rockpools, footpaths, parks, playgrounds, libraries, sportsfields, cemeteries, stormwater… and the list goes on, and on. The range and depth of services we provide never cease to impress me, along with the dedicated staff that work every day on behalf of our community.
At the top of the pile in this suite of documents is the draft Community Strategic Plan which is about what we need and want for Wollongong in 2035. It considers how do we support a growing population of more than 300,00 people, along with the increase in daily visitors from 121,000 people to 156,000 who come here for work, and play?
The draft Delivery Program and Operational Plan looks at how will we move around our community and reduce the reliance on cars? We need to embrace active transport, our cycleways are a vital tool to providing an alternative for cars, particularly for the increased population living in or close to the CBD.
While the draft Budget 2025-2026 and draft Revenue Policy, Rates, Annual Charges and Fees 2025-2026 considers how we fund all we want to deliver particularly when, just like household budgets, we’ve been impacted by cost of living challenges.
A Digital Strategy, meanwhile, looks to meet cyber threats but embrace innovation and keep the customer at the centre of all we do.
Reflected throughout these documents is our community’s feedback gathered through our previous engagement opportunities. We know we need housing, especially affordable housing, but we are worried about having the infrastructure to go with it. We need improved transport opportunities, to manage the risk of climate change and protect our unique environment, but we also need a reliable future energy supply to support our community and industry.
Our unique environment comes up a lot, as we have the privilege to live between the escarpment and the ocean. However, with this natural beauty comes the challenge of living with the ongoing threat of bushfire, flooding, and coastal erosion as we have witnessed over recent years. These are very real concerns, and as a Council we share them, and in these documents, you will see plans to meet those challenges.
As Councillors we are the custodians of our city’s liveability, and as a Council it is our duty to plan for the future.
We have worked with staff to address the concerns you shared and present to our community a series of documents that capture the challenges and present a way forward delivered I believe through a governance, accountability and transparency lens.
As we move to place these plans on public exhibition I encourage everyone to take the time to tell us if we got it right, what is missing and any other feedback. This is your chance to share and help us make sure our city is ready to face the next ten years and beyond.
