Mayoral Column – Wednesday 30 December 2020

By the time you read this I trust that you’ve all enjoyed your Christmas break and are feeling refreshed and ready for 2021.

I’m sure we’re all ready to say goodbye to the year that is passing. As I said in my column last week, from drought and fire to flood and pandemic, 2020 has been quite a year and one we hope not to see again.

If 2020 has taught has anything it’s that we cannot ever truly know what’s ahead. I’d like to share my thoughts on some of the activities and matters that I believe will impact us in the Snowy Monaro region over the next 12 months (subject of course to us not experiencing further extraordinary events outside of our control):

•Activity around the Snowy 2.0 project will continue to increase. The concrete factory will be in full operation and our region will see an influx of additional workers and increased heavy vehicle movements. •The Jindabyne Special Activation Project (SAP) will be further advanced in the first few months of the year and there will be more detailed information available on the masterplan to transform Jindabyne into a year-round tourist destination with support from State Government. •Council will continue our work and consultations on the Draft Settlement and Rural Land Use strategies. As mentioned in previous columns, this is an extremely important piece of work as it will decide many of our future planning needs and requirements, and will need to work alongside the SAP planning and Snowy 2.0 Construction. •Due to COVID-19 the local government elections were postponed in 2020 and have now been scheduled by the NSW Government for September 2021. •Council will be working to complete as many of its projects as possible that have been delayed because of 2020 interruptions. •We are fully aware that because of the impacts of 2020 we will need to readdress our current financial situation. While we have fared extremely well in comparison to the rest of the newly merged Councils in regional and rural NSW, there will need to be a determined effort by Council and the community to critically monitor and reprioritise our expenditures and service delivery in 2021.

In closing I’d just like to remind everyone of the need to be prepared for coming bushfire season. While we’re all hopeful that we won’t see a repeat of last year’s terrible fires, the recent rains throughout the region have brought considerably growth so we cannot be complacent that they will not happen again, albeit different to last time. Information is available at www.rfs.nsw.gov.au and I urge everyone to ensure they are as best prepared as possible.

Wishing you all a happy 2021. Stay safe.

Councillor Peter Beer Mayor of Snowy Monaro Regional Council