What a pleasure it was to meet people and discuss our plans, projects, and budget for this term of Council. 

I’d like to thank everyone who came to one of our ‘Let’s Talk’ sessions to meet with Councillors and Council teams, view the plans and give feedback. We had some robust discussions and learned first-hand what’s important to our residents. 

I’d also like to thank Councillors for attending these consultations and for their efforts to reach out to as many people as possible. Returning Councillors to the Central Coast has returned the voice of the people to strategic planning. 

After talking with our community, we’ve made some changes. 

We’ve improved the way our plans read to make them more accessible, and the Community Strategic Plan has been updated to reflect Council’s commitment to the Coastal Open Space System.

We’ve increased our focus on local roads by allocating an additional $20M for road renewals, and a further $800,000 to fix potholes.

We also resolved an additional allocation of $1.2M to fund a dredging program in Tuggerah Lake to help mitigate the extent and frequency of flooding in the area.

And we’ve allocated $150,000 to a tree planting program on the Peninsula after receiving more than 320 representations. 

I’m particularly proud of Council’s commitment to maintaining financial sustainability in this budget, and our Long-term Financial Plan has been designed to ensure we stay in good shape. 

I encourage you to take a look at our plans and see for yourself what’s in store by visiting Council’s website and searching for ‘Delivery Program and Operational Plan’. You can find out about projects happening near you on our Capital Works map, and we’ll be adding more projects now these plans have been adopted. You can view the map on our website.  

I look forward to keeping you up to date about our progress and encourage you to keep in touch with consultation opportunities through the Your Voice Our Coast website. 

Mayor Lawrie McKinna