Mayoral Column 23rd December 2020
Published on 22 December 2020
Wishing you a Merry Christmas
As 2020 comes to a close I would like to wish all the residents of Goulburn Mulwaree a happy, safe holiday period. It is a discussion that I’m sure will be repeated around every dining table on Christmas Day, but it has certainly been a testing year unlike any other! From drought, to bushfires and floods, to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have faced many obstacles.
As a Council we have still achieved so much during the year, when at one stage our focus was simply making sure that we would be able to undertake garbage collection and those essential services!
Goulburn Mulwaree Council already has so many projects underway, and in the past few months we have received further money for ones like the Hockey Complex and the extension and completion of the River Walkway which will begin next year. We are delivering improved facilities for our sports through projects like the Cookbundoon Amenities upgrade, a well needed facility for the arts in our Performing Arts Centre, while also focusing on our core infrastructure of roads, water, waste and sewer. One that I am certainly excited about in 2021 is the Goulburn Reuse Scheme, which will allow us to use our high quality treated effluent on parks and sporting fields - a great example of an environmentally friendly project that will have huge impact.
To those working in essential on-call roles over the break I want to extend my personal thanks to you for your dedication and effort. If you aren't taking a good break over this period I hope you will be able to find some time do so soon, as we all need to rest and recharge after a long year.
Please stay safe over the holidays, particularly on the roads if you are travelling over the next few weeks. Wishing you a Merry Christmas, a happy new year and a brilliant 2021.
Greening Goulburn with reuse scheme
As I just touched upon, it’s exciting to be kicking off work on the Goulburn water reuse scheme, a visionary project that will improve parks, gardens and sporting fields in our City.
Last Friday I joined Federal Member for Hume Angus Taylor today for a ceremonial sod turning at Seiffert Oval, which is just one of the sites that will benefit from the Goulburn water reuse scheme. $4.4 million has been gained through the Australian Government Building Better Regions Fund, with Goulburn Mulwaree Council also contributing $4.4 million.
We live in a drought affected country and must always look for solutions to water scarcity, such as this project which will allow us to distribute high quality treated effluent around the City.
Work on the project has begun, with completion of the detailed design expected in March 2021. The scope of the project includes construction of a city wide network of water infrastructure to connect seven designated sport and recreation facilities to a safe and sustainable recycled effluent supply, for irrigation purposes.
Key locations to be serviced by the Goulburn water reuse scheme include Carr Confoy Sporting Fields, Cookbundoon Sporting Fields, Hudson Park, Goulburn Recreation Area, Goulburn Golf Club, Victoria Park and Eastgrove South Sporting Fields.
Christmas Closures
A reminder that Council offices close at noon on Wednesday 23rd December and will re-open on Monday 4th January 2021. A duty officer will be on call for emergencies over this period via 4823 4500.
Other Council facilities will be closed for varying lengths of time. You can view the full list of closures on our website.