Mayoral Minutes

With Council participating in Earth Hour today (the last Saturday in March) it brings into question whether local government can solve the global warming problem. Sure, I take the point that a thriving city in regional Australia encouraging everyone to turn off their lights will probably not turn the tide on the Tasman Glacier, but if everyone on the planet took the attitude that they were too small to make a difference, no change would ever be achieved. 
There are 8,766 hours in a year so just choosing one hour to turn off the lights only covers 0.01% of electricity usage for the year, but the organisers of Earth Hour believe that it demonstrates a commitment to change and a starting point for modifying behaviour. Read More...

If I'm looking particularly ugly over the next few weeks blame it on Janine Sherriff - a very brave student at Dubbo College South Campus who asked me to be involved with her head shave fundraiser. I thought if Janine was brave enough to walk around school with no hair then walking around Dubbo with no hair was the least I could do. In front of a classroom of students at South Campus Janine and I shaved each others' heads. Congratulations to Janine for raising more than $4000 so far. Read More...

It is not every day that you would expect to see Dr. Alan Greenspan in Dubbo but that is exactly what will be happening on Thursday 29 March. Dubbo is one of only seven cities in Australia that will host a live link with Dr. Greenspan as the guest speaker. Dubbo Chamber of Commerce, with support from Council, will host the breakfast. Read More...

I have heard a variety of views about city growth in my time on Council and what it would mean for Dubbo in the long run. Generally, most people are keen for Dubbo to continue to grow and attract new and improved facilities and services, but one of the many risks a growing community presents to its residents is that we lose our small country town feel. Sometimes people tell me the reason they choose to live in the villages surrounding Dubbo is because those communities still have a strong sense of community, whereas they believe Dubbo is starting to lose that charm. Read More...

Congratulations to the Mayor of Bathurst, Greg Westman, who took out the inaugural Mayoral BMX challenge on Saturday. The idea was put to me by Justin Farrell, the President of the local BMX club, as an idea to generate more interest in BMX racing. I hadn’t ridden a BMX bike in more than 30 years but I’m happy to accept almost any challenge and I was pleased to take the second race off Greg before I was well beaten in the third for an eventual score line of 2-1. Well done to Justin for an innovative idea and best of luck to the club with the new upcoming track layout. Read More...

Congratulations also to Rotary…again. Rotary have a very strong presence in our community and undertake a range of activities that benefit our City. For three days this week they are conducting the RYDA program which sees the majority of Year 11 students in Dubbo participate in driver awareness. More than a dozen Rotarians participate each day to try and make Dubbo’s roads safer. Read More...