MITCHELL BLUE COUNCILLOR – NORTH WARD News
FLOOD RECOVERY
I recently attended a community flood forum hosted by Paradise Café at Lower Portland. Over 100 locals heard from residents impacted by the floods, local Councillors from The Hills and Hawkesbury and Robyn Preston, State Member for Hawkesbury. An overwhelming number of residents expressed their concern over flood mitigation in the Hawkesbury. Many key points were taken from this meeting regarding the future of flood mitigation and what that may look like.
Although not a council road, it is great to see Wisemans Ferry Rd at Little Cattai Creek back open as of 12th August. This part of the road was closed for repair for many weeks and having it closed caused many residents to alter their travel patterns. Some of these patterns included an increased use of the Sackville Ferry and Old Northern Rd. It is great that it is now back open for the community.
I have visited many properties along the riverbank, all with different issues, however the major one that I see after this flood is either the erosion of the riverbanks or the dumping of tonnes of sand on properties. Although many weeks since the flood, there is still a lot of work to be done. A number of roads are requiring repair or rebuilding and I am glad that council is getting closer to having these rectified. I will continue to advocate on our residents’ behalf.
COMMUNITY ENVIRONMENT CENTRE
On Saturday 13th August, the Community Environment Centre at Annangrove held an open day which officially started the operation of the centre on Saturdays as well as the usual Thursdays. The centre is a great place to learn about our environment and I encourage all residents to visit. The environment centre is always looking for volunteers.
COMMUNITY DEFIB PROJECT
On Sunday 14th August, I attended the opening of the 100th publicly accessible defibrillator as part of the Community Defib Project at Hawkins Lookout.
The program began in 2019 and was founded by Sophie Wills of Wisemans Ferry, so it was pertinent that the 100th unit was at the lookout overlooking the valley where the program began. I have long been a supported of this program which aims to save lives by installed defibrillators that are accessible 24/7. Well done and congratulations to Sophie and the CDP team.
BOX HILL ACCELERATED INFRASTRUCTURE FUND
As part of the NSW Government’s AIF Program Round 2, Council has secured $30.4M to be allocated to new facilities in the Box Hill area. This funding will assist with the delivery of future roads, parks, stormwater upgrades and sports fields in Box Hill. Just some of the projects include; The Water Lane Reserve, Annangrove Rd upgrade, drainage basins and intersection upgrades.
This is separate to the additional $28M in funding applied for to assist in infrastructure delivery. This funding application is seeking to allocate unspent funds for the AIF Round 1 to the Box Hill Contribution Plan to overcome historical capping of contribution rates and Local Infrastructure Growth Scheme funding not yet received for Box Hill.
BLACK SPOT FUNDING
Council has nominated $3.24M worth of projects for Black Spot Funding. Some of these projects are in North Ward and include; localised sections of roadside barriers, speed cushioning and illuminated slow down signs on Annangrove Road. Intersection treatment at Langford Rd and Wyoming Rd as well as flexible barrier and edge line marking on sections of Langford Rd and Davey Rd in Dural. Localised section of flexible barrier, line marking, widening and intersection treatments to Sagars Rd in Dural.
Channelised right turn treatments at Caddies Boulevard and Gradiflora Street at Rouse Hill. Channelised right turn and pedestrian refuge treatment to the intersection of Glenhaven and Holland Roads in Glenhaven.
If there is anything I can be of assistance with, please send me an email or give me a call. I am more than happy to assist where I can. Email: [email protected]
