From the Lord Mayor's Office
In conversation with the Urban Development Institute
This week I had the pleasure of providing a keynote address at the Urban Development Institute of Australia event in Wollongong in which I was able to talk about my vision for the City, and the opportunities and challenges we face both for Council and the broader region.
With ten months under my belt as Lord Mayor of Wollongong, I continue to be inspired by the great people of this city, who motivate me each day to do all we can to plan and prepare for the growth of Wollongong now and into the future.
I campaigned on the platform of ‘new leadership’ and I’m proud to lead a Council that is financially stable, demonstrating good governance and a collegiate, collaborative approach. This enables us to be a trusted partner for Government, corporates and not for profits.
Our community can be assured that we are working together to deliver homes for our children, libraries, footpaths, sports fields and the playgrounds our community wants and deserves.
We know that over the next two decades, Wollongong as the regional capital of the wider Illawarra Shoalhaven region, is expected to be the fastest growing region in NSW. Our LGA’s population is forecast to hit more than 300,000 by 2046.
To meet this growth – we need more homes, more jobs and the infrastructure to support this increase. And we have a growing lack of aged care and seniors living accommodation that is impacting our health system. We also need to ensure our economy continues to diversify and live up to our City of Innovation tagline.
How do we do this? We need to be strategic and coordinated, with a clear and bold agenda and work collaboratively with a range of key stakeholders in this region. We are building strategic relationships with the likes of BlueScope, University of Wollongong and NSW Health to provide major opportunities for transformative investment for our city.
We are also doing our part to deliver much needed infrastructure for our community such as the construction of the Southern Suburbs Community Centre and Library which will start soon, and work is continuing to design a community facility for Helensburgh.
And let’s not forget housing, which has been on the top of my agenda from the moment I took on the role as Lord Mayor. It was an election commitment, and we are working with Council to ensure this is a top priority.
The NSW Government has given us a target of 9,200 constructed homes by 2029, which equates to 1840 dwellings per year. Though this does add extra pressure, we are doing all that we can to meet that target and deliver more local housing.
We are focusing on the Wollongong CBD to deliver high density apartments to deliver more housing supply, and of course the delivery of housing in West Dapto, which is our largest growth area and set to be the population size of Wagga Wagga.
We are working on a program of works to deliver infrastructure in West Dapto to provide more road capacity and flood reliable access. But Council can’t do this alone, and we are advocating strongly to the State Government to helps us to deliver important State and Regional transport infrastructure for our community.
There is much to do, and I am very focused on ensuring Wollongong retains its uniqueness, while protecting our environment and liveability as we grow. We are sitting on the cusp of transformative change, let’s encourage innovation and work together so that we have the jobs, homes, infrastructure and the diversified economy we need now and into the future.
