From the Lord Mayor's Office
Ticking off the ‘do and deliver’ list in 2025
It seems to come around quickly, but now’s the time of the year when we reflect upon all the work undertaken for our community in the previous quarter.
As always, it’s a fascinating read, and it’s invaluable to have so clearly set out how Council is performing against its Strategic Planning documents – the Delivery Program 2022-2026 and Operational Plan 2024-2025.
The Quarterly Review Statement covers from April to June 2025 and, as always, there are many highlights to consider.
One that is particularly close to my heart is the acceptance of the $41.7M tender for the Southern Suburbs Community Centre and Library.
This is a project that has been many years in the making and is such an important piece of social infrastructure for residents of our southern suburbs including those living in Warrawong, Berkeley, Primbee and Port Kembla.
Once it’s built, the new community hub on the corner of King and Greene Streets will be striking. The architecturally designed three-storey building will house a modern library, flexible meeting and function rooms, and spaces for community licensees.
While the first sod hasn’t yet been turned on this facility – we’re working towards it! – the acceptance of the tender is a huge step forward and it paves the way for work to start.
I just can’t wait to see the combined community centre and library, which is a model that has worked so extraordinarily well in Thirroul, Corrimal and Dapto, become a vibrant community hub in the heart of Warrawong.
Who knows! Maybe one day it could also play host to Comic Gong? This year’s event moved from Wollongong Library and surrounds to Dapto Ribbonwood Centre. More than 8,000 people walked through the centre’s doors on the one-day event.
I was certainly there to say ‘hi’ to Bumblebee from the Transformers, greet Princess Peach from Super Mario Bros and enjoy the bright smiles of youngsters dressed in their Disney best, and one young Alexander Hamilton did not throw away his shot.
Comic Gong wasn’t the only event held in this quarter. I was delighted to be able to present Alex Volkanovski the Keys to the City on a wet and stormy Thursday night, to award the $30,000 Sculpture in the Garden prize to Melbourne artist Jenny Reddin for her work Affinity, and be a part of the fourth Illawarra Reconciliation and Truth Telling Conference.
And we were also getting on with the day-to-day work of council – delivering essential projects that improve the liveability of the city. One I was particularly keen to see delivered was the Bellambi Gully flood mitigation works that were wrapped up during this quarter. This was an important and significant project and speaks to the ongoing work Council is doing to improve the resilience of Wollongong in the face of climate change.
This Review also highlights how much Council staff from across the entire organisation – from work crews and libraries, to waste services and DA assessments as well as everything in-between – do for their community. On behalf of our residents, I have passed on my thanks and appreciation to Council staff for all of their efforts.
If you haven’t already, I’d encourage you to take a moment to read through the Quarterly Review Statement for June. Not only does it provide a clear picture of what we’ve done over the past three months, it also clearly demonstrates the steps Wollongong City Council is taking to ensure a bright future for all those who call Wollongong home.
