Make sure you have a look at the glistening Gold Rhino at the rotunda. This is a collaborative project with the Dubbo Chamber of Commerce to help celebrate the 20th Gold Rhino award which will be handed out this year. The Chamber of Commerce has continued to go from strength to strength and, in conjunction with the CEO Series this year, it shows the value of a high-performing Chamber in any city. The CEO Series continues on this morning where the CEO of QUBE Holdings, Maurice James, will be speaking with us about how he runs the number 83 company on the ASX200 – a company worth almost $3 billion.
In my new role as Chair of the Evocities Steering Committee I am continuing to push the message as hard as possible about regional relocation. The Evocities MTB Series has been very successful with the latest highlight being the 1 hour special screened on SBS One on Sunday on the series and the cities involved. It is available to view with SBS On Demand if you missed it. Tomorrow I will be chairing a meeting where all seven Mayors and General Managers come together to further progress the Evocities concept.
For those that have been following the Oaktree development adjacent to Yarrawonga, you would know that at the last Council meeting it was resolved to defer the development to seek a further review from the RMS. The developer has had further discussions with Council and is keen to see this development progress – and has offered to upgrade the carports to garages in the development if that helps it go ahead. Council will now hold an extraordinary meeting on Monday 10 August at 5.30pm specifically to debate this issue. Even though this is an extraordinary meeting, the same rules apply for the public so if you are interested you can attend the meeting and speak during the public forum section of the meeting. I encourage as many people to attend as possible.
The plans for the next Tour de OROC are progressing well although the organisers are just a few logos short of the world record they are trying to obtain. Please contact David Hayes as soon as possible if you want your logo to be part of a Guinness World Record.
It may not be the most exciting part of my job, but it is essential for the long-term future of Dubbo. I had an inspection of the progress of our upgraded Sewage Treatment Plan yesterday and significant progress has been made with plans on track and on budget. This is a vital piece of infrastructure for Dubbo’s future.
Dubbo lost two of its significant contributors over the last two weeks in John Whittle and Joe Snare. Thank you to the contributions you both made to our city and may you both rest in peace.
Councillor Mathew Dickerson
Mayor of the City of Dubbo