There was incredible pressure on some of our Engineering staff yesterday. Forget a $23.5 million Sewage Treatment Plant Augmentation or a ten-year Village sealing program. I had Shivani, Jey and Kuljeet – three of our young Engineers – with me at the Dubbo Turf Club to participate in the Western Plains Science and Engineering Challenge. Our team was assigned the bridge building challenge and the pressure was on to outperform the one thousand students who participated in the challenge over four days. This is a great initiative from the University of Newcastle bolstered by a strong partnership with Rotary and you can see the minds of students being opened up as they grapple with engineering challenges. As for the Dubbo City Council team, I am happy to report that our bridge was a success and it withstood even the ‘Bridge Buster’ weight. The time we need to build a bridge from balsa wood in Dubbo I know just the three we should use to design it.
Tomorrow I will be attending an event at the Opera House in Sydney with the Deputy Premier the Hon. Troy Grant MP. Before you become too concerned, I have no intention of singing whilst there. We will be involved in launching Artlands 2016. This will be a fantastic event for Dubbo from 27 to 30 October this year. It is part conference, part festival but all arts and will bring one thousand people to Dubbo – and the region – for the better part of a week. This is yet another example of our city gaining a growing reputation for hosting large events of national and state significance.
Last weekend I had the pleasure of opening the Little Athletics State Multi-Event held at DCL Park. In terms of sporting facilities, it is hard to think of another Council facility that receives such a high level of usage. Throughout school terms two and three it is used four to five days of each week in addition to the local Little Athletics Club using it every Friday night through their season and then major events such as the events we have seen over the last two months in the Regional Carnival; the New Year Carnival and the aforementioned Multi-Event. In speaking with officials on the day, not only were they impressed with the overall facilities and the relatively low-cost for such a facility, but they were also impressed that we are using the facility for other events such as the Relay for Life; Rob de Castella’s Indigenous Marathon Project and even games of Rugby League. There is no doubt that they will be looking at further ways they can bring additional events to Dubbo to utilise what we now have.
The Evocities MTB Series is confident of receiving a $20,000 marketing funds boost for the 2016 series and, given the fact that the marketing budget for last year was approximately $0 this should increase the exposure dramatically. We still have some sponsorship spots left so contact me if you are interested in incredible value for money brand exposure.
Councillor Mathew Dickerson
Mayor of the City of Dubbo