POLITICS
FROM THE MAYOR’ S DESK
with Hawkesbury City Mayor Les Sheather
Firstly, let me start by wishing all of you a very merry and safe Christmas on behalf of us all here at Hawkesbury City Council. It has been a very eventful year and I look forward to serving you all again in 2026.
Over the last five years, this Council has been on a journey with all of you of repairing and upgrading our infrastructure, including our roads. Time and again, the feedback from residents is that repairing our roads network is the number one, two and three priority for Council.
It is with this feedback in mind that Council came together at our November Council meeting to move ahead with an application to the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal( IPART) for a Special Rates Variation of 8.66 % per year for the next four years. This figure represents a fairer compromise after residents resoundingly told us that our original plan was asking for too much too quickly. However, with Council facing a growing $ 99.1 million backlog in the repair and upgrade of our roads, it is important that we act decisively for today’ s and tomorrow’ s ratepayers, and the ongoing liveability of our suburbs and towns.
This decision was not made lightly, and we understand very clearly the costof-living challenges being faced by our ratepayers. These same cost challenges are facing Council as well. Council has and will continue to put out a balanced budget that covers all responsibilities that Council may have. Our road repair backlog has been caused by a combination of factors outside Council’ s control, chiefly the exponential rise in repair and material costs, and the significant periods of wet weather and flooding since 2020. Council is responsible for more than 800km of sealed roads and 300km of unsealed roads, and that is where any SRV funding will be spent.
I want everyone to be assured that as part of this process, Council has identified tens of millions of dollars in efficiencies and savings over the past year, and we will continue to look for more to ensure Council is doing its part to be good stewards of this City. And we fully expect that you, our ratepayers, will keep us accountable for this decision and making good on our promises.
I encourage everyone to take the time to read Council’ s important documents, like our yearly Operational Plan, which lists all of Council’ s upcoming projects for the year. It is on Council’ s website for everyone to read. And should we be successful in our SRV application to IPART, Council pledges that we will provide residents with clear and up-to-date information on what roads and projects we are doing, when work starts and when works are completed.
IPART is likely to make its decision on our application in May 2026.
Once again on behalf of Michelle and I, the Councillors and staff, enjoy and have a Merry Christmas.
THE HAWKESBURY INDEPENDENT theindependentmagazine. com. au MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY HOLIDAYS! ISSUE 187 // DECEMBER 2025 23