In one morning last week, I attended two very different events that neatly illustrate the diversity of roles and responsibilities modern councils have in their communities.
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The first was a media event to promote a project Lake Macquarie City Council is leading to substitute sand with recycled crushed glass for use in civil works projects.
It is a bid to find a local solution to a global problem – establishing a use for some of the recyclable material that is currently being stockpiled around the world – and a great example of big-picture innovation at a local level.
What’s more, the ‘glass sand’ (see picture) is being made at a custom-built plant on the Central Coast, which means this potentially game-changing technology will continue to be developed and refined locally.
My second event for that morning was at Luskin Way, in Belmont North, where I opened a playground developed by Council with the support of a grant from the Department of Family and Community Services. It was the first of two I had the pleasure of opening last week – the other being our upgraded playground at Warner Park, in Warners Bay.
Building, upgrading and maintaining playgrounds is the sort of work for which Councils are traditionally known and delivering these grassroots community projects remains an important, and very rewarding, part of our role.
But whether it is developing smart solutions for new-age problems or providing essential facilities and programs for our community, the end goals remain the same: improving lives, creating opportunities, protecting our precious natural assets and ensuring we pass an even better City on to future generations.
Digging deep for farmers
I think most in our community would be aware of the hardships people on the land are having. Lions clubs are great supporters of our farmers and for the past decade have been running a number of initiatives through their Need for Feed program to assist farmers affected by natural disasters. Lions will be delivering feed to farmers in the Upper Hunter on June 22 and 23 and are also calling for donations of items such as shampoo and tinned food for care packs and hampers.
Council has put a donation box in the foyer of the administration building for those who would like to contribute.