The recent federal government announcement of $25 million to support the Cape Hardy deep sea port precinct has reinforced Infrastructure Australia’s 2016 decision to list Cape Hardy as a priority project for Australia.
This is welcome news for Eyre Peninsula and provides the opportunity for a multi-user, multi-commodity port for our state.
As we look forward to 2020 it’s heartening to see our federal government’s leadership in the announcement which recognises the potential of development and the value of a multi-user facility for the region.
Thinking of what I would like to see for our council district for the coming year, like previous years I continue to hope for the establishment of an alternative industry which may offer more and varied employment opportunities, and support for our local businesses.
I value the importance of our agricultural industry and of course to see a year of good rainfall across the region, healthy crops with lots of grain to transport to a deep sea port, ideally on a direct freight corridor – that would be nice.
As we look forward to a new year and new hopes it is also a good time to reflect and be thankful for the past year.
The timely rain we had changed many struggling crops into a much better outcome.
For our council I hope we can make good progress on our wastewater scheme by having this treated to a standard that can be used on parks, gardens, streetscape plantings and more.
Come autumn we will need to be organised to start the Wudinna Eyre Highway Streetscape greening project.
We ask locals and visitors to bear with us during summer knowing that a greening program is being planned.
Another area that we can all play a part in is looking at better ways to reduce our landfill and potentially work with other councils on waste reduction and recycling education and opportunities.
High on our council planning is the need to continue to lobby for improved telecommunications for our district, which seems to drag on with no noticeable outcomes.
We encourage users to notify their providers of issues and of slow to no access issues.
We have a second round of the Drought Communities Program funding about to kick off again and we should hear shortly if the projects that council will put up for recommendation will be approved – if they are it’s a busy start for 2020.
It’s also a good time to think about what can we do to help our communities, I hope 2020 is a great year for all.
We invite locals and visitors to come along to our Australia Day Awards Ceremony on January 26 at Wudinna Apex Park, which will be followed by the official opening of our spray and pump tracks.
An 8.30am start kicks off with a breakfast for one and all. Come and enjoy!
Wudinna District Council mayor
