5 June, 2025

As the crisp winter air settles in over our region and we enjoy the last of our splendid autumnal colours, this month's Regional Ramble provides an insight into some of the issues and activities that have been occupying me as the Mayor this month - another busy time in our region.

What is front and centre? What are we championing on your behalf? Let’s get into it!

Strengthening the New England Future Fund

Council continues to build on our commitment to a sustainable and prosperous future for our region. I’m pleased to share that we have now formally established the New England Future Fund Reserve, a key step in managing contributions from renewable energy developments.

This reserve will ensure that:

• contributions made under voluntary planning agreements are held and invested separately from other Council funds, in line with current Ministerial investment orders.
• all interest earned on these investments will remain within the reserve, helping to grow the fund for future community benefit.
• Council has also authorised the General Manager to engage with the NSW Government to explore broader investment opportunities that may fall outside the current Ministerial guidelines.

This is about more than good governance—it’s about ensuring that today’s renewable energy projects deliver lasting value for our community.

Background to the New England Future Fund

The New England Future Fund has been established to ensure ‘inter-generational benefit’ from the influx of renewable energy projects as the traditional approach taken to benefit sharing are not appropriate in the NEREZ whereas the future fund model ensures the benefit is intergenerational and fairly shared across the entire community.

Ask Us Anything!

Thank you to everyone who joined me at Caffiends this week for our 'Ask Us Anything' session. It was a great opportunity to hear directly from the community and respond to your questions. I’d also like to thank Councillor Endres for co-hosting the session and contributing to the discussion.

These sessions are an important part of how we stay connected and transparent with our residents. I look forward to the next one!

Big Chill, Big Impact

This year’s Big Chill wasn’t just a celebration of music, food, and community, it was a powerful economic driver for the Armidale Region.

With a 47% increase in ticket sales from 2024 and a sold-out weekend drawing over 5,000 attendees, the event delivered a $3.6 million total economic benefit to the region, including $2.3 million in direct visitor expenditure.

But the numbers only tell part of the story!

Local hospitality and retail businesses reported trading levels higher than peak Christmas periods. From bustling cafes to solidly booked accommodation and thriving boutique stores, the entire city came alive.

The Chilly Dip at Dumaresq Dam has become an undisputed feature of The Big Chill Festival experience. I was impressed to see so many people from our community braving the cold water swim alongside enthusiastic visitors to our region!

The Festival's reach extended far beyond the city limits, with 45% of ticket holders traveling from outside the region, and over 1 million people reached across social media, putting Armidale on the map for future tourism and investment.

I can't overstate the impact of events like The Big Chill. They are more than entertainment, and are catalysts for economic growth, community pride, and regional visibility.

UNE's Strategic Vision - Building Community Connections

The University of New England is embarking on an ambitious strategy process that places regional communities at the heart of its future direction. UNE is reimagining its role as a vital community connector with a distinctly unconventional approach.

Founded in 1938 as Australia's first rural university, UNE was established to serve communities distant from metropolitan centers. Today, this founding principle is being reinvigorated through a strategic vision that aims to be an unconventional university that connects the aspirations of individuals to community outcomes.

What makes this strategic approach particularly compelling for our region is UNE's commitment to five key connection areas that directly impact communities. The university is focusing on:

• connecting learner and alumni lives to education;
• technology and discovery to pedagogy,
• addressing joint responsibilities to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.,
• UNE to regional economies (near and far), and
• Research capability to deep partnering.

UNE's achievements already align remarkably well with national objectives set by the University Accord. The university exceeds targets for First Nations student participation (4.4% versus the 3.3% target for 2035), students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds (20.5% versus 20.2%), and regional, rural, and remote students (38.9% versus 24.0%).

However, the university recognises that traditional approaches are no longer sustainable in today's rapidly changing educational landscape. Vice-Chancellor Professor Chris Moran emphasized that UNE must become "the architect of its own destiny" by diversifying funding sources and achieving greater financial autonomy while maintaining its community focus.

The strategy consultation has revealed a shift from being merely an "observer and responder" to establishing deeper connections with communities. For the region, this means UNE will take greater responsibility in delivering commercial services with tangible outcomes and developing long-term joint relationships for mutual benefit with businesses, government, and community organisations.

For Council and community stakeholders, UNE's evolving purpose statement—"To help communities thrive by discovering and sharing knowledge"—signals a renewed commitment to regional prosperity.

The University is actively seeking community input on how these strategic directions can best serve local needs. Community members are encouraged to engage with UNE's strategy development process by sharing thoughts, ideas and feedback by contacting strategy.management@une.edu.au. There will also be opportunities to take part in strategy workshops over the coming weeks.

Councillors explore our region's critical water infrastructure

This week, the Councillors and I had the valuable opportunity to visit both the Armidale Sewer Treatment Plant and the Armidale Water Treatment Plant. These site visits offered us a behind-the-scenes look at some of the essential infrastructure and operations that keep our region running smoothly.

It was a fascinating insight into the complex processes involved in water treatment and wastewater management—services that are often out of sight but critical to the health, safety, and sustainability of our community. From advanced filtration systems to environmental safeguards, the work being done by Council staff at these facilities is both impressive and vital.

We’re grateful to the dedicated teams who manage these operations every day and for taking the time to walk us through their work. It’s a reminder of the importance of continued investment in our region’s infrastructure and the people who keep it functioning.

Supporting our roads and community through recent weather challenges 

In the wake of persistent rainfall over recent months, Council’s road network has held up reasonably well. Our dedicated crews have been working tirelessly to address the impacts—repairing potholes, clearing flood debris, managing drainage issues, and continuing essential maintenance to keep our roads safe and accessible.

One of the more severely affected areas was Kilcoy Road, which experienced significant damage during the most recent weather event. The road was extensively washed out and required full reconstruction, including the installation of additional drainage to prevent future issues.

Coastal flooding has also had a notable impact on the New England Highway, largely due to the detouring of heavy vehicles. While the highway is managed by Transport for New South Wales (TfNSW), Council has proactively reached out to offer support in response to community concerns about road safety. We are now working alongside TfNSW maintenance teams to carry out temporary repairs between Armidale and Guyra, with more substantial patching works to follow. Council will continue to assist with these efforts, recognising the scale of damage across our region.

Locally, our roads have also felt the strain from increased truck traffic following a highway accident. The Miller Street rehabilitation project, in particular, has been significantly affected. The temporary travel lane was compromised by both the wet conditions and the volume of diverted heavy vehicles, resulting in delays to the project timeline. We deeply appreciate the patience and cooperation of nearby residents and businesses, whose understanding has been instrumental in helping us keep the project moving forward.

Council remains committed to restoring and maintaining our road infrastructure, and we thank the community for their continued support as we navigate these challenges together.

Regional Cities visit to Dubbo, Orange, and Bathurst

On 14 and 15 May I joined a group of Mayors and General managers from 14 other regional NSW cities for a site visit of both Orange, Bathurst and Dubbo.  We were hosted by the respective councils and who walked us through the successes and challenges for their regions and what they were doing to either overcome or capitalise on what was in front of them.  Armidale is the smallest of the cities in this group so the learning opportunities were immense. 

The key takeaway for me was the importance of the NSW State Government viewing your region as one of significance and with a point of difference.  In all cities there has been a massive amount of government investment.  Dubbo has been the recipient of an eye watering amount of government largess – recent examples are huge RFS and Police training centres (including accommodation) at their airport precinct as well as a purpose built facility to fitout and repair all the new regional trains due to be introduced from next year.

Orange and Bathurst have thriving commercial precincts and top shelf tourism which they have milked brilliantly.  Plenty for us to learn there.

Draft Reconciliation Action Plan on public exhibition

After an extended consultation process, I am pleased to share that Council has placed its draft Reconciliation Action Plan on public exhibition.

We are seeking community feedback on this draft document that, when finalised and endorsed by Council and Reconciliation Australia, will be published on the Reconciliation Australia website as our public commitment to improved local outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people across Armidale region.

Submissions must be received by Wednesday 25 June 2025, so please jump onto Your Say to find out more and provide your feedback!

You are receiving this e-newsletter from Armidale Regional Council as you have interacted with council using this email address. The purpose of this monthly e-newsletter is to keep you informed of council news and events from the Mayor's desk, which we hope you will find informative.