Lithgow City Council - Mayoral Notes

The last Council meeting like most meetings was able to transact all its business and without Councillor Ticehurst the rest of the meeting went quite smoothly.

One of the important items for discussion was the NSW Long Term Transport Master Plan and the discussion paper released regarding that. At this stage Council is not very impressed with this Long Term Master Plan as it seems to be very much focused on Sydney and the possible completion of the Pacific Highway duplication. The only expenditure that has been mentioned for the Great Western Highway is from Katoomba towards Sydney with nothing mentioned for improvements west of Katoomba. This situation is particularly unfortunate as there had been a promise of $400 million for works to be done between Lithgow and Mount Victoria. We have been waiting for a report since late last year on those works that now seems like it doesn’t even raise a mention in the State Governments discussion paper.

It also seems that the current work on the feasibility of the Bells Line Expressway has come to a grounding halt as there has only been one meeting of the Steering committee since mid last year and no mention of it at all in the Transport Master Plan. The only statement in this regard is that a better route over the mountains should be considered which would appear to mean that nothing is going to happen. Similar concerns were raised through Centroc at their most recent meetings which means that the entire Central West would be very much concerned that no progress has been made on either road. As such Council will be looking to meet with the Transport Minister and Premier regarding these two roads.

From the most recent water report it is pleasing to see that Oberon Dam capacity has now reached nearly 90%. This is particularly good for the fact it supplies the Fish River Water Supply Scheme which then supplies Wallerawang, Portland, Cullen Bullen etc. As part of the discussions on this report it was noted that part of the works required for the Clarence Transfer augmentation have been completed particularly that section which allows the water to be pumped from the Lithgow into the Fish River Scheme for Wallerawang, Portland etc. This is a major breakthrough and will help to lessen our dependence on the Fish River Water Supply Scheme into the future in times of drought.

Following Council receiving the Youth Council meeting minutes it was pleasing to see that the Youth Council has already looked at a number of initiatives that may assist within our area into the future. The Youth Council is planning an All ages Rock Concert at the Union Theatre on the 14th April from 6.30-10pm, tickets are $5 for sale at the door on the night. It is a drug and alcohol free event and there will be both local and Sydney based musicians set to inspire on the night. We hope that Young people support the event.

A number of local roads are set to get a new name. Readers should see advertisements over the coming weeks for a number of different roads that have a similar spelling or similar sounding name that already exists in our Council area. To avoid any possible confusion Council will be looking to rename approximately 10 of these roads. Consideration has been given to a number of local significant people or landmarks for the naming of those roads. Council will be seeking public input before any decisions are made regarding those roads.

The Council elections will occur in September this year as part of the normal cycle of having them every four years. Council is looking to provide information sessions for prospective Candidates to be conducted by independent facilitators. The idea is for prospective councillors to find out what their role may be and what types of policy decisions they will be required to make. The forum for prospective councillors is expected to take place a couple of months before the elections and certainly a month or so before nominations are to be called.

Born on 4 November 1953, Neville Castle was educated at Rydalmere Public School, Asquith Boys High School and obtained his BA Dip. ED at Macquarie University.

Together with his wife Wendy, to whom he has been married 18 years, he has two children Craig & Lauren. He has been living in Portland for 21 years and teaches Social Science and PE at Portland Central School.

In 1987 he was elected to Council and was the Deputy Mayor for 7.5years. Neville was elected Mayor on 6 April 1999 after the retirement of Gerard Martin from Local Government to concentrate further on his new career as the State Member for Bathurst. He was re-elected to Council and the position of Mayor in September 1999 after the Local Government Elections. He originally joined Council as an independent however he is now affiliated with the Labor Party.

He is interested in most sports with his main sporting passion being cricket and has been the Chairman of Council’s Sports Advisory Committee for 13 years. He has coached local junior and senior sides, Junior District and Western District sides, Open Western Area and NSWCHS Boys and Girls sides.

At various times he has been a member of:

The Board of Directors of the Portland Golf Club
A committee member of the East Portland Tennis Club
Portland Cricket Club
Coleman House
Tabulam Cottages
Crystal Theatre Management Committee
Portland Community Centre
He has & does represent Council on various Committees of Council and Committees that Council is affiliated with such as:
Delegate to the Blayney Abattoir County Council (now redundant)
Bush Fire Advisory Committee (9 years)
Cox’s River Catchment Management Committee
Association of Mine Related Councils
Airport Working Party
Budget Project Team
Business Lithgow Board
Citizens Access Committee
Joint Consultative Committee ( A council staff committee)
Sister Cities Committee; and
Sydney Road Links Committee
Neville believes in keeping the community informed with regard to Council policies and decisions and is endeavouring to develop a broader economic base for Lithgow’s Local Government Area.