Mayor's community Message
17 April
LACHLAN’S LINE
I’m looking forward to meeting with members of the City of Ryde community on Monday 22 April when I hold my first Mayor’s Public Forum at Council Chambers from 6.00pm.
I have introduced this initiative because I want to encourage transparency and community involvement to build communication and trust between the Council and the people it serves. I believe consultation and engagement are the best pathways to achieving genuine solutions.
I hope to eventually hold these forums – which will also be attended by senior Council staff – on a monthly basis at venues in each Council ward.
For further information click here.
ANZAC DAY
It will be an honour to preside over my first Anzac Day ceremony as Mayor when the community gathers at Anzac Park, West Ryde, on Thursday 25 April for Council’s commemorative service from 9.00 – 10.00am. The ceremony will be followed by morning tea and a special performance by Northern Sydney Youth Orchestra at Ryde Eastwood Leagues Club.
Like many people who have personal connections with our brave service men and women, both past and present, Anzac Day has a special meaning for my family.
My wife’s grandfather Sir Kenneth Anderson served in the second Australian Imperial Force during World War II as a lieutenant in the 8th Signals Division in Malaya.
He was held by the Japanese as a prisoner of war for three years at the notoriously brutal Changi Prison and on the equally merciless Burma Railway.
He returned from serving his country in war to serving the people of our great City, being Mayor of the then Ryde Municipal Council from 1949 to 1950 before moving into Federal politics.
TG MILLNER FIELDS
I was devasted to learn last Friday that the State Government has rejected our application for the compulsory acquisition of this site. There has been a long running bi-partisan commitment from both Liberal and Labor Councillors, including the State and Federal MPs, to preserve this site as open space.
I will continue to seek the preservation of this site as open space to work with the State MP, Jordan Lane and the Federal MP, Jerome Laxale to keep this site as open space for future generations.
The City of Ryde has provisioned $15 million for the purchase of this site. If the Minister thinks that this is insufficient funding, then he should determine its worth and secure the difference in funding from the State Government.
If this Government is focussed on increasing the amount of green space in a growing community, then it needs to step- up and step-in to situations like this that place at risk valuable open space being consumed by property developers.
That is why I have asked for the Premier to intervene in this matter and take the issue to the NSW Cabinet for a decision to protect TG Millner Fields.
Finally, a message to those Councillors who have backtracked from their public commitments to protecting this important open space. Now is the time to put party allegiances aside, and to stand up for your community and your beliefs. If Ryde can’t rely on politicians and candidates to honour election commitments on issues this important, how can they expect anyone to trust them again in future?
Yours Sincerely,
Clr Trenton Brown
Mayor - City of Ryde
Phone: Office of the Mayor 9952 8222.
Email mayor@ryde.nsw.gov.au