At a Glance
• A reflection on Campbelltown’s civic history and the responsibilities carried by each mayoral term
• Growth and infrastructure pressures framed through stewardship of environment, assets and amenity
• A call for higher standards in public space maintenance, renewal and city presentation
• A commitment to transparent decision making and constructive collaboration across government

A City with a Civic Memory

I am often reminded that local government is not merely a set of decisions made in a moment. It is a tradition, built across generations, that accumulates trust when it is handled with care. In my Minute I looked back to the formation of Campbelltown City Council in 1948, and the first meeting in January 1949, when Phillip Solomon was elected as the first Mayor of the “Amalgamated Municipality of Campbelltown”. I also acknowledged the proclamation of Campbelltown as a city on 4 May 1968 during the mayoralty of Clive William Tregear.

Those dates matter because they ground us. They remind us that institutions endure beyond personalities. Across 73 years, and 27 individual mayors before me, each term has been a chapter that contributed to the city we now inherit. I wrote that I was “honoured and humbled” to be elected as the 28th Mayor. In reflecting on that period, I still feel the weight of that continuity.

Leadership as a Chapter, Not a Destination

A Mayor is bound not only by the formal machinery of the State, but by the social norms and expectations of residents and by the example of those who served before us. I have always believed the best councils carry that history with humility. They do not treat strategy as a trophy, nor governance as theatre. They treat both as a responsibility.

It was important to me to acknowledge the hard work of the former Mayor and councillors, and the strategic foundation laid during an extended term shaped by the COVID 19 pandemic. Under Cr George Brticevic’s leadership, with Deputy Mayors Cr Lound and Cr Oates, Council progressed a substantial body of planning work, including amendments to Development Control Plans, the adoption of environmental policies, and landmark initiatives such as Campbelltown’s Koala Plan of Management in 2018 and the Reimagining Campbelltown City Centre Masterplan in 2020.

I also noted the establishment and strengthening of advisory structures including the Local Planning Panel and Design Excellence Panel, and the advancement of multiple planning proposals. It is right to recognise that this kind of institutional work rarely attracts applause in the moment, yet it shapes the city for decades.

The Shape of Campbelltown and the Everyday Work of Stewardship

The statistics I included were not offered as a recital of scale, but as an invitation to understand responsibility. Campbelltown is a youthful community, with a significant number of families and a population that, as at 2021, sat at about 175,000 people, with an average age of 36.

We are custodians of vast and varied civic assets. Our open space includes 1,189 hectares of protected national park and 379 identified open space areas equating to around 1,400 hectares. We operate community halls, libraries and leisure centres that are well used. We maintain extensive road and footpath networks, car parks, and flood mitigation and stormwater systems.

These are not abstract holdings. They are the daily stage on which community life unfolds. When these assets are clean, safe and welcoming, residents feel pride. When they are neglected, trust erodes quietly and steadily.

Asset Renewal and the Obligation to Lift Standards

I drew attention to an encouraging trend in asset renewal. In the years prior, Council reduced the asset renewal backlog from over 33 million dollars in 2014 to less than 10 million dollars by the end of January 2022. That is progress worth noting.

Yet stewardship requires honesty, and I also stated plainly that more can be done. Public space infrastructure carried the highest proportion of assets rated poor or very poor. I am reminded that condition ratings are not just an engineering measure. They are a measure of lived experience. They speak to the footpath outside a school, the lighting at a reserve, the cleanliness of a civic centre, the dignity of shared places.

I also observed that maintenance and cleansing must keep pace with utilisation so that increased use does not degrade quality. This is the discipline of long term governance: keeping the everyday reliable while planning for the future.

Growth, Balance and the Need for Patience and Partnership

Over the next 25 to 30 years, our population is expected to increase at a relatively fast pace. I referenced the growth from 2016 to 2021 and the sharp shift from the earlier period when growth was negligible. I also listed major development proposals that illustrate the scale and complexity now before us, from new communities to city centre renewal and projects along the rail corridor.

The point was not to debate any single proposal in isolation. It was to acknowledge the combined pressure they place on transport, open space, community facilities, and the social fabric of neighbourhoods. It is imperative that we respond positively and mindfully, ensuring growth does not take singular precedence over our natural environment.

I wrote of the need to negotiate an optimal path for the social and physical infrastructure that sustains wellbeing, while protecting our most valuable environmental resources. In reflecting on this, I return to a simple principle: growth should be guided, not merely permitted, and it should be matched by the services and amenity that make a place liveable.

Transparency and the Discipline of Follow Through

One of the clearest commitments in my Minute was to transparency and shared understanding.

I am committed 100 per cent to transparent decision making and to providing everyone with all of the available information so as to help people make their own informed decisions and evaluate the decisions of others.

To give that commitment practical form, I asked the General Manager to undertake a review of public space infrastructure, develop an actionable maintenance plan, and plan a continuous program of city beautification and presentation. I acknowledged that such work may require resource shifts and alternative funding, and that councillors and the community should be engaged as options are developed.

What matters most in such commitments is not the announcement. It is the follow through, the reporting, and the willingness to speak candidly about progress, breakthroughs and setbacks.

Reflection

I have always believed that the health of a city can be read in the condition of its shared places and in the confidence its residents hold in their institutions. This Minute was, in essence, a statement of stewardship: respect for civic lineage, realism about growth pressures, and a determination to lift standards in the everyday environments that shape community life. If we hold to that long view, and keep faith with transparency and partnership, Campbelltown’s next chapters can be written with both ambition and care.

Read the original Mayoral Minute here: 1. Thoughts, Aspirations and Highlights

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