Councillor Don Palmer Providing Local Leadership & Working for You

We are not quite halfway into this term of Council. It is time therefore to reflect on progress made on making good on my election promises.

 

The Mayor has been driving the work of the current Council. Making good on his election promises. Not surprisingly, his focus has been sharp and his commitment relentless.

This has not stopped me however from making good on my election promises. While he has been advancing his agenda I too have been active. I have ensured those commitments I made on your behalf were likewise progressing.

I am pleased with the progress made on making good on my election promises.

 

Providing Local Leadership and Working For YouConstruction of the Goodwood Oval Clubroom was a major commitment of mine. It is all but finished. Another major commitment, the redevelopment of King William Road, has likewise been completed.

A result in both cases that will work, I believe, for all.

The design for the Millswood Croquet Club clubrooms is out for consultation right now, as I blogged last week. Development approval has been lodged for the upgrade of the Jack Oatey stand at Unley Oval

Many of the other commitments I made to you are progressing well.

The design for the upgrades of the Village Green, behind the Council Chambers and St Augustine’s Church, is well advanced.

We are currently working through our parks strategy and our dog & cat management strategy. This will provide an opportunity, as promised by me, to determine how best to use Page Park in the future.

This should also provide insight to allow me to pursue another promise. The upgrade of Goodwood Oval itself and the adjacent Hockey fields for the use of all.

My commitment to leading the way in improving our economic prosperity is likewise making good progress. Check my last blog for more information.

So is my commitment to ensuring everyone is considered as we complete the actions of our walking & cycling plan 2015. This will continue even further when the Council seeks to create our next Walking & Cycling plan. The same applies to the evolution of our Tree Strategy and our Tree Policy. Still early days on that one.

I am proud too of my role (as a building and development technician), in leading Council, in our advocacy for a responsible Planning & Design Code. If successful we will have a responsible approach to higher density while protecting our heritage. Check out my last blog post on this issue here.

I was happy too, as part of my waste not want not election pledge, to support the weekly green bin trial in Goodwood. I will continue to urge for a cross Council (if not a whole of state) weekly green bin strategy.

This is a long list of successes or of positive progress. There are some areas however that I have either yet to pursue or have met with different stumbling blocks.

I have yet to pursue some goals, including the upgrade of Oxford Terrace and the redevelopment of our Civic Centre to make it a more relevant, efficient, and consumer-friendly facility.

On the other hand, I have struggled to gain any traction with the elephant in the room for Black Forest. That is South Road. We simply are not yet getting any feedback from the responsible department on their plans for South Road in spite of my efforts. I have also struggled to gain any traction on my wish for safer access to the Clarence Park Rail Station. Both, of course, are State Government issues.

It appears too that my, and the efforts of others, to redirect the freight train from our neighbourhood are unlikely to ever succeed.