It has been a long time coming but a decision has finally been made on a hero photo to identify Nambucca Heads to the world as they fly past on the Pacific Highway
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The winning photo by Coffs Harbour photographer Rob Cleary garnered 60 per cent of the 496 received for the Facebook poll "Pick the picture for the Nambucca Heads Highway sign!"
A convincing win!
Installation is expected soon ... possibly in July.
Mayor Rhonda Hoban said the council had also been busy getting things done that will help the shire's economic recovery in the months ahead.
"We have a lot of grant-funded projects and staff have been working non-stop on these ...
"The new boardwalk between the RSL and Gordon Park is proving popular; work in the park itself includes a major upgrade of the playground plus the V-Wall is getting a huge facelift," Mrs Hoban said.
"In Macksville, work has started on the shop fronts as well as on the Macksville Bridge, where the RMS is doing maintenance and the council's lighting is being installed.
"The beautifully lit bridge will now be able to be seen from the new highway and we are hoping it will be a talking point to help bring people here."
She said all these projects were important for the shire's COVID-recovery.
"We have had one blow after another recently but our community has proven to be very resilient ... people have stepped up to the challenges and are working together to achieve what I believe will be a bigger, better, stronger shire in the future."
She said while it was important to find ways to encourage tourists to visit, protecting the community against COVID-19 was still the highest priority.
"We have engaged professional people to put together a marketing strategy that will help us work our way out of COVID but we don't want to see community health put at risk by visitors."
She said recovery from the November fires was slow but ongoing.
"Most people are moving forward, albeit slowly. The clean-up is much too slow in my opinion but we are seeing things happening.
"The arrival of more Minderoo pods is helping as it gives people more time to think about their futures.
"We are really seeing two levels of recovery - those who were insured and/or employed versus those whose circumstances were less stable.
"The first group are doing OK and holding up surprisingly well, whereas those in the second group are struggling - some of them have very specific circumstances and the council is trying to offer them one-on-one assistance.
"The council has waived all possible fees to those wanting to rebuild and we are hopeful this will encourage people whose dwelling may not previously been legal, to make them so this time.
"To this end we have written to the NSW Government requesting approval for a site specific multiple occupancy and also for permission to provide one-off approvals to properties where there were dwellings with no entitlement.
"Currently this is a piece of red tape that is preventing these residents from accessing grant funding to rebuild."
She said approved dwellings had the added advantage of being on maps for the purposes of emergency services, as well as insurance.
Other projects:
Valla Urban Growth Area - project managers have been engaged.
Nambucca Library Upgrade - an application for a second grant ($300,000) for the fit-out was successful. The question of what to do with the library while construction is underway remains unresolved.