THE YEAR IN REVIEW
A MESSAGE FROM OUR MAYOR
On behalf of everyone at the City of Ryde, I present the 2019/20 Annual Report. 2019/20 has been an extremely challenging period for everyone in our community. We have all been impacted in some way by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In a matter of weeks after COVID-19 was first detected in Australia, the pandemic had destroyed our economy, forced most of us to work remotely and dramatically changed the way we interact with others. If that was not enough of a challenge, we also had to endure a number of extreme weather events – from violent storms to devastating bushfires – that will have a lasting impact on our local environment for some time. Despite the serious challenges we faced in 2019/20, as you will read in this Annual Report, the City of Ryde has still been able to deliver on its ambitious and progressive agenda over the past 12 months. Some of the highlights include: Supporting economic growth We have forged ahead with major projects such as the Ryde Central redevelopment, which will pump more than $100 million into our economy and generate new jobs while building a much-needed community facility. We also progressed with plans to build the new Rowe Street East car park which will fix chronic parking shortages and encourage shoppers back to Eastwood (construction commenced October 2020). Creating new and improved open spaces As we adjust to a COVID-19 normal way of life, our open spaces have never been so important. Wilga Park underwent an extensive upgrade and was opened to the public, while work commenced on the new Kings Park in Denistone East (which opened to the public in September 2020). We also continued our roll out of new and improved outdoor recreation facilities, including at Morrison Bay Park which now features a 1.3 kilometre fitness trail. Five new or upgraded playgrounds were also completed.
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