INTRODUCTION
Message from the Mayor than $543,000 in grants provided to local businesses, creative industries and community groups. Council is continuing to work through the Plan. During the lockdowns, we used the Australian Business Register to communicate with and provide targeted support to local businesses. We worked to address both immediate and future needs while complementing the various NSW and Australian government initiatives. From this work, we’ve forged partnerships with local business that will benefit the community and local enterprise for years to come. Like many other councils, we adopted and embraced new ways of working to evolve our service delivery to be COVID-19 safe, seamless and continuous. Our diverse range of community programs and cultural events in new formats kept the community safe and connected. Some activities were scaled down, adapted and then developed into an improved and sustainable format.
This year challenged all of us yet brought out the very best in us. Resilience and kindness became part of our human response to a pandemic for which none of us were prepared. COVID-19 presented Council and our community with sporadic lockdowns and disruptions to our services, revenue streams, operations, economic development and social connections. It was and still is one of the most demanding times in history. Highlights Our achievements during the year involved extraordinary collaboration across the entire community and included a comprehensive response to the impacts of the pandemic. Council introduced a $47 million Economic and Social Recovery Plan, to be rolled out in three phrases. In this reporting period, phase two, Revival saw more
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Georges River Council // Annual Report 2020/21
We held 53 events, attracting more than 36,000 people either in person or online. This is such an amazing outcome, reflecting Council’s agility, resilience and strong community connections. First in the series of COVID-19 safe events was Be Kind 2 Your Mind – a series of online webinars that provided a platform for all ages, from pre-schoolers to senior citizens, to understand how to respond to the effect of COVID-19 on mental health individually, and as a community. The success of our inaugural In Good Taste, It’s a Mood and Un[contained] Arts Festival flagship events mean we can now continue to bring colour to our cultural calendar. These smaller events across our community gave people opportunities to connect in a smaller and safer way. Our libraries and our museum and gallery adapted to online digital programs, with eLibrary, rhyme time and book clubs presented online.
