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Message from the Mayor
FROM THE MAYOR
Welcome to the MOSPLAN Review 2017-2021, our end of term report for the 2017-2021 Council term. It has been my great honour to serve as Mosman’s Mayor for the past four years and I am very pleased to be able to share this report with you. As I write this message we are emerging from our second COVID-19 lockdown, yet another chapter in the quite extraordinary journey we have found ourselves on since early 2020. Council services have adjusted and adapted throughout this journey and will continue to do so according to community needs and in line with public health restrictions.
Notwithstanding the challenges of the past few years – and indeed across the full term of Council - I think Mosman Council has much to be proud of. We have listened to our residents and done our very best to respond in ways that are responsible, e ective and sustainable. Not every decision of Council has been a popular one, but every decision has collectively been made, and every service delivered, with the best interests of our community at heart. Over the course of the last four years Council has made great inroads in delivering new assets and restoring or renewing other assets for the benefit of our community. The extensive upgrades at Balmoral Beach have made the most of this very special part of Mosman. Not only has the beautiful promenade been restored; public amenities have been upgraded, public spaces enhanced and maintained and popular drawcards such as the baths renewed. Our other open space areas and sporting facilities have also benefitted from capital upgrades and regular maintenance. A new surface treatment at Middle Head Oval has improved its playing capacity, netball courts at Drill Hall Common now have lights for night training, community BBQs have been installed in a number of parks, there are fabulous new multipurpose courts adjoining Balmoral Oval and there have been major upgrades to the Memorial Park and Memory Park playgrounds, to name just a few. We’ve also been ensuring that our facilities are more inclusive than ever, with excellent, accessible public facilities now available at Mosman Junction and accessible beach entry at Clifton Gardens. The latest major capital project – replacing the pavilion at Allan Border Oval – is now underway and follows a significant refurbishment of Mosman Swim Centre in 2020. Other substantial works such as upgrades to Mosman Square and Village Green have been provided for in the current Budget. Council services for our older residents have been further expanded over the Council term, with new and exciting o erings available, and many of our services have been assisted by our amazing team of local volunteers. Our Youth Services team have similarly delivered excellent programs and activities and our new Children and Families O cer will help support our local child care providers as well as deliver activities and support for families through playgroups and other programming. Our multi-award winning Mosman Art Gallery has delivered some truly exceptional exhibitions, including the Wendy Sharpe: Ghosts exhibition, Jumaadi: My Love is an Island Far Away, and Destination Sydney – as well as the prestigious Mosman Art Prize, held annually. The Festival of Mosman in 2017 and 2019 helped bring the community together in huge numbers, and in a way that we hope can again be achieved in the future.
There have been many issues that Council has actively represented the community on; in particular matters relating to planning and development, the environment and tra c and transport solutions. It has been an imperative of Council that the many wonderful qualities of Mosman be preserved and enhanced for current and future generations and I have no doubt that this will continue to be a core goal as we move forward into the new Council term.
