This week's Minute with Mayor McKibbin

July 17, 2025

17 July 2025

The cold, wet and snowy weather has not been conducive to a number of outdoor events and unfortunately the Ofﬁcial Opening of the O'Connell Recreation Ground that was scheduled for Thursday 3 July at 10 am was postponed to a date yet to be determined.

This will not prevent the facility being used by the O'Connell school, O'Connell Cricket Club and other users.

The Oberon Sports Complex is nearing completion and Oberon Council is currently in the process of preparing a request for Expressions of Interest to operate the restaurant, bar and gaming facilities in the clubhouse. The Sports Complex will be a major facility for our rugby league, netball and hockey sporting clubs together with being a community hub within the Oberon area. Accordingly, how the clubhouse facilities are managed to maximise community beneﬁt whilst remaining economically self-sustaining is of signiﬁcant importance to Council.

The Central Tablelands Weeds Authority (CTWA) has appointed Michael Jones as its new General Manager following the retirement of Tim Johnston. Michael was previously Corporate Services Director at Cowra Shire Council and has held various senior positions in private enterprise and government and will be well suited to the job at CTWA.

Council was provided with a brieﬁng by GPG on the paling yards windfarm on Thursday 3 July 25. The size of the turbines has increased from the original approval. However, the number of turbines has been reduced. The transport route via O'Connell Road and Abercrombie Road will require modiﬁcations on Oberon Mount and other increases in road verge width to take account of the size of the vehicles transporting the blades, turbines and towers. Despite there being a period of silence from GPG for at least 2 years, Council was informed the project was intending to proceed. Council asked what GPG was offering up as the total Community beneﬁt for the project? As the consent authority under the Roads Act for modiﬁcations to O'Connell and Abercrombie Rds Oberon Council was being asked to provide consent without knowing the total picture. GPG is to provide further information.

The Extraordinary meeting on 30 June 2025 gave Development approval to the erection of three Anemometer Towers by Stromlo /Tag to gauge wind velocity and frequency in the vicinity of the three Forestry Corporation Pine forests where it is proposed to erect 250 wind towers. These were approved on the basis that they were ancillary to windfarm development. The Stromlo/Tag windfarm approval is state signiﬁcant and hence is subject to NSW Government approval not Council.

On Saturday 5 July 2025 I had the pleasure of opening the NAIDOC art exhibition at the Oberon Community Centre and Library. The breadth of talent exhibited by the artists and school children was truly amazing. The NAIDOC exhibition closes on l7 July. Please stay safe on the roads during the next few months with the cold and frosty conditions. Two major hazards are black ice and the number of kangaroos on our roads.

Andrew McKibbin
Mayor