Lord Mayor Farewell Speech

6.45pm, Friday 14 September 2007

Parramatta Chamber

Ladies and Gentleman, my fellow members of the Australian Labor Party and all Councillors of this city.

We all wish Parramatta well and we all work hard to achieve the best for our city and its wards. It has been a privilege to share that work with you … over the last two and half years that I have had the opportunity of being Lord Mayor.

The main job of the Lord Mayor is to be chief booster for the city, to sell its economic and employment opportunities, its qualities of community, culture and environment, its bright future. In some ways that boosting job became easier and easier with every year: it’s has just been a matter of telling it as it is.

But I feel I’ve played my part in positioning Parramatta as a new look dynamic city with good economic possibilities and a cultural and community vision for its future.

People now see Parramatta like we do … as an attractive and creative city in which to live, to work and to play. I have been able to find those opportunities in the media, in the opinion pages and in landmark addresses and conferences to get that message across.

Our arts plan, and our vision for a creative city, has particularly generated a staggering amount of interest …. and it’s given me as Lord Mayor so many opportunities to promote the value of this vision to the city … as well as the other asserts with which Parramatta is blessed.

What this interest reveals is that people, I think, are so hungry for a vision about their city, its urban design and their lives within it. People want to feel proud of their place and its distinctive qualities … and want us representatives to preserve what’s best about it and develop its potential, its beauty and its facilities.

People, in short, want vision.  

I’m proud to have been a part of the very special way the arts and cultural places framework was developed – how we mixed input from councillors, experts, artists and the community … and across all these differences forged an agreed plan for the next ten years. The process won Parramatta Council two Local Government and respect amongst our peers.

All the landmarks of this plan have also drawn considerable media and public attention:  

• the review and improvement of our civic events and the creation of Riverbeats
• our laneways and small spaces strategy
• the opening of the Artists Studios; and additional grants it has generated from the NSW State Government and the Commonwealth  
  (AusIndustry $150,000 to develop Art Smart workshops starting soon helping artists become effective creative industries)  
• and making political headway to achieve State support for the Gallery part of the New Generation Centre, combined with new library and heritage centre at the heart of Civic Place.
• impending launch of the Parramatta Cultural Trust, introduced by myself and Peter Garrett last week to a lunch with interested business people of the city. I commit to helping steer this vital Trust in its first years of operation.

Other landmarks:

• Civic Place negotiations to the development agreement with Grocon; and acquiring compulsory acquisition powers tested this week in Court. Again we should all take pride in the inclusive and informed way Councillors educated themselves as property developers … and took the community along with all decision-making for Civic Place.
• Opening of the Mall.
• Neighbourhood Centre Upgrades and the political achievement of the increased rates to fund it, first in Harris Park, completed this year, next Guildford and Granville.
• City Centre Crime Prevention Plan for Parramatta: another inclusive workshop process which will bring to Council in the next month or so a comprehensive crime plan supported by all stakeholders.
• Urban design team, advisory panel and Design Excellence Awards, started here in Parramatta and next year being considered as regional Western Sydney awards. And we have upgrades the design standards of the city’s public realm and produced draft zoning plans to reshape 21 future centres, dynamic hubs bringing well-designed density to the suburbs of our LGA.
• Parking Meters: a politically risky but mature decision to stimulate business with improved parking turnover, and to invest the income into city improvements befitting a sophisticated city this size. Further, after public reaction, we listened, we reviewed the meters, and we modified their installation.

I remember meeting Church leaders concerned parking meters would stop parishioners attending Sunday service in this city of churches. John Neish had the quite sensible idea of allowing worshippers to put their parking tickets in the collection plate – which Council would redeem to the churches every Monday morning. I think they quite liked the idea!

Chiang Lim I know was also busy collecting petitions of names against the Sunday toll and ready to argue for a reduced parking rate on Sundays in the name of God. In the end we just swept away completely having any parking meters operating on a Sunday.

I suppose I’ve learnt a few other things …

Don’t sing at Lord Mayor Christmas parties – especially not when it’s The Wild Thing!

Avoid the cream puffs – and all those sandwiches with which Council woos us to meetings!

Maintain open door policy – a long as people are asked to write down why they want to see the LM, many loose the drive, perhaps the anger, when faced with a blank page!

Nevertheless I chalked up in first year in office as Lord Mayor some 400 outside meetings.

But doing that means you don’t get home too much. So I’d really like to thank my wife Giselle and my daughters Grace and Zoe for their patience and their support.

And I’d like to thank a remarkable staff run by John Neish … a staff which in almost every case I have found to be enthusiastic, hardworking and convivial. I would particularly like to thank that staff working close to me: Martin Portus and Shehana when she was here, Dani, Rachel, Leigh and Graeme.

I have also enjoyed stimulating professional relationships with Louise Connelly, Scott Cox, Marcelo Occhiuzzi, Chris Bailey, Lisa Giacommelli, Andrew Overton, Michael Dagostino, Rod Cook and so many, many of this staff.

Finally Councillors I thank you all for your support, your hard work and your conscientious attendance to your duties and to endless workshops and meetings.

And I thank you for your ability, when the chips are down, to pull together for the benefit of our city.

We know that this city deserves nothing less.