In fact, the city was first established in the 1820s at the junction of the Mulwaree and Wollondilly Rivers and only moved to its present location a few km southwest later. 

It made sense then to locate the city near the river, but since the city centre moved, our linkages to the rivers have lessened over the years. 

With the recent re-establishment of the Wollondilly WalkingTrack, that riverbank is drawing an increasing number of citizens to it – to stroll, pedal, skate or run along it, or just to have a picnic near it.

At any given time of the day it is quite busy down on this trail. 

So it seems logical now to make more linkages from the city’s CBD to the rivers, as a recent study by University of Canberra students suggests.

Ideas to increase family and community activities nearby these rivers have been ‘floated’ – including building cafes and holding events down there. 

A lot of clean up work around the rivers has already been undertaken, but there are still parts of the riverbank that need to be cleaned up, where the reeds and other foliage are quite thick. This may be the next part of the project?

Mayor Bob Kirk said there has been a “loss of connectivity” between the community and the river, so the proposal to make the river area more prominent in community activities would be welcome. 

Just make sure someone lets the snakes that inhabit these areas know that too, ok? 

The road statistics around holiday periods are always sobering.

As of Sunday, there were over 216 major crashes in NSW and over 4700 speeding infringements issued for the Easter period. 

Nearby there have been some high speeds recorded such as the driver in the Kings Highway travelling at 158km/h and he is deserving of his $2350 fine and other penalties. 

But there are some pleasing statistics to report as well. On Sunday, police said in the Southern Area of NSW that major crashes were down from 40 to 29 (for the same period as last year). They also said PCA infringements were down from 43 to 27.

So maybe the safety messages are getting through to some drivers?  The high-visibility of police on our roads has been welcome.