We were greeted with a blue sky autumn day for the official opening of this space, and all who came along really enjoyed it. If you haven't yet been for a visit I'd encourage you to check out the new playground along with the acres of open space at Riverside Park. Easy access is available off Quiberon Way in the Tillage residential development.

Goulburn will farewell cadets from the Royal Military College this week, as they wrap up their month long training exercise in the region.

On Tuesday I joined Councillor Carol James, members of the Hume Police District and Council staff to catch up with the army cadets to wrap up the exercise. 90 army cadets and 70 support personnel have been based here since mid-April.

I commended them on their exercises here, and the flexibility and positive attitude they displayed to any community question or concern. I think in return, they were well welcomed by the community of Goulburn, and I thank our residents for that. The exercises certainly added abit of excitement and colour around the City, and the engagement with young people in particular was very positive.

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Goulburn farewells Royal Military College cadets

"Hopefully this can become an ongoing relationship between our region and RMC, as I'm sure the community would be happy to welcome them back each year for their exercises.

Goulburn Mulwaree's building approval growth is exceeding all estimates, as new data shows the region is on track for the highest value of residential building approvals ever recorded.

Nearly $66 million in residential building approvals were recorded for the financial year through until February, with the area on track to exceed the previous record of $74.8 million in 2018/19 by a significant margin.

2020 was an incredibly difficult year for the Australian economy due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but locally we have been able to continue to grow and are rebounding quickly. The numbers of development applications being submitted each week continue to surprise me, and this is obviously being reflected in building approval data. I am certainly going to look towards the results of the Census in August being undertaken later this year with interest, as I expect our population growth figures to be strong.

Not all news is good news though, as this week we learnt of three retail stores to be closed in Goulburn Square. The move to online shopping continues to hurt local retailers, along with rents and overheads.

Council is always looking for innovative ways to assist retail businesses, and one of the ways we are doing this is through partnership projects with the Chamber of Commerce such as the Shop 2580 gift cards that I discussed recently.

You can purchase a gift card at four locations at the moment, with more to come on board in the coming weeks. These are:

Planning Proposal - Commercial Horse Facilities at Racecourse Drive, Goulburn

Council resolved to endorse this planning proposal to allow for horse stabling, yards, breeding and related material storage in this precinct. A limit has been set of six horses within stables per 2000m2 of lot area, and two horses per 2000m2 in open areas.

Acquisition of part 12 Mortis Street, Goulburn

Council will acquire 242.5m2 of land at 12 Mortis Street, Goulburn for $15,000 to be dedicated as public reserve as part of Stage 3 of the Mulwaree Walking Track.

Sale of 2 Bourke Street, Goulburn

Council will advise the NSW Police they have until the 25th May to advise Council if they wish to proceed or not with purchase of 2 Bourke Street, Goulburn.

Hovell Street Residential Subdivision

Council will undertake a process to dispose of 49-61 Hovell Street, Goulburn with an approved development application by way of auction. Expressions of interest from real estate agents within the Goulburn Mulwaree area will be sought for the sale. A further report will also come back to Council in closed session to establish a reservice price for the auction.

Update on Run-O-Waters second road access

An update report was provided regarding the second road access to Run-O-Waters. The cost of the road is estimated at $1.4 million plus land acquisition costs. Council will discuss at a briefing session the future road link from Run-O-Waters to Gurrundah Road on to Middle Arm Road with potential access to the Hume Highway.

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