Wollondilly Shire Council is financially strong and making great progress delivering services for the community, as demonstrated in the 2022/23 Annual Report that will be presented at the November Council Meeting.

The Annual Report shows how Council is continuing to make progress towards the community’s long-term vision of making Wollondilly even better, together.

Mayor Matt Gould said, “We have made a huge amount of progress this year when it comes to what we are delivering for our community. Our roads and infrastructure are getting fixed. Our services have been outstanding. Our finances are strong. We’ve made huge steps forward this year.”

“Some impressive targets have been reached, such as the successful delivery of Council’s biggest ever Transport Capital Works Program, along with the huge amount of additional grant-funded work which is helping to repair our road network following the devastating storm events of previous years.”

“I am delighted to see so many of our much-anticipated infrastructure projects coming to fruition right across the Shire.”

“Wollondilly residents are now enjoying community spaces such as the impressive multi-purpose Tahmoor Sportsground Building, the Birrahlee Park playground upgrade at Yanderra and the great new all abilities playground at Dudley Chesham Sportsground.”

“The Wollondilly Cultural Precinct in the heart of Picton town centre is gaining momentum, with important milestones being reached in the past Financial Year such as the completion of the new Children’s Services Building, accessible renovations to the Wollondilly Library and the beginning of construction of the 350 seat Performing Arts Centre.”

“Council is continuing to advocate for the infrastructure we need to support the State-mandated growth areas and make sure we protect what makes our Shire unique, and to ensure our current and future residents have sustainable and liveable communities.”

Some other highlights for the 2022/23 Financial Year included:

• Restoration of the old Picton Post Office which has been repurposed as a coworking space and is providing a great boost to the local economy.
• Council’s largest tourism campaign, Love the Dilly which wrapped up in June 2023, with very successful results and increased visitation to the Shire.
• Establishment of the Mobile Recovery & Resilience Van to provide mobile and agile recovery support services after disasters and to promote and support preparedness and resilience.
• Twelve projects were announced as successfully obtaining WestInvest funding from across the Shire, including Appin, The Oaks, Oakdale, Warragamba, Thirlmere, Bargo, Yanderra and Picton.
• Introduction of a Neighbourhood Planning Policy to guide the preparation of future neighbourhood Plans in Wilton.
• Many successful events were held across the year, including the new Owloween held in partnership with the Australian Wildlife Sanctuary, the Festival of Steam, Illuminate, Dilly Doggy Day Out and Summerfest.
• Finalisation of renovations and implementation of the operating model of the Picton coworking space in the Old Picton Post Office.
• Increased visitation to Wollondilly through the very successful Love the Dilly campaign
• Updates to the local planning framework to open up and enable the visitor economy to become a foundation for social, cultural and economic life.
• Employee engagement survey results showing a culture of increasing trust, job satisfaction and staff engagement within the organisation.