Mayor’s Column: 22nd July 2017.
Congratulations to the eleven local groups who are sharing $35,000 in arts and cultural grants from Council to help them bring new and exciting events and activities to the Coffs Coast.
This year’s funding round includes grants to develop an ‘Our Coffs Pride Fest’ to celebrate the region’s LGBTIQ culture, creative art classes and dance workshops for former refugees, an orchestral workshop and performance for primary schoolchildren, a youth film festival to nurture local film-making talent, a Gumbaynggirr dance and craft programme for Aboriginal girls, a celebration of Punjabi culture that showcases dance and Sikh cultural history at Curryfest and a literature programme for schools featuring published authors.
Every year I’m surprised and delighted by the variety of projects that come forward. This year is no exception and I love the way the successful groups are embracing our very, very diverse community and celebrating our differences so positively.
Council annually offers grants from $2,000 to $5,000 through its Arts and Cultural Development Grants programme to help support the implementation of the Creative Coffs – Cultural Strategic Plan 2017-2022. Want to apply? Check out Council’s website for more details.
Airport Soars to New Heights
It was great to hear this week that passenger numbers at Coffs Harbour Regional Airport rose to 413,000 over the past 12 months – breaking all previous records. This shows that the airport handled a total of 35,000 more passengers than in its previous best year.
The airport has been growing strongly for several years and this trend is forecast to continue. But to maintain this kind of growth, it’s important to ensure that airport infrastructure and facilities are expanded in a cost-effective and timely manner. With that in mind, major upgrade works worth $6.5m are nearing completion. These improvements will ensure that Coffs Harbour Regional Airport is ideally positioned to cater for expected growth over the next 10 or more years.
Jetty4Shores Boardwalk Update
A motion was put up at the last Council Meeting for Councillors to endorse the ‘zig zag’ design for the Jetty4Shores Boardwalk, which provides a section on top of the dunes with clear harbour views, a short section crossing the dunes and the remainder behind the dunes. The motion was successful with eight of the nine Councillors voting to endorse the design.
