This, for me, means taking a long-term view and making the right decisions. The tough decisions. Not necessarily the easy ones.

Being a local, I know first hand the challenges that Nelson Bay faces. It’s no secret that growth of the town centre has been stalled for a long time and needs significant planning and investment to secure a prosperous future.

It needs public and private investment that will add vibrancy to the Bay’s stunning natural surrounds. Investment that will support our residents and to ensure growth of our local economy.

Importantly we’re not just talking about financial investment, we’re focused on social, cultural and community investment as well – creating vibrant new spaces for people to enjoy and communities to flourish, now and into the future.

Doing nothing simply isn’t an option – we have to take action. Council is looking to lead the way by investing heavily in Nelson Bay ourselves, while also working to attract greater government and private investment to see the town prosper.

This week the revised Nelson Bay town centre and foreshore strategy came back to Council for consideration. This paper outlined key recommendations for Nelson Bay, some of which included revised building heights to create a better town centre.

We are also seeking to put some guidelines in place to optimise design excellence principles in our buildings, maximising view sharing, increasing natural light to public areas, and activating street frontages for the benefit of all who live in and visit the Bay.

We’ve conducted an exhaustive amount of community consultation over the last two years to understand what our community wants and have taken much of this on board, including fast-tracking a community parking survey and Public Domain Plan for the Bay.

We’re also the first council to develop a policy which will see any proposals to exceed height limits by more than 10 per cent requiring determination by the full council.

By introducing this we’re preserving the Nelson Bay landscape for years to come, whilst maximising opportunity for the town centre to grow.

I know there is opposition to some ideas, particularly around increasing building heights in our town centre. But it’s time to grow the Bay into the town we know it can be.