From the Mayor’s desk: Cr Claire Pontin

THAT time is upon us again. Christmas seems to sneak up on us a little quicker each year.

As we approach the end of the year and families head off on holidays, I would just like to remind everyone to be safe, make sure you stop, revive, survive if you’re taking on a road trip and if you’re cooling off at one of our wonderful beaches please swim between the flags.

On reflection, 2025 has been a year of resilience.

Our region endured the worst flood in recorded history, and we have been hard at work ever since in the recovery space. Some residents lost their homes, businesses were inundated and some even lost their lives.

But it’s during these difficult times that the Australian spirit shines through.

There are countless stories of communities and neighbours coming together to help each other out despite their race, religion, political view or orientation.

Whether it was during the flood itself, the clean up or dealing with the long-term impacts of such a devastating event.

Council staff will continue to help and support where they can too, and I will continue to advocate to the other levels of government for a fair go.

Lastly, we are continuing work to make money available to improve our roads, as we know they aren’t what our community expects.

This is not something we have shied away from.

We understand and hear your frustrations, and we are working hard with the limited budget we have.

We have made the improvement of our roads our number one priority, and they will continue to remain our focus going into 2026, but it won’t be an overnight fix.

We have created a Roads Hub on our website which breaks down what kind of works are taking place and where, every fortnight.

It is a great tool that highlights most of the planned maintenance and work, but please note our teams are also often out making urgent repairs that don’t always appear on the list.

Enjoy your holiday period, have fun but most importantly be safe.

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

By Claire PONTIN, Mayor, MidCoast Council