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For nearly ten years as a Hawkesbury City Councillor, I have sought to keep you informed about the issues that concern and affect you .
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I'm the only one of your twelve Councillors who tries to keep you connected in this way. I am a local schoolteacher by vocation, so I consider it one of my core responsibilities to engage you and keep you up-to-date.
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Councillor Nathan Zamprogno
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Hawkesbury Council's 39% Rate Hike
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At its November 2025 meeting Hawkesbury Council decided in a 7:4 vote to hike everyone's rates by 39.4% over four years.
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I voted against it, like I voted against the last rate hike in 2017 which was for 31.3% over three years. This means that between 2018 and 2029 Council will have lifted rates above the rate peg (and so, well above inflation) for 7 of those 11 years.
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I said we need to make the distinction between the amount of the rate rise and the limitations Council faces in ensuring that the distribition of the way we spread taxes is fair.
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At our October meeting I brought a motion about ensuring that our rating formula is fairer. For example, from the perspective of two families receiving the same level of service from Council, they should be charged the same amount. This motion passed.
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When it came to the vote on the SRV itself, I supported an amendment that sought to defer a decision on any SRV until late 2026. I agreed that the time between now and then should be spent examining Council's expenditures and other ways of funding its programs. This amendment was defeated and the SRV was passed.
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How does your Council compare to other NSW Councils?
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One complaint I hear often is a variation on "My Council is more expensive than the one next door!"
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I teach technology and data-visualisation to high schoolers, so I thought I would take 30 years of data from the NSW Office of Local Government (over 400,000 data points) to create a single interactive web-page comparing key statistics about rates, debt, demography and more. You can compare your Council with any other in the State.
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I've done the best job I could to harmonise often confusing changes in units and measures from the OLG data, but I stress this is not official or endorsed; it's just my own project.
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Watch my explainer video above, or access the interactive chart on my website by clicking the image below (best experience on a desktop/laptop, not your phone).
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Introducing TEDx Hawkesbury - April 18th
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I'm very pleased to be supporting a wonderful event that's coming to the Hawkesbury on April 18th.
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TEDxHawkesbury will be an afternoon of speakers inspired by the TED slogan of "Ideas worth spreading". Many of you are familiar with the TED brand and have watched TED talks on-line.
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This local version of the event will draw together local and international speakers in three hours of powerful stories and ideas to "Unbreak the Future".
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Speakers now confirmed will talk about the environment, critical thinking, the future of work, community resilience and much more.
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It will be held at the Richmond School Of Arts and tickets start at $25. I strongly recommend you follow for updates.
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Follow TEDxHawkesbury on Facebook
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Follow TEDxHawkesbury on Instagram
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The TEDx Hawkesbury website
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Interview on Hawkesbury Radio
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Shaun Williams, presenter at the "Common Point" program at Hawkesbury Radio told me we were overdue for a chat. I thought this was a good opportunity to recap the year on Council and frame the issues that will define 2026.
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Happy 215th Birthday to the Hawkesbury!
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Happy birthday, Hawkesbury! Recently we celebrated the 215th anniversary of Governor Lachlan Macquarie proclaiming the names and locations of what we now know as the "Five Macquarie Towns".
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Members of the Hawkesbury Historical Society and the Defenders of Thompson Square met at the equally historical Macquarie Arms hotel to hear an extract from Macquarie's diary of that day and to hear from national treasure and President of the Society, Jan Barkley-Jack explain the hidden significance and genius of Macquarie's legacy.
Thanks to Pat Schwartz for her organisation.
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Coming in my next newsletter - A breakthrough on Detached Dual Occupancy!
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My motion to alter our planning rules to permit more flexible Dual Occupancy in the Hawkesbury has been sent back by the State Government with "conditional approval", which is good news.
In parallel, a groundbreaking NSW Parliament Upper House Inquiry chaired by my good colleague John Ruddick of the NSW Libertarian Party is set to report in the month of March.
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This issue has generated significant support from landowners in the Hawkesbury and I will continue to advocate for you.
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I will report on both issues in a coming newsletter.
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Please follow me on...
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Do I have your correct contact information? (reader reader, , ). If not please reply with corrections.
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