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For eight 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 updated 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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Interviews on local radio stations Hawkesbury Radio and Pulse FM
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I get along to two of our local radio stations as often as I can for a chat. Hawkesbury Radio is based in Windsor and Pulse FM is based in Richmond
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I sat down with "Sparkie Sean" from Hawkesbury Radio to talk about a range of issues including the wonderful Hawkesbury Gas-lamp festival, development, the Lower Portland Ferry, and the political environment in the current Council.
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I also spoke to Pulse 89.9FM Radio presenter Kathryn Gene who interviewed me on air about local issues in her segment 'In Topic'.
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That interview ranged from the state of our roads, recovery from floods, to the upcoming Council elections. Check out these videos in case you missed it.
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The 2024 Federal Redistribution for Macquarie - for people in a hurry!
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You may have seen headlines about the seat of North Sydney being abolished, and NSW losing a seat overall in the Parliament, but what does the redistribution mean for people living in the Hawkesbury and the Blue Mountains, in the seat of Macquarie? I've crunched the numbers so you don't have to.
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The Hawkesbury River Flood of April 2024
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A rare "rain bomb" again plunged the Hawkesbury-Nepean River and the communities that live and work along its banks into crisis between April 5-7, and another flood washed through the area. Since then another smaller flood has occurred on June 7th.
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Now the waters are subsiding, we have a sense of the scale of these floods compared to others occurring in 2021 and 2022.
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| Date |
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| June 2024 |
8.66m |
| April 2024 |
9.40m |
| Oct 2022 |
7.38m |
| Jul 2022 |
13.9m |
| Apr 2022 |
9.07m |
| Mar 2022 |
13.71m |
| Mar 2021 |
12.91m |
| Feb 2020 |
9.23m |
| Feb 1992 |
10.82m |
The "1:100" level (badly named, better described as "the height of a flood that has a 1% probability of happening in any one year") is 17.3m at Windsor. the 1:200 level is 18.5m.
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The famed 1867 flood, the worst since European settlement, was 19.68m at Windsor. Other historical flood heights are listed here.
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Here is a time-lapse of the total flood event I compiled by scraping individual images from LiveTraffic.com's webcams around the district. I owe a dept of thanks to the technicians at the LiveTraffic website for helping me with this project.
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It remains frustrating that the NSW Labor Government went to the last election pledging to scrap the raising of Warragamba Dam, the one mitigation measure certain to reduce the frequency or height of bad floods. What measures they would pursue as a replacement was vague then and shambolic now. They gesture vaguely to levies as a solution, but have done nothing in the year since they were elected to articulate, develop or fund a solution. An expert in flood hydrology recently briefed Councillors and was skeptical about the wisdom of levies, which are about as good at keeping flood waters in as they are keeping them out!
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Interview with 104 year old veteran Bruce Robertson at RAAF Richmond
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It was a rare privilege to sit and record the memories of Bruce Robertson earlier this week with Kathryn Gene from Pulse 89.9FM Radio as part of our effort to commemorate ANZAC Day.
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It’s hard to encapsulate just how much Bruce's extraordinary 104 year life has taken in.
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He shook Charles Kingsford-Smith’s hand and chatted with his crew after Kingsford-Smith led the first trans-Pacific air crossing in 1928 in the "Southern Cross".
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As a wireless operator, he was the first to detect and raise the alarm when he heard Japanese Morse Code signals of the mothership submarine off Sydney Heads as it launched two midget submarines into Sydney Harbour in May 1942.
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Via Townsville, he deployed to New Guinea and was present at the battles of Kokoda and the Bismarck Sea, relaying vital intelligence of the battles as they unfolded.
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Bruce is literally older than the Air Force he joined –– which is a timely reminder that the centenary of our own RAAF Richmond base is next year and deserves an open day and an air show.
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Recording and editing this has been a true thrill, and both Bruce’s remarkable memories and his wisdom for young people today (towards the end of the video) made for the best ANZAC day treat I could offer you.
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Many thanks to Kathryn and to the staff of RAAF Richmond and to the Sergeant’s Mess who offered their hospitality.
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Fixing a local eyesore - the Telstra phone exchange in Richmond
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The Telstra phone exchange in the main street of Richmond was automated in 1972. Previously, the manual exchange had a staff of 30 women plus 2 male night attendants.
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If you've walked by there recently, you would have seen it become an overgrown eyesore, with weeds spilling over the fence and choking what would otherwise be a pleasant space. People are telling me that it was so lovely once it won awards and people got their wedding photos taken there. A rockery and a wooden arbor are still inside.
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Given that we've spent money making beautifications along the main street, I didn't think it was too much to ask Telstra, who posted a $2.1B profit last year, to clean it up, or even turn it into a mini-park.
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Then, something wonderful happened. After I wrote to Telstra corporate, I actually got some action!
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By Wednesday, I had a response from Corporate to promise that something would be done, and that they’d call me to discuss the long term future of the site, which used to be so pretty, I’m told it won garden awards. the next day, workmen attended despite the rain and cleaned up the site. Then, I received a phone call from the head of property maintenance at Telstra. They apologised for letting it slip off the radar, have committed to undertake maintenance on a monthly schedule, and are very, very open to granting permission for it to be a community garden. What they’ve asked for is a concept design. We need to find a landscape gardener prepared to draw one up. I’d also like to engage the Chamber of Commerce and local businesses to sponsor. No one is more surprised than me, and I’m happy to praise Telstra for doing the right thing and for reacting so quickly!
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Launch of the futureofthehawkesbury.com website
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This year is a Council election year.
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The biggest question facing us is this: What do you want the future of the Hawkesbury to be?
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We want the Hawkesbury to thrive, with vibrant town centres and well maintained roads. We want to look after our heritage and our environment. But the biggest thing Council will ever take a position on is how many more houses will we build in our city. There are developers who want to build thousands more houses in our city, on both sides of the river.
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You shouldn't believe that more urban sprawl can’t be avoided, or that if we share our views, we won't be heard.
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So I'm launching "futureofthehawkesbury.com", a new website. Its job is to host surveys and petitions to gather the widest ever spread of your views about roads, development, the environment, child-care and other matters on which Council can make a difference.
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In late 2020, Council debated our housing policy. We know the suburbs along the south-eastern boundary of our city (like Oakville, Vineyard and Maraylya) are on the front line of the pressure for more development. Look at what's happening along Windsor Road, and on the eastern side of Boundary Road.
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The pressure for yet more areas to be subdivided is splitting our community. I recognised that some are in favour of subdivision, and some against. In that debate I said the simplest and most courteous thing we should do, and especially in those suburbs, is ask everyone what they want the future to look like. I was voted down. More recently, I re-floated the idea of a comprehensive survey asking what people's views on development were, and it was clear I wouldn't have the numbers to pass it in the chamber.
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I have my theories. Those against development worry that even asking the question opens a can of worms. Those for development worry that a properly comprehensive survey will prove that a majority of Hawkesbury residents are against it.
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But the website is about more than that. If there's an issue you think Council is neglecting, and you want to prove that the community are united in demanding action, sign one of the petitions we're kicking off with, or suggest your own.
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This September will be the most consequential Council election in the Hawkesbury's history.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urUwpyVKScg
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Watch this one-minute introduction, and then head on over to the website. Be engaged, and be heard.
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Did you see "The Sydney Anthill"?
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This video is about the most important message I've ever put out. I think it frames what's at stake at the coming Local Government elections that will occur on September 14th. Watch it below:
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