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Does Dressage have a future at Hawkesbury Showground?
This week I was a signatory to call rare extraordinary meeting of Council to address a dispute between the Hawkesbury District Agricultural Association, Dressage NSW and Equestrian NSW. The subject was a dispute over the future of dressage facilities at the Hawkesbury Showground.
Vivid 2025 – Sydney’s Amazing Festival of Lights
What a wonderful city we live in! Vivid Sydney has been just amazing this year, covering multiple sites and showing off our city’s architecture old and new. This is my tribute to VIVID, which we did in perfect weather! #vividsydney
Dual Occupancy – Approved in principle! (Labor opposes)
Council approved my Notice of Motion to permit Detached Dual Occupancies after seven years of delay and disappointment with our moribund LEP process. There's some way to go yet.
The 2025 Australian Federal Election – the view from Macquarie
For those of you who asked me what my opinion is of yesterday's Federal Election, I humbly offer you this. I try to provide a Global, National and Local (to the seat of Macquarie) explanation of What Just Happened.
Mics are dropped.
I want to know what you think.
The Effects on Insurance Premiums from Hawkesbury Flooding and Council\’s Planning Policies
The skyrocketing costs of home insurance is a massive issue for people in the Hawkesbury.
Damage from flooding could cost us billions, but the risks of living in on a floodplain have driven up Insurance costs even when the sun is shining.
The Incredible Shrinking Hawkesbury Bridge Program
In 2019 and 2021, to secure votes in what was at the time the most marginal Federal seat in the nation, the Liberals pledged $200M, and then $500M to build a high, flood-resilient bridge across the Hawkesbury River that would loop around North Richmond and relieve congestion at the intersection of Grose Vale Road, Bells Line and the Terrace. Now we're told by Labor that that money isn't enough.
Two Years in One Minute – A series of Hawkesbury Time Lapse Videos
Live Traffic NSW have automated cameras all over the state, and over eight in the Hawkesbury. I programmed a script to scrape an image from each at around noon for two years (August 2022 – Dec 2024) and compiled the ~700+ images into some time lapses.
Hawkesbury Youth Summit – Opening Address
I was honoured to be asked by the Mayor to give the opening address of the "Hawkesbury Youth 'Festival of New Ideas'" at the Western Sydney University Hawkesbury Campus
Throwback Thursday – the 1998 Resolve Chemicals fire at Wilberforce
CHEMICAL FIRE AT WILBERFORCE: At 2216hrs on Sunday 12th July, 1998, Hawkesbury Fire Control received advice from 000 of a structure alight in the Woodlands Industrial Estate, WIiberforce. The township of Wilberforce has over 100 homes and light industry and is located In the City of Hawkesbury approximately 60km north west of Sydney.
Pre-election Interview with Shaun Willams of Hawkesbury Radio
I leave it all on the field with this one.
The invitation to sit down with Shaun Willams from Hawkesbury Radio this close to the election was the perfect opportunity to take the gloves off and talk about what's really at stake this time.
Councillor Nathan Zamprogno
The page of Independent Hawkesbury City Councillor Nathan Zamprogno
At the request of the Governor Macquarie Memorial Pipe Band, please consider attending their excellent concert at the The Regent Theatre - Richmond this Sunday afternoon.
I’ve heard them play. They’re amazing!
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I send an email newsletter about 2 or 3 times a year. Do you get it?
My new newsletter is going out this week,
If you don't think you're on my recipient list, please consider providing your email address at the link below.
This is part of my effort to keep Hawkesbury voters informed.
councillorzamprogno.info/contact-me-2/
In February I released an interactive tool that allows you to compare NSW Council statistics.
Its a great way to see where we stand in relation to our neighbours and demographic peers.
Well, I've just updated it with the most recent data for the 2024-2025 financial year released by the Office of Local Government.
Hawkesbury Council's new SRV is factored in, as are eighteen other Councils with active SRV increases between now and 2029.
Rates? Debt? Recycling? Population? It's all there.
This is just part of my effort to make goverment more transparent and accountable. Soon, I have a really big announcement about my next project, which involves AI.
Here's the link if you want to check it out (Desktop browsers are better):
councillorzamprogno.info/nsw_comparative_council_statistics_1995-2025.html
And here's my explainer video:
youtu.be/SJT8GKA-FVI
Recently I was honoured to host the inaugural TEDxHawkesbury event at the Richmond School Of Arts.
All the videos from the presenters are now online through the TEDx Global YouTube Channel and if you weren't able to attend the event, I commend them to you. Included in this post are my introductory remarks. Below is the link to all the talks.
In my roles as a Councillor and as a local high school teacher I have learned that innovation, connection, and meeting to share and debate good ideas are at the heart of fixing the problems we have in our community and the broader world.
This event has presented to a Hawkesbury audience wisdom about things as diverse as Artificial Intelligence, mental health, community service, trauma, ecology, disaster resilience, critical thinking and leadership. Having our speakers present from the same stage that once hosted debates about Australian Federation is a big thrill. I was specially proud to introduce two of my own students who gave well-received talks.
We heard from nine wonderful speakers which included Scott Hinks - Hawkesbury
of the local Lions club, and Dr Michelle Ryan of the Hawkesbury Nepean Platypus Project.
I certainly hope this sold-out event indicates we’ve started something that will continue.
All the talks are available at this playlist:
www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKVTDl0dqP08
Here is a major update on the issue of Detached Dual Occupancy in the Hawkesbury. This is something I get asked about a lot, and over the last few weeks there has been a flurry of reporting which tells only part of the story.
This video describes where we are, and how we got here.
If you want the receipts, and links to all the documents mentioned in this video, go to my website:
councillorzamprogno.info/2026/07/08/major-update-on-detached-dual-occupancy-in-the-hawkesbury/
Call outs to
John Ruddick MLC - Libertarian
Councillor Mark Hornshaw - Libertarian Party
Urban City Group
Paul Scully MP
Winterfest Sydney Medieval Fair at the Hawkesbury Showground has come around again and is noticeably bigger and better than ever! Here’s my cousin Damian and I getting into the spirit of things. He is Optio Centurion with the Legio IX Hispana Sydney.
Yesterday was sold out, and today is nearly!
The Hawkesbury Local Planning Panel has now ruled on the request to construct a McDonalds, a KFC and a child care facility at 291 Bells Line Of Road at North Richmond (just past Colo High going up and on the corner of Yeomans Road).
The HLP Panel voted to REJECT the application including the following reasons:
• The proposal has not adequately addressed stormwater management and impacts on water quality.
• The proposal has not adequately addressed the potential for a release of pollutants if there is a flood.
• The proposed development is considered to diminish the scenic quality of the locality and topography of the site and surrounds.
• The site and surrounding uses are incompatible with the proposed child care facility.
• There may be potential for land use conflict with surrounding sites.
• Having regards to the objectives, the proposed development is not consistent with the relevant objectives of the RU1 and SP2 zone.
• Inadequate and potentially unsafe pedestrian connections to the site particularly having regard to the proximity of Colo High School.
Actually, the list of reasons why the development has been rejected is far, far longer than this. The whole decision is available at the URL below.
I welcome this decision but note that the applicant has pre-emptively made an application for the matter to be presented to the Land and Environment Court. Today's announcement does not mean that the Court process won't take place, but places objectors on a much stronger footing.
www.hawkesbury.nsw.gov.au/_resources/council-meeting-papers/hlpp-business-papers/current/hlpp-bus...
Do you know how much debt Council is in? No? Would you even know where to look?
With so much discussion around Council's financial management, I've managed to score a win for some transparency in the way we report this.
As I point out in this speech, figures that I suspect most ratepayers would like a clear presentation of includes how much debt Council is in, how it's changed, and how we measure up to our neighbours and demographic peers.
I expected a fight; to need to move a motion to get something simple: a better summary of debt in our Annual Report. Instead, Council staff commendably took up my suggestion and have recently responded to me with this:
“𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐥, 𝐝𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐕𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐦𝐚𝐣𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬.
𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓/𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 𝐀𝐧𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐧𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭.”
I thank our staff for their proactive stance in response to my suggestion.
Oh, and to answer my earlier question:
Council's current debt stands at $54,809,000.
In 2009, Council had zero debt.
The Richmond Pool project cost-blowout alone may add an additional $43,000,000 of debt to Council, which is why I regretfully had to withdraw my support for it.
Look forward to a big announcement from me soon about a project aimed at improving transparency and access to Council data.
What do you think?
My family's roots are in both the Hawkesbury and Hills District. My great-great grandfather James Holland was a founder of the Anglican fellowship in Glenhaven which is now the Emmanuel Church.
I was delighted to attend the church's 140th anniversary celebrations recently along with Julian Leeser MP, Dr Michelle Byrne - Mayor of the Hills Shire Council, Councillor Frank De Masi and Councillor Mitchell Blue - The Hills Shire Council.
I took my mother and our cousin who were able to share their own memories of Glenhaven in an era when it was much more rural.
We have so much history in our communities, and I'm glad that we can celebrate it.
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