News from the Lord Mayor's Office, 12 August 2025

By Wollongong Lord Mayor Councillor Tania Brown

While our community went about their day-to-day last week, your Council was moving forward on some exciting key initiatives as we continued to grow some vital strategic relationships.

Ultimately, across the week there were a number of essential meetings that, I believe, will increase opportunities for regional collaboration and raise the profile of our city across local, state and federal governments.

We kicked off the week with a workshop in Picton with the eight neighbouring councils; Wollongong, Wollondilly, Camden, Campbelltown, Wingecarribee, Shellharbour, Kiama and Shoalhaven.

With the working title of the ‘LG8,’ we’re working to formalise a regional collaboration agreement. The objective of the LG8 will be to partner on major regional priorities between the eight councils, and as a willing partner with State and Federal Governments. While all of our councils are part of existing strong local government alliances, this new collaboration has the real potential to complement and extend these great partnerships.

It was a productive discussion at the Wollondilly Performing Arts Centre, with all of the eight councils agreeing to collaborate for the benefit of our regions and local communities. As next steps, each of the Mayors will work together with a focus on improving connectivity between the Illawarra, Macarthur/Highlands and Western Sydney. We’ve also agreed to continue conversations about productivity, housing and job creation.

Following these positive conversations, I headed into Sydney to NSW Parliament for two days. There I met with a number of State Ministers to discuss key priorities for Wollongong, such as road infrastructure for West Dapto, as well as other major projects that will not only change the face of the city but also bring much needed investment and infrastructure to support growth.

I was also able to sit down with the Premier of NSW, Chris Minns, together with Minister Paul Scully and Minister Ryan Park to talk about the transformative change that Wollongong is experiencing and how we are all working together to ensure that we have the jobs, homes, infrastructure and diversified economy to enable our city to grow and prosper. Our conversation highlighted that, key to this  growth, is our need for more hotel rooms and the attractors required to secure this type of development.

Spending time at Parliament meant I had those opportunistic conversations that can only happen as you walk through those corridors of state power.  I was about to chat about all the great things we are doing in Wollongong with the NSW Treasurer, Daniel Mookhey, as well as other local MPs and regional mayors. It’s always a win in my book when you’re able to put the energy and passion of our community on the radar of decision-makers outside of our city.

I wrapped up my visit to Parliament by dropping by Question Time where my presence on behalf of Wollongong was acknowledged by the Speaker. Advocacy for Wollongong isn’t limited to being within our local government borders. I feel this visit was a real success as it reinforced the city’s shared determination to always seek opportunities to improve Wollongong as an enviable place to live, work and play. I look forward to being a regular visitor to the NSW Parliament and taking every opportunity I can to promote Wollongong.