FOLLOWING on from the recent resignation of Jeff McCloy from the position of Newcastle lord mayor, as deputy lord mayor I will chair council meetings and exercise the delegation of the lord mayor's office until a byelection has been held to allow the community to elect a new lord mayor.
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In accordance with the Local Government Act, a byelection of the whole Newcastle local government area to replace the lord mayor must happen within three months of when the vacancy occurs.
Planning for the byelection is under way and a date will be announced as soon as it is scheduled.
In the meantime, all council facilities are operating as normal as are all council services to the community.
Although a transition in leadership is always challenging, in this case the council as well as the general manager and council staff have a clear mandate to follow as outlined in the four-year delivery program.
We will continue to move forward with the delivery of authorised capital projects, including the council's four priority projects of coastal revitalisation, city revitalisation, shared pathways and cycleways, and Blackbutt Reserve.
Work is well under way in all of these areas and will continue without interruption.
I understand the Newcastle community is disappointed with the current situation.
On behalf of your remaining 12 elected representatives, I would like to reassure the community that we will continue to meet and make decisions about the current and future direction of our city.
