A Minute With The Mayor Ramon Jayo

Happy New Year everyone! Welcome to 2025 and I wish you well and every success for this year.
2024 turned out to be quite a difficult year for our district in terms of our main industry in sugar. The extremely wet ground conditions early in the year, mid-year and end of year proved quite trying for all involved, resulting in not all cane being harvested and not all fallow being planted. I would like to thank all in Hinchinbrook for the champion efforts put in under the circumstances, and if the wet season is kind to us, we can look forward to a reasonable crop for the district this year.
I am looking forward to 2025 as I believe we will finally see a number of projects that we have long laboured with come to fruition. The ducks are starting to line up and environmental approvals are being considered with new realism and purpose by the State Government, which will enable projects such as the Taylors Beach Foreshore Revetment Wall, Dungeness, and all tide access and flood mitigation works throughout the district to progress. We also have a number of new projects commencing this year as part of the most recent Works for Queensland funding program including a half basketball court for Garbutt Park Ingham, revamp of the Borello Park Lucinda playground, Taylors Beach playground shade covering and the Palm Creek pump track to name a few.  I am proposing to utilise my weekly column in our fabulous new local paper, the Hinchinbrook Life, to keep you updated on progress being made. We have a lot to look forward to.
Just prior to Council closing for Christmas, it gave me immense pleasure to acknowledge the significant contribution to our district by Gian Mario Deambrogio. Mario as he is more affectionately known, has provided mechanical services to our district for over 60 continuous years at Trebonne, and there would not be many people who have not been acquainted with Mario in one manner or another. Congratulations Mario and thank you for not only being a good business to our district, but also for the countless hours of volunteer service to the then Cannossian regime of Trebonne throughout the years.

Until next week.