Wollondilly Shire Council

🌟Wollondilly is severely lacking when it comes to public transport, with only 0.5% of our working population currently using it. As part of our advocacy strategy 'Future Wollondilly', Council has been calling for action on the promised rapid bus service between Wilton and Greater Sydney, as well as better public transport right across the Shire - so that residents from all our towns and villages can be better connected to jobs, education and essential services. Mayor Matt Gould outlines the issue in this short video. You can find about our other priorities in 'Future Wollondilly' https://lnkd.in/ghGYA4q9

🎈 Wollondilly Mayor Matt Gould recently joined forces with Mayor of Campbelltown Darcy Lound and Mayor of Camden Therese Fedeli at a combined Mayors' Charity Night - raising over $75,000 for Kids of Macarthur Health Foundation! Kids of Macarthur is a regional charity that has been raising funds for the last 25 years to purchase paediatric medical equipment for our local hospitals, supporting the region’s sickest children. Thank you to everyone who attended and gave so generously on the night, to all our sponsors and in particular our Wollondilly based sponsors, Bradcorp Holdings and ANR Engineering. It was a great night with an impressive outcome 💙

⌛ Cast your mind back to the year 2000.... we’d just survived Y2K, were getting ready for the Sydney Olympics, Anastacia and Powderfinger ruled the charts, and you couldn’t make a phone call and use the internet at the same time. Last week Mayor Matt Gould and Cr Suzy Brandstater, along with staff and some interested community members, delved into the past as they opened a time capsule that had been sealed 25 years ago. It was donated to Council by the 8th/12th Medium Regiment, RAA and presented by one of our local newspapers, The Chronicle, with instructions to open it in 2025. Inside was a great snapshot of life in the Shire at the turn of the millennium, including: 📌 A Tharawal Local Aboriginal Land Council pin 📌 Photos of the Ray family and a letter from Neville and Peter (Ray’s Lane, Picton) 📌 Front and back pages of the Daily Telegraph, Wednesday 26 January 20000 📌 Front and back pages of The District Reporter, Friday 21 January 2000 📌 The program from the Wollondilly Shire Council Australia Day 2000 proceedings, including the citizenship ceremony 📌 Essays from Picton High student Lauren Ackerly, Kaela Allbon-Crockett, Jade Dewar, Ryan McLaren, Belinda Moulds and Jessica Whitehead 📌 Writings and reflections from the Picton and District Historical and Family History and The Oaks Historical Society 📌 The Bush Telegraph, January 2000 Edition (WSC’s monthly newsletter) A great trip down memory lane!

We are excited to share the news that the Old Menangle School Site has been awarded “Australian Park of the Year” by Parks & Leisure Australia (PLA) at the PLA National Conference on 11 November 2025. The honour follows its “NSW Park of the Year” win in June 2025. The award recognises the hard work and collaboration between Wollondilly Shire Council's Project Delivery and Parks and Recreation teams along with our contractors and consultants. The project, constructed in 2023 and officially opened in 2024, has transformed the former school grounds into a welcoming community destination featuring a renovated heritage school building, inclusive playspace, community garden, amenities and BBQ facilities. The site honours it's heritage while offering modern and accessible facilities for all ages. It has quickly become a destination that Wollondilly residents can be proud of. 😀 A huge congratulations to Robert Smith from Project Delivery and Lauren Ackerly from Facilities and Recreation, who led the project with passion and precision. The result is an outstanding facility that honours the site’s heritage while providing a beautiful, welcoming space for the community. Thanks to our contractors who worked on the project: Civille, Growth Civil Landscapes Pty Ltd, and G3 Architecture.

🎉 Wollondilly’s Sustainadilly Program receives Highly Commended at 2025 Sustainable Cities Awards Celebrating excellence in urban sustainability across greater metropolitan Sydney, the 2025 Sustainable Cities Awards were presented on Thursday 6 November at Sydney Zoo hosted by the 2024 winner, Blacktown City Council. Now in its 31st year, the Sustainable Cities Awards program recognises the powerful role that councils, community groups, businesses, schools, and individuals play in creating cleaner, greener, and more liveable cities. Wollondilly Shire Council received a Highly Commended award in the Communication and Engagement category for our Sustainadilly Education Program, which represents a cornerstone initiative within our comprehensive environmental sustainability framework. The program is strategically designed to actively encourage and support residents to adopt more sustainable lifestyles through free, accessible workshops and educational resources. Over the past 12 months, the Sustainadilly program engaged 290 participants in more than 600 hours of hands-on sustainability education. Hundreds of residents have gained practical skills in areas like composting, gardening and waste reduction, while thousands of native plants were distributed to support local biodiversity. 👏 Congratulations to Hornsby Shire Council, who were awarded the NSW Overall Sustainable Cities Winner for 2025.

Yesterday our very own Wollondilly Run Club took part in Campbelltown City Council's Fishers Ghost Fun Run and came away with some outstanding team results: 1st in the 10km Corporate Team and 2nd in the 5km Corporate Team categories - alongside plenty of personal bests! Another moment for the Wollondilly team to connect outside of the office and share in a little fun. Huge thanks to Campbelltown City Council, C91.3FM, Wests Group Macarthur, Marsdens Law Group and Talk2mebro for such a fun and well-run community event. The team is already looking ahead to next year and hoping for some friendly competition against a Campbelltown City Council Team 😊

Great to see our CEO Ben Taylor as part of today’s local Government Panel at the Greenfield Infrastructure Summit, hosted by the Property Council of Australia. Ben continues to champion the call for infrastructure funding and timely delivery to support growth areas and our growing communities, a message that’s front and centre of Wollondilly’s strong advocacy platform. We know that sustainable growth relies on matching homes with roads, water, wastewater, transport and essential services. A key take away today, was the clear alignment of local councils, peak bodies industry/developers all calling for the same thing - to support our communities in greenfield areas with infrastructure. #Infrastructure #GrowthAreas #Advocacy #FutureWollondilly #WesternSydney #Leadership #PropertyCouncil

🎉 The final Wollondilly Tourism Connect event for 2025 was a huge success. Local businesses, tourism operators, and industry professionals came together for an evening of networking, collaboration and idea-sharing, all aimed at strengthening and growing our local tourism industry. 👏 A big thank you to Transport Heritage NSW for hosting Tourism Connect at the NSW Rail Museum in Thirlmere. Guest speakers included Brent Hilbrink-Watson from Greater Sydney Tours, who shared valuable insights into business growth, collaboration, and expanding within the visitor economy, and Transport Heritage NSW, who provided an exciting update on the Loop Line Upgrade Project. Our panel of business support experts including Joe Doyle (Sarina Russo Entrepreneurs), Milind Kulkarni (Realise Business), and Julie Lewis (Service NSW Business Bureau), provided practical advice and showcased the range of free and subsidised support available for small businesses across all levels of government. If you’re a local business looking to tap into tourism opportunities, follow Visit Wollondilly and Business Wollondilly for updates, events, and industry resources. Great work by Council’s Tourism and Business Support Team.

🏅 Wollondilly Shire Council is honoured to be named as a national award finalist for 'Park of the Year' for the Old Menangle School Site project. We will now progress to the national stage of judging, with the winner announced at the Awards of Excellence Gala Dinner during the 2025 Parks & Leisure Australia National Conference on Tuesday 11 November. Great work team!

🤝 The Camden Community Cabinet today was an incredible opportunity for Mayor Matt Gould, CEO Ben Taylor and our Head of Advocacy Stephen Gardiner to connect directly with the Premier, Treasurer, and Ministers Graham, Jackson, Scully and Aitchison through a series of fast-paced “speed-date” type discussions. Across each table, they championed the priorities that matter most for Wollondilly: Future Wollondilly, the Housing and Productivity Fund, the Macarthur Metro and the T8 Line extension, wastewater services, horticulture planning rules, Metropolitan Rural Areas, road reclassification, Picton Bypass, Douglas Park Drive, and the critical infrastructure needs for Wilton and Appin. It was a productive and energising exchange, reinforcing the value of genuine collaboration between councils and the State to shape the future of our growing region. #Wollondilly #FutureWollondilly #NSWCommunityCabinet #Advocacy #WesternSydney #Wilton #Appin #Infrastructure