Mayor seeking to cut ratepayer renewable project burden

Last week Mayor Josh Black succssfully introduced two resolutions for Dubbo Regional Council’s ordinary meeting, which was held on Tuesday.

The first matter is to do with the breakneck speed at which local government is expected to “assess” encyclopaedic, complex, and multi-layered renewable energy projects covering a dizzying range of inter-agency regulations and requirements.

“We only get 28 days to look at the EIS (Environmental Impact Statements) of renewables projects in the region, that’s for major projects of SSD (State Significant Development), importance, we need 90 days,” Mayor Black suggested.

“Some of these proposals have taken years to get to this stage and they’re huge, hundreds of pages each, so how are councillors supposed to assess them in only four weeks; what’s the rush?” he asked.

The other issue is to do with the burden placed on council staff and, again, ratepayers, to assess and write reports about these dense, detailed, and lengthy reports.

“We get some money to recompense us for assessing these SSD renewable energy projects, but it’s a pittance.

“I don’t know how they change it, whether it’s ‘billable hours’ for the work we do, or a higher gross sum, but the State Government needs to pitch in; our officers are assessing these projects instead of important developments in town,” the Mayor said.

The resolutions he proposed called for the State Government to take a more sympathetic view to the bureaucratic burden placed on local government entities in Renewable Energy Zones like the Central West Orana one.

“There’s two notices of motion, are to do with time taken to assess, and rebates that we receive to look at these projects,” Mayor Black told Dubbo Photo News.

“We’ll be writing to the Planning Minister, seeking some consideration of these issues, not just for us, but for local councils around the state,” he concluded.

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Gaol staff celebrate after at tourism awards

As Dubbo Photo News mentioned recently, the inimitable Old Dubbo Goal has won gold in the Cultural Tourism category and bronze in the Tourist Attractions Category at the recent 2025 NSW Tourism Awards, with Mayor Black doing the honours in recognising their efforts.

“This is a fantastic win to recognise all the work the staff have put into the facility over the past year, and it is a wonderful acknowledgement to the Dubbo region’s rich history to have the site recognised not once, but twice at these awards,” Mayor Black said.

“Last year, the team took out bronze in the same Cultural Tourism category, so this year it is exciting to see them stepping up and bringing home the gold,” he also reminded locals,” he added.

In the past year the team at the Old Dubbo Gaol have celebrated being in tourism for 50 years with a cocktail dinner in November 2024.

They have also launched an in-house written book 'Sandstone Heart: A History of Dubbo Gaol', which is the first publication of the Old Dubbo Gaol’s full history, from lockup to landmark.

In 2025 the team has worked to improve the school based educational tours to provide better learning opportunities for young minds including the introduction of more interactive elements, with research and test tours taking place to continue to improve tours in future.

There have also been continuous efforts to improve the Old Dubbo Gaol’s sustainability, including operating with recycled paper bags in place of plastic souvenir bags.

Readers must indulge Dubbo Photo News for rehashing recent news, but this unique local institution – home to so many grisly events, to be sure, from our past – has a very special place in our hearts.

It was on a tour of this former grim local prison many years ago, that the now-removed animatronic inmates and guards, made such an impact on our young children, that has remained to this day!